World Cup 2006 changed the perception of Germany

With the German team firing on the World Cup fever in South Africa, I had to think back of what it was like when the World Cup was held in Germany four years ago. I ended my first book with the World Cup 2006 which forever changed the perception of the way the country was seen by the outside world. Here is an extract from the last chapter of my book: 

 

"For a month in the warm early summer of 2006, Germany was transformed into one big party venue, as the nation played host to the 2006vSoccer World Cup. Their catchy host slogan was “Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunden—A time to make friends” was the official translation, which does not catch the spirit. “The world are our guests: at home with friends,” might have captured it better.

When I first saw the slogan, which was on billboards everywhere, I thought it was quite kitsch, but as the tournament went on, it absolutely caught the spirit of the new Germany. They were the perfect hosts and showed the world an unexpected side—they truly knew how to party!

Everywhere there were Fanmeilen—fan miles and Fan Fests set up where people could watch the games together. I was cynical of these venues at first, seeing them as something for the young. Louise went to watch the first game with friends on one of the squares in Trier. I stayed at home and watched on television, telling her I wanted to see the game and not be part of a communal piss-up. She came back and said no drinks were allowed in, but the atmosphere was brilliant.

When the World Cup started, Germany had a young, inexperienced soccer team and the decade since they last won a major tournament, the European Championships in 1996, had been marred by bad performances.

As the World Cup approached, they had very little local support. The hero of the 1990 World Cup, Jürgen Klinsmann, had taken over as trainer and was being criticised by Franz Beckenbauer, the legendary German player and coach, for his revolutionary training methods. Beckenbauer was responsible for bringing the World Cup to Germany, outbidding South Africa by one vote. While the BBC’s Gary Lineker was saying before the World Cup that one could never quite write off the Germans, no local soccer commentator gave them much of a chance to get beyond the Round of Sixteen. The team was made the focus of everyone’s disappointment about everything that had gone wrong in Germany since reunification—large debts, huge unemployment, and people’s dreams shattered. My German friends were joking and making bets about how long it would be before they were out of the tournament.

But it was my daughter’s generation that went to the Fan Fest for that first crucial opening game to show some belief in their players......"

Read more:

"She concludes with the event which reconciled us with the world, the World Cup in 2006”. " Vito von Eichborn, veteran German publisher

Share
|