The 2006 FIFA-WorldCup - The biggest party Germany has ever seen -
When I was going on my trip around the world my plan was to be back in Germany after about 10 months for Christmas. Eventually it lasted 16-months and I came back just in time for the event that has always been my final date of return: The football worldcup Check out the movies as well: (right click and open with Media Player)
National Anthem	Goooal!	Party
Our 4:2 victory against Costa Rica started an incredible euphoria all over Germany. Against all odds this wave of enthusiasm finally made the team finish third in the worldcup... Here we have been on the way to watch the second match against Poland. As it was impossible to get any ticket for the stadium we watched the match in the centre of Dortmund.
Although there was a lot of security we managed to get our beers into the fenced area by pretending to belong to some journalists. There have been some ridiculous FIFA marketing restrictions saying that you are only allowed to buy the beer of the official sponsor (a Yankee light beer brewery) at ridiculously high prices! So in order to enjoy some proper beer you had to be a bit creative...
But it was definitely worth the effort and we were able to prepare for the match right away...
This is when Neuville scored our winning goal in the 92. minute. A minute before Klose and Ballack managed to hit the cross bar with two consecutive shots, so nobody believed that we would get another chance to score. But then came a magnificient cross of Odonkor and Neuville somehow managed to push the ball behind the line and about 50,000 people on the so-called square of peace in Dortmund went totally mad. Well, actually it was only 49,999 going mad, since one of our group was so drunk that he actually missed this goal... Poor bugger...
After the match and its extensive celebration it was time to relax a bit and get ready for the third-halftime-party in the bars of Dortmund.
For the knockout-stage we were back to Freiburg again. In a boiling heat of about 35 degrees we were frying in the sun. But the German team showed its best performance for years and dreams of the cup started to soar.
The first day without football for more than two weeks. We literally did not know what to do. But hanging out on the lake in Freiburg, having a barbecue and, of course, playing some football were a good substitute for the drug called worldcup.
The next worldcup trip took us to the north. From Hannover we took a side-trip to Berlin and then moved on to Hamburg. Here the official FIFA fan-festival area (the one with the shitty beer, you know) was overcrowded. So we decided to watch the game on the Reeperbahn in Hamburgs sailors, party and red-light-district of St. Pauli. In a really tight match we managed to reach the penalties. No german team has ever lost a penalty shoot out in the history of the Worldcup. And thanks to our glorious goalie Jens Lehmann this part of Worldcup-history does not have to be rewritten...
After not winning against one of the big teams for almost 6 years we won against Argentina and advanced to the semi-finals... The rest of the night was 100,000 people singing and dancing in the streets of St. Pauli. Looking back I had rather liked to loose against Argentina than against the Materazzi brothers in the semis. But thats a different story. That night we were just celebrating to be back among the best teams in the world.