Like a flying express train the World Cup rolls inexorably onwards. Matches come and go, passed through like suburban stations. Switzerland v Togo … Ukraine v Saudi Arabia … Spain v Tunisia …. then on and on into the third phase matches. Groups decided now, teams fall by the wayside of the tracks … Germany v Ecuador … Costa Rica v Poland … Paraguay v T&T … England v Sweden. On the track ahead of us lie the decisive matches of the other 6 groups, and then into the big stuff, the cruel harsh world of the knockout stages. The track side scenery is the huff and puff of the media circus … Rooneys foot … Ballacks form … Ronaldo’s weight … Dutch Arguments … Swedish fights. And on the train with us are the fans, the people, colours and flags flying bright, the passion and enthusiasm giving fuel to the tournament.<\/p>\n
Not sure where all that came from, but think it sums up the way this is flying past. Already we’ve had half the matches played, half the tournament is over. At the end of this Friday there’ll only be 16 games left to play. But of course this is when it starts to get really interesting. The optimism of the and sparring of the first two group games gone. Now everyone knows that at the end of these games there’s a result, two teams are through and two teams are out. OK, a few groups are already decided, but there’s still the question of who wins the group to be sorted out. Some interesting games coming up, especially in the Italian and French groups.<\/p>\n
So anyhow, i want to get back to Stuttgart and the Spain v Tunisia game. This was an evening game, kicking off at 9pm, and as I was in the city it gave me a chance to see the atmosphere slowly building throughout the day. The large main square in Stuttgart, where they have the ‘FanFest’ is overlooked by a large “Nelsons Column” type monument, and surrounded by a couple of grand buildings. Early on things are pretty quiet at first with just a few shirts and a lonely flag, and the odd drumbeat and song creeping out. At midday things start to heat up, small groups of Spaniards start appearing in their distinctive red and yellow colours. Then a large crowd of Tunisians, flags flying and chanting, invade the main square. The fans are mixing happily, photos are being snapped both with their compatriots and their rivals, the royal arms of Spain side by side by the sickle and star of Tunisia. A couple of “Toreros” (Matadors) wandered past, accompanied by some se\u00c3\u00b1oritas in flamenco type dress.<\/p>\n
Into mid afternoon now, and the square is a hubbub of noise and colour.. Those of you living in Spain know that it’s a Spanish trait to be pretty damn noisy. Well they certainly brought that to Stuttgart on Monday. Banging drums, singing and dancing. “Manolo del Bombo” the famous Valencian drummer joins the party with a horde of followers some shouting “Espa\u00c3\u00b1a!” through a megaphone. But the Tunisians aren’t to be outdone, far from it. They’ve now got a huge group in the middle of the plaza. Big Drums are hammering out, and there’s a couple of mad looking geezers painted up in Red and White leading the chanting. They’re really up for this game. A couple of Barcelona shirts wander through the street? Catalans following Spain? More likely just Germans that don’t know better! All the Tunisians are wearing a shirt that says ‘5 – Jaziri’, must be their start player. Then on the table next to me, a couple with a young baby sit down. The Tunisian flag flies proudly from the pushchair, and the baby has the sickle and start painted on it’s forehead. Football fans start young!<\/p>\n
Of course, you can’t have a world cup party without a couple of Mexicans, and sure enough in the middle of this red, yellow and white fiesta walk a couple of green shirts, flag waving high, standing out like a beacon. These lads get everywhere.<\/p>\n
As kick off time draws near, suddenly the streets start to empty. Still plenty of noise, but not so many people now, as those with tickets start to make their way over to the Stadium for the game. I make the short walk from the square to the FanFest. This one has three big screens, we’re spoilt for choice! It’s not too crowded, and there’s plenty of time for a Bratwurst and a beer before aligning myself with the a more Spanish section of the crowd, today I’m definitely ‘Viva Espa\u00c3\u00b1a’.<\/p>\n
So the game kicks off to chants of “Vamos” and “Tunisia!Tunisia!”. Most people there, myself included, expect Spain to hammer the North Africans, especially after their demolition of Ukraine. But no ! Suddenly a Tunisian snapshot forces Casillas to parry and the same striker is on hand to knock in the rebound. 8 minutes and 1-0 Tunisia. The Tunisians are going crazy and dancing round the square, whilst around me there’s a distinct Spanish silence.<\/p>\n
Spain try and get back into the game, but despite lots of pressure they’re not really creating any chances. Then from nowhere something happens, something that hasn’t happened in virtually the whole tournament, something that changes the whole mechanics of the situation, or at least watching the game in a big open space. Rain. Lots of Rain. Hammering down from nowhere. Fanfest turns into FanDrench. Most people there and try to brave it out, after all it’s only a few drops of rain, but as the halftime whistle blows the heavens really open, and it’s time to head for cover. I managed to find a covered bar, and end up talking to a couple of Mexicans (no surprises there!), who tell me they really want to meet Argentina in the Round of 16, ‘cos the Dutch have too many big players for them! <\/p>\n
It’s been raining at the stadium too, and there’s TV shot of the crowd there all dressed up in plastic macs. I manage to find a well positioned tree to shelter under for the second half. There’s a surprising amount of Spanish fans still around as well. Back in Barcelona when it rains, everybody seems to hideaway, as if the rain will make them melt, but here everybody has stuck around to see Spain turn it around. Or will they? Again lots of pressure but no chances. The Tunisian fans are really celebrating now, they’re actually starting to believe they can pull this off. The rain finally starts to slack off around the midway point of the second half, and it’s time to head back to a position right in front of the big screen. <\/p>\n
