World Cup 2006

Nothing New

2006-10-15T20:37:12Z

It was disabled since nothing was written for a while.

Nothing New remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 33 (July 10th)

2006-07-10T20:25:13Z

Ivan and Dean head back home to the USA today. I caught a late night/early morning train from Munich back to Konstanz in order to go to work today (back at 8am, work by 9am). It’s been a wild ride. We saw many live games in the stadiums(personally, I got to see 12) and enjoyed many others – I think the Movie Theater in Berlin might’ve been my favorite, non-live, place.
Germany was a terrific host as the country and the people welcome us with open arms and were great to be around. I would’ve liked to see them win the cup, if for no other reason that they were great hosts (they were playing attractive soccer games, too).
This is the last entry for this blog, hope you enjoyed it. It was fun to document our travels along the way. Of course, it was tied more to my experiences, so ask the others about their stories if you crave more. There’s also tons more pictures, too.
There are rumors that South Africa might not be able to support the cup in 2010 as planned and that the USA might step in. I guess we’ll see about that, but let the countdown begin for the next one – only a little over 1,400 days… Auf wiedersehen!

Day 33 (July 10th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 32 (July 9th)

2006-07-10T20:20:55Z

The final game for champion is here – would it be Italy or France. I wouldn’t have picked either of these teams from the start (although I knew the winner of Group E (Italy, USA) should end up at least in the semi-finals). France was a complete surprise as they barely qualified, then they barely made it through the group phase – only to start really playing well in the playoffs.
Dean remain his pledge to finish out the trip at the hotel, he really like their ham sandwiches, I guess. So Ivan and I headed back to town to see the town one last time and watch the game. The Munich lions were everywhere – like the Berlin bears or the Chicago cows if you’ve seen those. So, we had to grab a shot of one.
We also stumbled across a kids festive, the stage is in the very back of the picture. The thing that we really found interesting was that the kids festival also included a beer stand as well.
We chilled at a small bar, the Augustiner, for the final match. The game was well, interesting. It seemed as though France played the better game and was attaching more. Of course, that could be said about many of Italy’s games. But then again, they kept on winning. It goes without saying that Zidane’s heading of the Italian player was shocking – he must have felt the pressure of trying to live up to the fantasy of them winning, but it was still unbelievable. Italy squeezes by to become World Champion on one PK that was off the crossbar, as all of the Italians were perfect from the spot.

Day 32 (July 9th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 31 (July 8th)

2006-07-10T20:17:50Z

Well, the conditional tickets did not come through, so we’re watching this game in Munich. Kahn will get to keep as Lehnmann steps aside as a nice jester. I read that the Portugal coach really wants to finish 3rd instead of 4th. So if Germany shows up to play as well, this game might actually be a good game – we’ll see.
We changed hotels, so Ivan and Dean would be closer to airport when they leave in a couple of days. We stayed at probably the best hotel of the trip, funny as I made this reservation the day before (they had a nice pool and sauna). We had grabbed a late night snack last night that got Ivan sick and Dean was in relaxation mode to finish out the trip, so we chilled at the hotel for the game.
We enjoyed the game at the hotel, there were plenty of German fans with the hotel staff and a few locals as well. The game was pretty good, especially for a third place game. Germany played well and finished the tourney strong – nice for them to go out with a win. And I jinxed Kahn by saying it looked like he’d get a clean sheet, just seconds before Portugal scored. But Kahn had played well, it was just a good play by Portugal (one of the few).

Day 31 (July 8th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 30 (July 7th)

2006-07-10T19:49:24Z

Phil and Kate head back to the states today from Frankfurt. I travel to Munich to meet up with Ivan and Dean. I slept in, updated this blog and so missed the early trains. It was a rainy day, so I was moving kind of slow – and not exactly looking forward to the 3 trains and 4 hours to get to Munich. But it’ll be good to see the last games with Ivan and Dean before they head back.
It was raining in Munich, too. So, Ivan and Dean didn’t do much today either – still catching there breathe and recovering (they both caught colds or something). When I got there, we headed out for dinner. We passed by Marienplatz for the 5 o’clock turning of the Glockenspiel. We thought about the Ratskeller, but it seem too pricy so we wandered back to the Paulander im Tal for a nice dinner.

