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Germans are having a ball!
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People would kill to be in Germany right now. Just to catch the euphoria in the air if not the action in the stadium
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Photo: AP
GOOOOOOAL! The entire country is under the football spell
"Goal! Goal!" the crowd shrieked in unison and there was palpable tension in the air. The German tricolour was out in a flash with hundreds of them fluttering in the gentle breeze. For a moment, nothing else mattered as the entire gathering erupted into applause that refused to die down.
From somewhere behind me came a loud German phrase, which I could not decipher, then someone cried "Klose! Klose!" It worked like magic and triggered a volley of words from the crowd. This, interspersed with the commentator's high-pitched tone, carried the cacophony far into the street.
The day was June 9, 2006. Frings had just scored a goal for Germany, taking the score to 4-2 in favour of the hosts and sealing the fate of Costa Rica. The World Cup had started a few hours ago. And for the Germans, the party had just begun.
The setting was a markstube (a restaurant) where two big screens had been erected. It was a busy day for the waiters as they plied huge quantities of liquor and flammkuchen (similar to a pizza with a thinner crust).
My friend rushed off to buy a camera (one of those use-and-throw ones) to capture these moments, to atone for the sin of having forgotten our cameras in the hotel. But considering that "their" match was on, all shops in the vicinity were shut down for the day. If a sleepy village a few miles away from Frankfurt could get as excited as this, I could only imagine the atmosphere in other larger towns of Germany, not to mention the towns where the games were being played. The World Cup is right now the centre of the whole world, especially in this soccer-crazy nation hosting the event after about three decades. It was just coincidence that my work took me to Germany for a fortnight at the same time. The excitement and the atmosphere scarcely surprised me. My mind was prepared for everything football. The Germans made sure of that. For starters, even the airline's boarding pass had a couple of footballs tossed on it! .
The timing of the tournament could not have been better. It is the beginning of summer, the weather is pleasant, the days are longer and 9 p.m. in Germany seemed like 5 p.m. in Bangalore.
I spent one of the weekends in Stuttgart where the shopping street (much like our own Brigade Road) was flooded with football merchandise. Footballs of all sizes were aplenty. Just about every cap and T-shirt in sight screamed football slogans and everybody seemed to be buying them by the bagful.
At the markstube where I was, excitement had already begun for the match featuring Argentina scheduled to happen in Hamburg. A dozen Argentineans in the colours of their country had taken vantage positions in front of the big screen and were chanting the names of their soccer heroes. Fast-forward to the next big game for the hosts — the much-awaited and closely-fought Germany against Poland — marked by bitter rivalry. I caught the game on TV in my hotel room. There were noises reaching me from below and it looked like a crowd had gathered outside the shop which was airing the match. Much to the disappointment of the gathering, the match lived up to its expectations of being an even battle and the Germans lost a lot of opportunities to score. These moments were accentuated by what I gathered as angry remarks. The crowd grew particularly vociferous in the dying moments of the game; two shots ricocheted off the goal-post and the people decided that the hosts had blown the last chance to score.
Just moments later, Oliver Neuville scored a goal and this took everyone by surprise. I tried to picture the scenes below going by the incessant chatter and screaming of "Goal! Goal!" and "Germany! Germany!" . The hosts had won by a solitary goal and also moved to the next round. That night, there was a short burst of firecrackers (which I thought did not have the same intensity as the ones we are used to when India wins a cricket match!).
I returned to India a wee bit disappointed for not being able to watch a match in the stadium. But I cannot complain. At least I was at the right place at the right moment in history!
PRAVEEN P.
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