World Cup 2010 (5) - Germany vs. Spain

Another 2:30 AM soccer match. Ugh! Learning from our world cup experience we identified the biggest problem of these early morning matches: getting out of bed and dragging our carcasses in front of the TV in the living room.

Well, we figured it's an easy problem to fix! Simply move a bed in front of the TV! Game! Now, watching the match was simply a matter of working the remote control and managing to keep your eyes open.

My sleepy eyes still had trouble to follow the little white dot on the playing field. Gee, these Spaniards are fast! I'm sure it takes them longer to fix their hair in the morning than preparing and executing a perfect shot at the goal! I sleepily wondered if these guys, after being too old to play soccer in like a year or two, will make a career as models for hair products, such as shampoo, conditioner, and hair accessories.

However, the wavy curls could not distract from the fact, that the Spaniards dominated this match. After 90 minutes of struggle, the Germans were defeated... Again, we did not make it into the finals of the world cup.

Anyway, no regrets of having moved the bed. We definitely did not break into a sweat doing so. Unlike the German team who fought a great match.

World Cup 2010 (2) - Germany vs. Ghana

Another 2:30am soccer match. I'm up, I'm in front of the TV. Glenn is supporting me in spirit. “Go Germany!”, he texts from the coziness of our bed which I just abandoned. I appreciate his moral support at this forsaken hour. Little does he know that the American team just won 1:0 against Algeria. Now being tied in points with England in Group C.

My tired eyes are glued to the screen. My back hurts after 15 minutes while I'm trying to get comfortable on an uncomfortable couch. The annoying sound of the Vuvuzela makes it impossible for me to fall asleep.

The first half of the match is torture. Both teams, Germany and Ghana, are strong. The ball goes back, forth, back, forth... I see a yellow card... back, forth, back, a kick, another yellow card... a corner, several attempts to score, missed, held by the goal keeper... Don't fall asleep, Jana! You might miss a goal! I'm texting with a German friend on the other side of Manila. Of course, he's up, too. It's like a being in a secret club.

Halftime! The hardest part of the game! How can I not fall asleep listening to the same monotonous advertising jingle, being both, repetitive and redundant!? Yes, every 4 years... the world gets together... to stand apart... Wondering if this line makes sense I doze off.

The Vuvuzela brings me back from far away beaches I was exploring in my dream. Another 45 minutes to go! Luckily Oezil finally scores a goal for Germany! I feel adrenaline rush through my body and all of a sudden, I’m truly awake! Now all I hope for is no technical mistakes on the German’s side. Just keep the status quo! Don’t rock the boat!

The final whistle ends the match with Germany walking off the field as winners! Not just as winners of the match, but also as leaders of Group D! Yeah! I quickly text my dad back in Germany a cheering message! I know he’s a lonely ranger when it comes to soccer with no one in the family except me sharing his passion for soccer.

I sneak back into bed just to hear Glenn mumble “And?”. “We won”, I say. Adding, “Your German colleagues will be in a good mood tomorrow!”

World Cup 2010 (1)

I've never been much of a soccer fan. During college, I'd watch matches for socializing purposes and the beer that came along with 90 minutes staring at a white ball and 22 guys chasing it. Off site was one of the thousand secrets surrounding the sport. My friends would get out the salt and pepper shakers, supported by the tomato-sauce bottle, to cast light on the mystery of offside. The highlight for me was the T-shirt exchange between the two teams at the end of the match. Regardless the final scoring.

This all changed with the 2004 European Soccer Championship. I lived in Cambodia then and a weird spark of patriotism made me get up during early morning hours (time difference can be merciless), hop on my motorbike and drive to one of the few sport bars with a soccer channel subscription.

Needless to say, the 2006 World Cup in Germany was a blast! I used to live in Munich then. From work I'd go straight to one of the public viewing places (usually a beer garden) with colleagues and friends to watch the matches. The main streets in the city were usually blocked for traffic. We walked our oversized German flags through the streets, cheered with the police forces trying to keep the partying crowd in control, and got back to work the next day tired and exhausted (or not all...).

Seeing the German flag flying from cars, windows and backpacks is what really stuck with me that year. Germany is not a symbolic country proud of its roots. It takes a trip to the Berlin to see the black, red and golden flag flying on top of the Reichstag. During the World Cup though, flags flew everywhere! And, they vanished shortly after. Maybe out of embarrassment over Germany's 3rd place overall...

This year the game is on again! And, again, I find myself getting up at 2:30 in the morning to cheer for Germany! If the German team scores four-nil, as shown against Australia, I don't even call getting up that early a sacrifice, it's my pleasure! If our boys lose against Serbia I'm happy that we are still in the early stages of the tournament. Nothing is lost... Yet.

And, while the cameras show an aerial view of the stadiums in Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontain and Port Elizabeth, I'm reminiscing the great time I had living in South Africa!