Later we took off for the famous Hofbrauhaus for a taste of Bavarian beer and culture. The band was playing and the liter beers were flowing. The nice thing about the Hofbrauhaus is that everything is so small, the beer, the pretzels, etc.
It was a good time as we met some guys from Finland as well as a former Ohio state representative. I think Dean and him devised a plan to bring the Hofbrauhaus to the states or something.
Of course, not all the good things were in large packages either, some great things come in small packages.

Day 30 (July 7th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 29 (July 6th)

2006-07-10T19:46:11Z

Phil and Kate head from Munich to Frankfurt for their flight home tomorrow. Dean decides to try and make an early departure, but can’t manage it, so he’s here until the 10th.
Gwen and I take it easy in Konstanz and celebrate our anniversary. We had a lovely day together with beautiful weather, nice walks, some fine dining and a short trip to the casino where Gwen some a few bucks (and even covered my continuing losing streak). The bartender was very nice and kept giving us free (improved) drinks (Thursdays are slow for them, I think). All it all, it was a great (and relaxing) day.

This day was so relaxing that no one took any pictures, either.

Day 29 (July 6th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 28 (July 5th)

2006-07-10T19:41:53Z

We slept in late (obviously) after the long night. Ivan and Dean were headed to Munich for the second semi-finals game. Gwen and I headed back to Konstanz as our matches are now over. We spent most of the day, just getting back. We got together with our Italian friend to watch the final game (and I had a nice helping of crow for dinner).
Ivan had this strange karma thing going – if he wore the shirt for a team, the team lost. He was promising to wear France. I kind of thought Portugal should win (returning players, France down after Brazil), so it was a sure thing. So I tried really hard to place a 100 bet on Portugal – it was paying 3.55 to 1 so that sounded good too.
The France/Portugal game unfortunately wasn’t very good. Neither team played up to their ability. Portugal was the most disappointing because they have so many good players and were down most of the game. They should’ve been attacking much more. The PK call was a tough one, hard to call, hard not to call. But the defender did make a little extra effort to trip Henry and he would’ve have a free shot at the goal. There were some no-calls that could’ve gone Portugal’s way (in the box even), but they didn’t show any replays of those, so I’m not positive.
Good thing that I didn’t get that bet made.
Zidane is the Cinderella story of the cup having come back from retirement only to play for the national time one last time. So he’ll finish his career on center stage now. But France will have to play more like they did against Brazil if they hope to beat the Italians.

Day 28 (July 5th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 27 (July 4th)

2006-07-07T05:35:22Z

Phil and Kate head out to Munich for their semi-final game tomorrow, while Gwen and I head back to Cologne (and then on to Dortmund) for our semi-final today. Germany verses Italy, a classic battle, it should be a great game. This was our first time to visit the Dortmund stadium as well.
Dortmund had an interesting “wall” just outside of the train station. We got to see it because the local U was packed, so we decided to walk to the stadium. We strolled through their downtown area with was completed packed with people. The fan fest was on the same path as the stadium. We grabbed a variety of street pork and beverages along the way. We missed our landmark, red carpet, but still found the stadium in plenty of time.
It was a good game even though our seats weren’t so good. It was a very hot day and a good climb up to our seats. As you would expect, the crowd was nearly all German with only a small Italian corner section. The good part of the stadium was that the stadium was on a sharp angle, so all of the seats were closer to the field. The German crowd was excited and cheered the whole game for their team.
We had all worn our Germany shirts to support the home team and follow as many chants as we could. But the Italian defense was tough and only allowed the German team a few really good chances. But the chances they had were actually very good, but Germany just didn’t finish them well, they had some nice open looks. Even though Italy was not winning, they continued their time wasting tactics with everyone getting sick of their fake injuries.
As the game went to extra time, it seemed that the game would be destine for PKs. However, the Italian team suddenly played very well in the extra time creating several good chances. However, Germany survived those only to see more Italian time wasting, especially on their transition attacks. FIFA really needs to do something about all the fake injuries. Nonetheless, with only a minute left in the extra time, Italy found the goal when the German defense lapsed. When German pressed for the equalizer, they gave up a second goal and the game was over.
The German fans were very gracious in defeat and the team circled the field thanking the fans for their support. It was a hard lost, but one team has to lose. Unknowingly, we headed off for the next big adventure. We rode back half-way to main train station on the U but when we had to switch trains we decided to walk the rest of the way. The stop was actually in the middle of the fan fest, which was all but cleared out as well. When we arrived at the main train station, it was completely packed – wall to wall people, not moving at all. We walked around a bit looking for a place to wait it out. About an hour later, still no change in the situation. We waited some more, and some more, and… It looked like we were stuck, Dortmund had not anticipated this crowd. We thought of getting a hotel room, or taking a taxi all the way back to Cologne. We tried the main train station one last time, still no one getting in. Oh, wait. They were letting a few people in the exit ramps, we managed to get in, found a delayed train, switched tracks, squeezed into the first class floor space on the train and made it home. It was only 4 am when we got back to Cologne!

