Five hours to go. The semi-final in Spain is anticipated and the work in Germany seems to stand still. At 6pm, the last people will leave their work; at 8:30pm the game will start.
You know, football is the sport in Germany. Sure, we also watch Formula 1 or tennis, but the national sport is, and will be, football.
At the quarter-final on Saturday in Berlin, 350.000 people at the Brandenburger Tor watched the game. It’s just amazing. On television, 29 million people watched the game.
That’s close to the all-time viewer record.
I watched the first game in Wolfsburg in a nearby restaurant, which is managed by Italians. Many Italian people where there and everybody partied together as we triumphed over Australia.
But that is what I love so much about the game. It unites people. It doesn’t matter if you’re supporting Spain or Germany today. If we’re winning, we will have a big party. But the same will happen if we lose.
We played a fantastic World Cup, our players fought, and that’s what counts.
After every win, the streets are full of people celebrating. And when I say people, I’m not talking about Germans. We have so many Immigrants in our country who were feeling like they’re part of us.
And I can say they are. That’s just fantastic.
In about four hours, the streets will be empty and the bars will be full. The public viewing places will be turned into black, red and gold and everybody will cross their fingers to support our team.
I really hope that we’ll be able to beat Spain, but if we don’t, it also doesn’t matter. We had a good time and that’s all that counts.
NY
Guest
Bad luck about Germany. Thanks for the insight into what happens at World Cup time in Germany. At least one thing you can be happy about is that Germany surely must be one of the most consistent teams in the history of the World Cup.
Al
Guest
The Germans weren't disgraced by any means, they just met a team that is a level above. I thought the Germans held their defensive structure very well, it'll always be hard to win a game however when a team monopolises possession via a really beautiful, patient passing game who have the skill and technical ability to play such a style. I think even the most fervent German supporter will be extremely happy of how their team played this World Cup, they weren't considered a semi-finalist prior to the tournament.
Dominic Herzberg
Roar Rookie
The better team won. I'm close to tears but nevertheless we have to admit that the Spaniards played the better football today. We didn't play offensive enough, we had too much respect but in 4 years maybe the day of our young team will come. I cross the fingers for both finalist to win their first world cup. I'm disappointed but I'm full of respect for my team.