And suddenly the stars start to shine for Spain, a shot from the right forces the Tunisia keeper (whose had an excellent game), into a save and Raul is on hand applying an instinctive poachers touch to steer the ball into. 1-1 !! Then it’s all Spain and suddenly Torres is running at the keeper, a little touch round him and El Ni\u00c3\u00b1o knocks the ball into the empty net. “Goooooooooolllllllllllll!”. 2-1 Spain, they’ve turned it around. And to cap it all a last minute penalty is given. Everybody knows Torres is going to score and sure enough he hammers the ball past the keeper. 3-1 it finishes. Not sure if Spain really deserve that, but in the end their persistence really paid off. The Tunisians are pretty gutted, but still very proud of their teams performance, and their red flags are still flying high.<\/p>\n
But it’s the Spanish fiesta in full swing now, with “Viva Espa\u00c3\u00b1a!” and “S\u00c3\u00ad, s\u00c3\u00ad, s\u00c3\u00ad, Nos Vamos a Berlin” flying round the arena, and then the best chant so far in the tournament, borrowed from the fans of Cadiz CF …<\/p>\n
“Alcohol, Alcohol, Alcohol, Alcohol, ole!,
\nHemos venido a borracharnos …
\nEl resultado nos da igual!”<\/p>\n
Sung to the same tune as the English terrace chant” Time to go”, it basically means <\/p>\n
“Alcohol, Alcohol, Alcohol, Alcohol, ole!,
\nWe’ve come here to get drunk …
\nWe don’t care about the result!”<\/p>\n
The translation doesn’t really do the song justice, but it’s really great when the whole crowds singing it. <\/p>\n
A few Spanish tunes in front of the main stage, with “Camisa Negra”, going down particularly well, the Spanish flag waving throughout the crowd. Then suddenly that’s it, the German organisers have decided that enought is enough, it’s half past eleven, everybody’s had enough now, time to back home and to bed. For me home was a drenched piece of canvas, and bed being a soggy and wet sleeping mat. That’s the downside of buying a cheap and cheerful tent from Carrefour, it’s great in the good weather, but if it rains you’re in trouble !<\/p>\n
I was really impressed with the Spanish fans. Living in Spain and following football, you really get the impression that the international game is a firm second to the clubs, and that people don’t really care what happens with the national team. So I didn’t really know what kind of atmosphere I’d find, whether there’d be many fans or not. But they were there in force, sporting flags and colours and classic Spanish costumes. And they probably made the most continuous noise I’ve heard, throughout the whole build up you could always here a Spanish drum or a ‘Viva Espa\u00c3\u00b1a” somewhere. Also it was noticeable how family based the fan groups were, there were all ages, from young kids through to the grandparents. All up for Fiesta, just like it is in Spain. I enjoyed being part of it, especially as it’s a culture i relate to a lot now, having lived there for 4 years. I was wearing a Valencia shirt, and several people came up to shake my hand and shout “Amunt Valencia!”. A top day.<\/p>\n
And then yesterday, Germany and England both made it through as group winners. I watched the Germany game in a Frankfurt Bar. It was a far cry from the intense atmosphere of the Dortmund, the bar was just full of city workers that wanted Germany to win, but weren’t gonna get too excited about it. Lots of applause and the odd shout when the goals went in but that was about it. On the streets though the German flag was flying everywhere. The Germans have really rediscovered a sense of patriotism in this world cup, in a very positive way. I’ll try and touch more on this in a later post, it’s very interesting watching all this out here at the moment.<\/p>\n
After a few ‘Apple wines’ in a Biergarden, the local tipple here, off to the riverside ‘Main Arena’ to watch England v Sweden. Great first half I thought, Rooney looking pretty sharp and Joe Cole banging in a beauty. Pity about Owen going off, looks like he’s out of the tournament. But at least we have Crouchy, on the bench, best striker in the tournament by far \ud83d\ude09 Come on Crouchy ! Second half though and Sweden just took the game to us. It’s really quite worrying how we can suddenly go from controlling the game one half, to being almost outclassed during the second. The last minute Swedish equaliser made it a fair result i thought, and we’ve still managed to win the group. But imagine if we switch off like that against a team in the knockout stages, we’ll be back into the nightmare penalty scenario before we know it.<\/p>\n
But from a personal point of view, England winning the group is perfect. If we get past Ecuador then I have tickets for the quarter final in Gelsenkirchen, which would be against one of Portugal, Mexico, Holland or Argentina. I’m starting to get excited. COME ON ENGLAND !<\/p>\n
At the moment i’m back in base camp Langen, Frank’s place near Frankfurt. From now on i’ll be doing trips out from there, rahet than shooting round the coutry camping, though i’m sure they’ll still be a few more nights under canvas. This evening Argentina and Holland are in Frankfurt for the Group C decider. The Blue and white stripes and the Dutch orange were all over town yesterday. It’s amazing how the Dutch just stand out a mile in those bright colours, you can’t get away from them. And they were doing a great job of winding up our hosts yesterday, with a chant, in German, of “We are Dutch, we’re in Germany and we’re gonna win the World Cup!”. Should be a good atmosphere and hopefully a cracking game tonight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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