Day 27 (July 4th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 26 (July 3rd)

2006-07-07T05:30:27Z

No travel. No games. Nothing that has to be done. We enjoy Konstanz and our familiar stomping grounds.
With just 4 matches left, the cup draws to an end. Just 4 teams left: Germany, Italy, France and Portugal.
But today is a relaxation day. We just sleep in, do some laundry and stroll around Konstanz. It’s another lovely day here. We managed to get out in afternoon and see more of the town. With some arm twisting (yeah, right , we manage to get Phil and Kate to stop at our local microbrew, the Joh. Albrecht. It is actually one of the few (non-American) “chains” here in Germany, but serves a very nice beer called the Kupfer.
I have tons of pictures of our local Munster, but none so interesting as Kate posing for Phil’s artistic shots. I’ve only been inside the large church a few times before, but there were several old sections that were never opened before, so that was nice to see. We hit the Indian imbiss for lunch for a nice meal. We had walked to Switzerland, because we can, and to try to get their passports stamped, but that didn’t work out (they said they weren’t doing that today – or anymore?).
Some more arm twisting and we stopped at the “Red Rooster” for a quick beer. It is one of the few places that serves a variety of different beer brands inside of just types. A funny thing happened while we were there, it turns out the couple sitting behind Phil and Kate just moved here (like a day or two ago) from Australia. We exchanged info and hope to meet them again. We had a nice dinner at our favorite Turkish restaurant.

Day 26 (July 3rd) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 25 (July 2nd)

2006-07-03T17:06:58Z

Gwen and I travel to Konstanz while Ivan and Dean stay in Cologne for the next two rest days. Phil and Kate travel from Berlin to see our fair town. It’s a long day of travel for both of us, but it will be very nice for them to see our lovely town. It will also be the catch up day for this blog. Internet access has been more painful that anticipated – sorry for the trailing entries…
Phil and Kate had a long day of travel to get here, but that didn’t stop Phil from a quick trip into the Rhein river (a block from our place). We headed to the beer garden down by the lake (boat docks) and chilled there for a bit. The lake and the river looked very nice, it was lovely with tons of people sun bathing everywhere.
On the walk back, we went to our favorite Greek restaurant. We sat upstairs, outdoors since the restaurant sits right on the river. We had the festival meal for 3, which was plenty for the four of us. It was a nice, relaxed setting and a really nice evening.

Day 25 (July 2nd) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 24 (July 1st)

