First Post From Germany
I have been in Germany for two days now. The country is beautiful and the people have been very nice. Two words to describe the first day: jet lag. After sleeping for 10+ hours the second day went very nicely. My family and I are staying with friends just outside of Goettigen, which is the host city for Mexico. We walked around the city all day (and heard a German polka band serenading a group of lunching Mexicans with "La Cucaracha"... priceless) and then headed to a community sports hall to watch the opening game.
The hall was packed with about 3,000 enthusiastic Germans (most of whom were sporting fake mohawks in black, yellow, and red stripes), a beer garden and a giant screen for watching the game. After each German goal, they played the song from the last scene in the musical "Grease" (any girl out there will know which song I am talking about) which they somehow have adapted into a celebration song.
Soccer-wise, I thought that both the Germans and the Costa Ricans looked weak defensively. We saw a couple of classic goals from Klose, very opportunistic as usual. All in all it was a very entertaining opening game and I was also impressed with the officiating. The linesmen had to make some very tough calls and they got it right every time.
I am headed to Dortmund tomorrow to see my first game, T&T vs Sweden. I am so lucky to be able to see a game from the stadium - tomorrow should be a dream come true.
P.S. The German beer is as good as they say it is! :)
