Berlin! Berlin! Wir fahren nach...Stuttgart
So until Tuesday the favorite soccer chant was "Berlin! Berlin! Wir fahren nach Berlin!", or in English "Berlin! Berlin! We're going to Berlin!" to proclaim that the German soccer team will make to the final game, which is in Berlin. Sadly that dream died in the 119th minute during the semifinal game against Italy when Italy managed to score. And then it really, really died when they scored a second one in the 121st minute. As the official game time ended at minute 120, there really wasn't time for Germany to counter.
Obviously everyone's disappointed, but noone is blaming the loss on the team. The "Jungs" played very well, and Italy just got lucky and played a little dirty. After the win against Argentina I mentioned that there was a short fight, but nobody cared because they were too excited about winning. Nobody except the Italians, who found photos which showed a German player punching one of the Argentina players, and plastered them all over their newspapers. So after FIFA decided that no action would be taken against German players, they changed their mind in light of the new evidence from a clearly unbiased source. In the end one of the best German defenders was banned from the game. I personally found this to be a totally sleezy, childish thing to do, and that the FIFA believed the evidence from a country which is currently seeping in soccer scandels is ridiculous. But I must admit my opinion's somewhat biased.
Then my love for Italian football decreased even more during the game. Everytime one the Italian players fell down, which occured at a much higher rate than the Germans, they'd make a pained face and roll around hoping a yellow card would come out. I'm sure some of the cases were real, but it happened way to frequently for it to believable everytime. At the same time my respect for the German team grew. When two opposing players crashed together, the German was always the first one up, offering to help their Italian counterpart who's reeling on the ground "hurt".
Ok. I've said my peace.
Like I said, the spirit here has died down a bit. There are already fewer flags even though there's still one game left. Saturday Germany and Portugal play for third place. I just hope the team's back in the fighting spirit by then. Most reports say the players are really depressed, as to be expected, but the German Soccer Association received over 2000 emails from fans with well wishes within one day after the game. Even though they lost, everyone is proud and supportive, and I really hope the Fan Miles are full of German fans on Saturday.
Oh ya...and France beat Portugal last night 1:0, so the final is a matchup between Italy and France.
Don't worry. Soon my posts will be about things other than soccer.
I'm doing well. Work's going well. In one week I'm flying to Rome. And in three weeks I'll be back in Iowa. Craziness.
Here are some pic's from the game:
Here I am dressed up with as a German soccer fan with my American flag.
Here's a photo from the pub. This was during half time, so the people were still in a good mood.
Obviously everyone's disappointed, but noone is blaming the loss on the team. The "Jungs" played very well, and Italy just got lucky and played a little dirty. After the win against Argentina I mentioned that there was a short fight, but nobody cared because they were too excited about winning. Nobody except the Italians, who found photos which showed a German player punching one of the Argentina players, and plastered them all over their newspapers. So after FIFA decided that no action would be taken against German players, they changed their mind in light of the new evidence from a clearly unbiased source. In the end one of the best German defenders was banned from the game. I personally found this to be a totally sleezy, childish thing to do, and that the FIFA believed the evidence from a country which is currently seeping in soccer scandels is ridiculous. But I must admit my opinion's somewhat biased.
Then my love for Italian football decreased even more during the game. Everytime one the Italian players fell down, which occured at a much higher rate than the Germans, they'd make a pained face and roll around hoping a yellow card would come out. I'm sure some of the cases were real, but it happened way to frequently for it to believable everytime. At the same time my respect for the German team grew. When two opposing players crashed together, the German was always the first one up, offering to help their Italian counterpart who's reeling on the ground "hurt".
Ok. I've said my peace.
Like I said, the spirit here has died down a bit. There are already fewer flags even though there's still one game left. Saturday Germany and Portugal play for third place. I just hope the team's back in the fighting spirit by then. Most reports say the players are really depressed, as to be expected, but the German Soccer Association received over 2000 emails from fans with well wishes within one day after the game. Even though they lost, everyone is proud and supportive, and I really hope the Fan Miles are full of German fans on Saturday.
Oh ya...and France beat Portugal last night 1:0, so the final is a matchup between Italy and France.
Don't worry. Soon my posts will be about things other than soccer.
I'm doing well. Work's going well. In one week I'm flying to Rome. And in three weeks I'll be back in Iowa. Craziness.
Here are some pic's from the game:
Here I am dressed up with as a German soccer fan with my American flag.
Here's a photo from the pub. This was during half time, so the people were still in a good mood.
posted by laura s at 7:38 AM
1 Comments:
Wow. I watched that game live, and it was a good game. Come to think of it, that's the FIRST full-length sporting event that I have watched . . . EVER. Hehehe. It will be great to see you when you come back in just over two weeks!
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