2006-07-03T17:15:19Z

Ivan, Dean, Gwen and I travel to Gelsenkirchen for the next day of quarter finals. It was only an hour away by train, but really crowded - not sure that this was what Ivan had pictured as 1st class travel However, Gelsenkirchen was trying to vie with Kaiserslautern as the worst venue. That is, it took us over an hour to get to the stadium once we reached the city. We were packed in herds waiting for trains, but no order to their stop on the platform or such. But since we had allowed for getting there over 2 hours before the game, we were still okay, just no time for food.
The England fans were as obnoxious as ever for the pre-game. However, during the match they raised their offensiveness to a new level – no wonder everybody hates the Brits (sorry to my friends back home). The “funniest” of their screaming was that Portugal was a bunch of cheating “diving” bastards (that deserved to die). But as soon as England got in the box, the calls were for their players to take a dive! The game was pretty evenly matched – neither team playing very well, but both have a few odd chances.
After losing Rooney to a questionable red card, the England squad seemed unaffected, to their credit. Without 3 of their starters, Portugal could do little to mount a real attack, even in the extra time. You might think that Portugal would lose on PKs when you know that they missed 2 of them, but the Portugal keeper guessed the right way on every kick and stopped 3 of England’s poor shots.
The group had enough of the armpit to armpit travel, so we passed on the wonderful 302 and walked the 3-4 miles to the fan fest. We made it in time for the start of the Brasil/France game. The fan fest was mostly empty – presumably the bulk of the English fans when home pouting. Brasil was on their heals the hold time, while France outplayed them the whole game. France had looked quite bad in the first round, but has really come on in the playoffs. Brasil played a new, weird line up (similar to the weirdness that Argentina had done). The Argentina coach had already resigned for his poor decisions; we expect Brasil’s tomorrow. Ivan joked that instead of buying referees like some (nameless Italians), the other Europeans bought the opposing coaches But Brasil just got it handed to them, no question – France continued to have their number.
So, like the announcer rubbed it in, the World cup is over, on with the rest of the European cup.

Day 24 (July 1st) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 23 (June 30th)

2006-07-03T16:54:13Z

Finally, the restart of the games! And what better way to start than Germany/Argentina. It is quite possible that the winner of this game will be the winner of the cup. We figured that the Fan Fest would be packed support Germany, so we planned to get there early. We had thought of going to another Museum today, but overslept.
Our group here was divided as far as which team to support. Of course, I had grown to like the German team, but Argentina was my pick for winning long ago.
The fan fest was packed – three hours early – and it was hot. Germans were all terribly sad on the first goal by Argentina, but the Argentineans made the mistake of trying to sit back (and poor substitutes) and the mighty German team came back to tie. The goals by both teams were very good and the teams were pretty evenly matched. After the overtime, Germany was much better from the spot. And the German keeper guessed the right direction each time – stopping 2 and winning the game. The place went crazy! And the Germans were mostly nice, but very excited (some of the German youths weren’t so nice went we were leaving the fan fest, but 12 and beer probably isn’t Germany’s best idea).
Italy played a good match and with all the luck going their way, won easily. This time they needed no help from the refs, just a couple of crossbars and the post. Italy verses Germany should be a good game, we look forward to going to the game.

Day 23 (June 30th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 22 (June 29th)

2006-07-03T10:18:22Z

Okay, day two without any soccer, I guess the weaning process has to start because the whole thing will be over in a couple of weeks. We slept in and missed breakfast this morning, so we grabbed something to eat and headed to the Chocolate Museum. It was just a short walk along the river to reach. It was a very interesting presentation regarding the history of the Cocoa bean and development of modern day Chocolate. They also had a live production line and a chocolate foundation – with free samples of course. Of course, the gift shop there was the best I’ve ever visited
When strolling the city, we came upon a guy that was using chalk to draw a picture of a face on the main square in front of the Dom. When we came back by later, he had completed his portrait of Mozart. Cologne is full of street “performers”, but this was something to see. It was really well done.
These houses sit near the river and were very near our hotel. We heard that the blue house on the left was the only one that survived the bombings from the war. The entire river is lined with restaurants with outdoor tables and outside TV screens.
Later on, we enjoyed some very good Chinese food and just relaxed more that afternoon. We got together for a late night Italian dinner (disappointing) and called it an early evening – Dean has to travel to Berlin tomorrow to meet up with Phil and Kate for the first Quarter Finals game.

Day 22 (June 29th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 21 (June 28th)

2006-07-03T10:17:42Z

Wow. Three weeks in, and a real day off. That is, the first day without any soccer games at all. What would we do? All the catch-up activities – rest, sleep, laundry, etc. We strolled around Cologne a bit sight-seeing – the Dom, the shopping district. But this day was really about relaxing.
We strolled aimlessly through the town and stumbled into a perfume shop. Never really though of “cologne” being from Cologne, but I guess I can be a bit slow sometimes. We didn’t really care much for the scent, but could resist a picture with their cute little car outside.
We went inside the Dom because Gwen hadn’t seen it yet. The back part behind the altar was open (wasn’t before) and it was quite interesting. There were these fabulous mosaics on the floor. They covered the wide halls with a great deal of fine detail. It was difficult to capture with my camera, and all of the visitors. Here’s the pictures, but I doubt it does it justice.
<picture goes here...>
We met for a very nice dinner at an Argentinean Steakhouse. It was a very nice dinner and we enjoyed it quite a bit. It was nice to just visit and enjoy a good meal. Afterwards, we visited a few local pubs and hangouts to finish out the evening/morning.

