I grew up admiring the German team in the eighties. Karl Heinz Rumenigge was my man :-)
Later, I have followed Germany fairly closely. Lots of great players like Andreas Brehme, Lothar Matheus, Diver Klinsman (I even got his autograph :-), Thomas Hasller (sp?)...
It is kinda if weird this time around, since the new German team is virtually unknown to me. I was impressed by the first game. Yesterday, was more of a battle against a desperate Polish team, but you guys came through it unscathed.
Good luck in the final group game, and might you make it to the final. I want a replay of 1966 :-)
BTW. Kudos to Germany as a host. You seem to be doing an impressive job, and the atmosphere around the games in the different cities seems excellent. The Norwegian reporters have been really impressed by the organisation and the atmosphere.
Cheers.
The Brits haven´t been that successful after their 1966 lucky victory. If they wouldn´t continue the propaganda war of WWII, I´d say they deserve the trophy.
Thanks, I´m confident that the happy mood goes on even if Germany doesn´t make it to the final match. My guess is, that we´ll lose in the quarter finals against Holland or Argentina. But that´s ok, we´ll be among the eight best team then.
On the other hand, we became World Champion in 1954, 1974 and 1990. Now multiplicate 54 with 74 and take 1990 - the result is 2006!! :-)
Many here are surprised that we - the German people - can present ourselves as a patriotic nation, but a nation that does it best to be a good host to everyone (except the Iranian president). I have never seen so many flags from around the world here, and people partying together. We pay tribute to good games and honor those who perform better than expected. I never expected Saudi-Arabia to make a goal, that Trinida&Tobago reaches a draw against Sweden, or that the weather would be that good. Where´s our rainy summer?
I´m really looking forward for the next weeks.