Day 21 (June 28th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 20 (June 27th)

2006-07-02T15:30:31Z

Phil and Kate are off to Berlin and the rest of us to Cologne for the final day of the second round. We stayed right near the fan fest again in Cologne. We weren’t sure how popular the Fan Fests would be in a town where all their games were over. But about an hour before the start of games, there were long lines to get in. By the time the Brazil/Ghana game had started, the place was packed. Of course, most were pulling for Brazil but Ghana had some supporters as well. Ghana showed up for the game and played well, they were unlucky not to get a goal while they were outplaying Brazil.
Between the games, we met some German guys from the local area and had a few beers with them. They also explained why their local beer was served in small glasses – it has to be consumed within 10-15 minutes or it loses it’s favor. They were very warm and friendly guys; it was a pleasure to hang out with them.
The second game was Spain/France. The game was fairly flat. As Ivan kept on saying, the Spain team was very young and might have trouble with an experienced team. At the very end, France’s experience came through and they showed up at the end of the game – really for the first time in any of their games.

Day 20 (June 27th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 19 (June 26th)

2006-07-02T14:38:44Z

No travel, no game tickets – just a day to see a bit of Heidelberg and catch the games on the tube. We took the vernacular up to see the view of the city.
We had a small brunch at the top of the mountain/hill – it was a really nice view. It took two cars/tracks to get to the top, with the second, smaller one testing Kate’s slight fear of heights. On the way back down we wandered the castle grounds which were very well maintained. The castle also had a very nice view of the city.
One of the tops of the castle had half broken away many years ago and it was quite interesting to see.
There was an odd fountain at the end of one of the courtyards, the only thing odder was the girls posing for their picture with it.

We all met up at an Irish Pub near the middle of town for a rare, full M6 watching of the Italy/Australia game. The game was pretty evenly matched when the referee ejected one of the Italian players for a foul worthy of a yellow at most – yes, a bad call against the Italians – amazing. The game pretty much continued pretty even with a few chances for each side. And even with the 3 minutes of stoppage time, this game seem destine for extra time. But the referee made his worst “mistake” of the game by awarding a PK to the Italian side as time expired. Phil so eloquently summed up this game, as another “classic piece of Italian shit”. Somehow the Italian scrapped through again on what some would later call the worse referee call of the cup (though the non-calls for Togo when playing the Swiss were worse in my opinion). This will probably go down as the worst refereeing that the cup has ever seen…

We wandered to the old part of the city for the evening match. No one we met could stop talking about the Italy call. I was still undecided if the referee had cheated or just made a horrible mistake, but either way, the Italians were through. We found another bar with no crowd and a large screen TV and sat right in front – I guess the Ukraine/Swiss match up didn’t interest so many. The game was very uneventful as both sides mounted few quality chances – a typical dig in type of game. Contrary to the night before, this referee let the players play with several hard fouls going uncalled and rarely carded anyone – it was a good thing that the Russian referee didn’t handle this game either. This referee was probably one of the better ones for the tourney, but then again both teams were European and neither a traditional powerhouse. The first match to go to penalty kicks and unfortunately for the Swiss, they were really poor at it. So, without ever having allowed a goal in the cup, the Swiss were out – how funny.

Day 19 (June 26th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 18 (June 25th)

2006-07-02T14:31:31Z

The E’s (England and Ecuador) battle in Stuttgart today, so the group travels from Munich to Heidelberg (no hotels were available in Stuttgart). To avoid all the English fans demanding to “Stand-up for the En-g-land-ers”, Dean chose the Italy jersey instead of the England one. Ivan’s for South America.
I like the England team, but the English fans are hard to take (excluding my English pals back home of course). Ecuador never really showed anything and the British just a bit more than that.

The late game was Netherlands and Portugal which should be the better game of the day (maybe one of the better R16 games). Storms blew in shortly after the first game and caused problems for us. Gwen and I had headed back from Stuttgart to Heidelberg but our train was re-directed and then had a 45 minute delay in the new change over – so we missed the first half of the game. Ivan and Dean stayed in Stuttgart for the fan fest there, but it was shut down before the game due to the weather as well. They bounced from different bars to pick up the game (Satellite reception was going out). Not a good game to miss – 20 cards given out – amazing. I didn’t see the fouls in the first half that lead to the violent of the second half, so I didn’t know who had started all the mess. The referee obviously was a major player as he lost total control and never regained it. The second half seemed more like a hockey match or something. But the play between the fouls was pretty intense as well. Portugal made it through, but will be hurting for the next match due to missing good players. We almost missed the extra time because we were watching the game in our hotel room when the fire alarms went off. I hurried down stairs and caught the end in the hotel bar.

Day 18 (June 25th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 17 (June 24th)

2006-07-02T14:27:01Z

Germany verses Sweden – wow. The rest of the group arrives in Munich for the day. It will be interesting to see the split at the stadium. Sweden fans have had a strong presence so far and were some of the loudest at the games so far (in a good way). However, you would expect the crowd to be mostly for the home team.
Back to the stadium in Munich where it all began – fitting to begin the cup and then begin the second round here. It really is a nice stadium. Germany was there in droves as expected. There was a corner dedicated for the Sweden fans, but they were rarely heard as Germany jumped out to any early lead.
The Germans played there best game yet and as Phil said, they looked like Men verses Boys. The Swedes got a back break on the soft red ejection, especially since the first yellow didn’t seem to be a foul, much less a card. But down a man and the entire crowd behind them, Germany dominated the play.
The Sweden goal keeper played an exceptional game, otherwise the score would’ve been much worse.
Back to Marienplatz after the game to watch the Argentina/Mexico game. This was the match up that we didn’t really want. Mexico should’ve played better, won there group, these could’ve both gotten through. But now only one of them would. Mexico played their best line-up and their best game by far. The Paulander im Tal was packed as we kept having to chase people out from in from of us. It was funny to see all of the Germans pulling for Mexico – they are all afraid of the Argentina match-up. Ivan was sporting Mexico and I had Argentina, though we both were torn on which team to really cheer for. Numerous Germans approached Ivan and wish Mexico best of luck throughout the game – funny.
Well, this game didn’t disappoint as it was a pretty even match with the control, pressure and chances changing back and forth. In general, the referee was much different from the earlier rounds and let a great deal of hard play go on, and Argentina got lucky to only receive a yellow for a very hard foul at the top of the box. In the extra time, Tevez’s goal was an excellent aerial play and a great shot to decide such a close match. The Germans were very disappointed.

Day 17 (June 24th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 16 (June 23rd)

2006-07-02T13:22:29Z

Still in shock over how poorly the USA played – hard to believe. If someone had said, that the USA could get in 1-1-1 and that they would tie Italy with only 9 players, I’d thought they’d make it through for sure. Heartbreak. And if they had made it, we would have got to seen them play Brazil! But obviously, we seemed to care more than the coaches and most players, so it was time to let go.
And besides, we had to go pick up our playoff tickets. So another trip out to the Nuremberg stadium to get the rest of the follow your team tickets. Part of the old stadium is still standing and it was interesting to see it. With the long walk and fewer trains (not a game day). It took a while to get there and back, but we got our tickets for the next 3 matches. With Germany winning the group, we’ll be following them, that should be great fun.
Nuremberg was a bit calmer (as were we) this day, as the final games of the first round were completing. Of course, the Spain fans were happy with their expected win. Their team is young, so Spain seems to be poised for the future – and if they keeping playing so well, their future might begin really soon.
Ukraine and Tunesia were fighting to get through, and it was too bad that that game was decided by yet another really poor PK call. But even with a tie, Ukraine would’ve made it through. Togo managed to hold off France for the first half, but unraveled quickly after giving up the first goal, their dream had ended too. Switzerland made it through as expected as well.
Gwen, Daniel and I had to travel to Munich today (rest are staying in Nuremberg) because they have a early morning flight (Gwen’s going back to Konstanz for a day) and Daniel is heading home – it’s been a whirlwind tour with it seeming like a very short and very long time that he was here. We’ll see how long his pink hair stays back home.

Day 16 (June 23rd) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 15 (June 22nd)

2006-06-28T19:57:34Z

Well, on to Nuremberg from Frankfurt for the USA game. Another mix up over the train schedules, so we got separated from Ivan and Dean, but luckily the stadium was pretty convenient (and close) so it wasn’t a problem. Nuremberg’s inner wall city was interesting.
The USA fans were sporting lots of fun outfits and we were all happy to join in the fun.
Daniel’s hair/look was the best, but we all looked great! At the beer garden just before the stadium, we added our final touches.
We had some leftover hair color, so Kate got conned into decorating a couple of strangers, too. The fans seemed ready – would the team be?
Well, as you probably already know, the team wasn’t ready. We came out flat again – more like the Czech game instead of the Italy one. Once again, Bruce didn’t put the right players on the field either. The fans did a decent job, but not the same energy that was in Kaiserslautern. Sure, the USA got ripped off on the PK call for Ghana. But in the end, they have to overcome these things – I’ve seen worse calls in this tourney – though none of course against any key European team It was a shame that the USA couldn’t manage just a win, tie, and lost to get through. A crying shame. All the effort for the Italy game went to waste too. This team seemed to play arrogantly (for no good reason) and without any real desire – save a player here and there. It’s time for the USA to clean house, coach and all. We should only ever see a handful of these players again. And since Bruce didn’t showcase any of the young players, we probably haven’t helped any of them for the future – USA will probably suffer quite a setback.
The Ghana fans were very gracious winners and despite the horrible USA showing for the cup, we still went out and enjoyed the festivities after the game.
Nuremberg was a good place – the fans/people were nice and their area, though small, was really nice.

Day 15 (June 22nd) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 14 (June 21st)

2006-06-28T07:15:44Z

This was a long anticipated day of great games – Mexico verses Portugal and Netherlands verses Argentina (and of course, the other games in their groups). We headed to the fan fest near downtown Frankfurt.
The setup there was interesting with the big screen TVs sitting on the river – and viewable from either side.
It was a sea of orange everywhere we went – the fan fest, the squares, the streets. I’ve been getting grief from the Germans whenever I’ve shown my support for Holland – but this day, they were playing my pick for winning the cup, so now I was getting grief from the Hollanders for support Argentina – oh well. Next to the England fans, the Hollanders were probably the drunkest and crudest fans we’ve seen – not a good thing. But after missing the cup last year, I guess they were just really excited to be there.
But first was the Mexico game. We finally found out that Borgetti was done due to injury and so we figured Mexico’s chances were getting slimmer. But nonetheless, they could still win their group by beating Portugal. Mexico didn’t play too poorly, but conceded an early goal after dominating the first several minutes of play. And between Bravo missing the PK and then dropping to 10 men, their chance was over. But as luck would have it, they made it through even with the loss. But unfortunately, they’ll have to face Argentina next.
Tickets for the Netherlands/Argentina game were rumored to be selling for about 1000-1200 euro – way to high – especially for a non knockout game. Both teams were cautious and chose not to play many of their key players (especially those that already had a yellow). So, with both teams already in, the game really wasn’t very good despite the big billing – but perhaps these teams could meet again in the finals and it will be a better game? The next games should be really good with Argentina/Mexico and Netherlands/Portugal – once the groups were drawn, we knew that these first round games would be great games regardless of how these four teams finished.

Day 14 (June 21st) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 13 (June 20th)

2006-06-28T07:10:27Z

For the beginning of the two-a-days, we travel back to Frankfurt and then on to Kaiserslautern for the Paraguay game. It was a tight schedule, so Gwen took all the bags to the hotel and Daniel and I just switched trains and headed to K-town. It was surprising to see tons of the Trinidad & Tobago fans – they must have shut down the country to send all of their fans (actually, a few of the T&T fans we met said that everything was shut down there).
T&T could make it through – amazing. We watched the Germans beat Ecuador for the early game – would’ve been interesting to see England/Germany early if Ecuador had won. But surely Ecuador is happy to get through.
Well, unfortunately for T&T, Paraguay finally showed up to play. It was actually a pretty good game. Santa Cruz finally played well and played the whole game.
The T&T dream was over, all that was left was the long ride home. Again, K-town was horrible to get out of, even with a “quick” departure, it was a 4am return to Frankfurt. The hotel had a strange queen/twin crisscross bunk bed thing.

Day 13 (June 20th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 12 (June 19th)

2006-06-28T07:04:18Z

This is the day to catch our second wind before heading out again (Gwen, Daniel and I). Ivan and Dean are hanging out in Frankfurt, we’ll see them tomorrow. Phil and Kate are still in Hamburg and head to Hanover tomorrow for the Costa Rica and Poland.
We went to the local public viewing to see the Swiss play Togo. And since we sit on the border with Switzerland, the Swiss were everywhere. This was a cute little Swiss. In general, I like the scrappy Swiss and I’m okay that they won, but Togo really got ripped off by the referees – it was the worse that I’ve seen so far (including the Italy/USA game). We watched the other games at a local pub and then back at the apt. Ukraine manhandled Saudia Arabia and Spain came back well after trailing for a long time to Tunesia.
Idle Minds/Hands. You know how it goes, too much time (a day) without something to do. The young get bored, and well, silly things happen. So, preparation for the next big USA game begins. Wilder, more drastic means to support the team. So the colors come shining through. With the help of a permanent dye, Daniel transforms red and I go blue. Go USA!

Day 12 (June 19th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 11 (June 18th)

2006-06-28T06:57:44Z

It was horrible getting out of K-town – like we already said, it wasn’t setup well for the crowd. With the 9pm start and the crowds, we couldn’t get out of there until after midnight and we didn’t get back to Karlsruhe until 4am. Needless to say, we didn’t see much of Karlsruhe, but it looked like an interesting little town.
The train ride through the Black Forest back to Konstanz was nice, albeit slow. We chilled at the apt to watch the first game because we were still quite tired.
But it was a beautiful day in Konstanz and Daniel needed to see our fair town, so we went to the Beer garden by the lake to watch the Brazil/Australia game with some friends. The weather turned bad both in Konstanz and for the Aussies, but we finished the game, grabbed and ice cream and made it back to the apt for the last game. And it was nice to see France tie instead of win, too.

Day 11 (June 18th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Day 10 (June 17th)

2006-06-19T22:25:16Z

Our group is splitting up, Gwen back to Konstanz, Daniel and Greg to Karlsruhe (for 1 night and then on to Konstanz) and Ivan and Dean to Frankfurt for a few days. The guys will meet up in Kaiserslautern, in full garb, for the USA game. It will be interesting to see what changes Bruce Arena makes as well as how the team performs. We’ll do everything we can to help the USA win the group (or make it through). We’ll have to beat Italy today though…
Kaiserslautern seemed ill prepared for the hoard of people that descended on their town. The streets were completely packed with both US and Italy fans. On our way on the train, there seemed more US, but in K-town, it seemed more equal. In fact, this group of Italian fans were celebrating well, right in the middle of a closed crossroad.
Well, with Ghana’s help (beating Czech), we are still alive! The game atmosphere was phenomenal – the USA crowd was pumped by the Ghana result. The USA dominated the first 20 minutes and looked ready to play. But with only 1 real chance, the Italian capitalized on a gift of a call near the US end.
We didn’t get any replays at the stadium and I haven’t seen any highlights but the refereeing seem very purchased as the Italian seem fond of doing However, the US didn’t cave after giving up the goal and fought back with an extra dose of heart that they had been lacking in the first match. If you missed it, it was one of the best games in the cup, sorry.
The referee did all that he could to help Italy to win, including dropping the US down to only 9 players early in the second half. The 9 verses the 10 on the Italian side (the Italian foul was too much for even a paid ref to ignore) was a very hard fought second half – with both sides having chances to go ahead. It was surprising to see the US with several good chances included one that was called back as well as a take down of Donovon that went uncalled. In the end, the US showed tons of heart and better play. The Italian stretchers got quite a workout as Italy was scared of the USA and was trying to waste time, quite odd for a team that was up a man.
At the end of the day, the USA team played their hearts out, including Keller with a few fine saves in the end, and the USA is still alive. Italy will have to beat Czech and the USA of course will have to beat Ghana. All the teams will have a lot of players missing for the next game. However, since Arena been starting the wrong players, the USA might actually look better next game

Day 10 (June 17th) remains copyright of the author wc2006, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs