| 26.06.2008 |
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Euro 2008 is, of course, the European Championship but that doesn't mean anyone outside of Europe is excluded from the party. After my esteemed colleague Jefferson Chase reported on the US Embassy in Berlin's safety warning to American citizens to stay vigilant around Germany's fan zones (the article was also picked up by the Drudge Report), a host of Stateside comments flooded in. Here are a selection of opinions from our friends in the land where football is a game played by men with odd shaped balls. "I'm not afraid of German (so-called) 'football' fans. First, soccer is not football. It's soccer. Second, Germans are very gentle friendly civilized people, as the whole world knows. Now, we Americans on the other hand, play football, which is a savage sport. I've broken my arm, nose, and ruined my knees playing football and I've had many friends maimed for life and even killed on the football gridiron. In the US, soccer is organized by mommies who don't want their children getting hurt playing American football. We call them 'soccer moms.' So, no, I'm not afraid of Germans. Why? Because they play soccer." -- Rocky, US "Any self respecting American who attends a game that lasts an hour and ends up 1-0 and whose players fall down screaming and crying clutching themselves when an opponent touches them, should have the crap beat out of them." -- Ken Mulligan, US "Wow, a bit sensitive I think. So the U.S. government tells its citizens to be careful at a football game in Germany. So what? We all know these football games in Europe are perfect family affairs and of course Germany has no history of violence." -- Kelly O'Reilly, US "Why is it so hard for Europeans to call Americans 'Americans' rather than 'Yanks'? Would a US article refer to Germans only as 'Krauts'? European sports fans are very violent, and Europeans tend to be anti-American. The violence in America in places like Detroit and South Central LA occurs in urban wastelands that very few Americans ever venture into, not in public areas outside of sports arenas. The German media must be very poor indeed if this is what passes for humor." – Tim, US "Are you born a**holes, or does living in Germany turn you into one?" -- John Ealy, US  "Your article on the US Embassy warning about soccer fans was real cute. I'm being sarcastic, just to be sure there's no misunderstanding. I'm from the US, and my 18-year old son has been in Europe (Luxembourg) for the past 4 months. He never had a problem. He was in Berlin last week, and he was beaten up on two different occasions. He was just walking, and groups of soccer hooligans came and beat the crap out of him. We've been to Detroit, we've been to LA. We've never been assaulted. I think instead of trying to ridicule the warning, you should examine what's going wrong in your country." -- Joseph Wayand, US"What an absolutely obnoxious article. Unprovoked, you impugn the US government, you suggest Americans know nothing about football/soccer, you mock Americans with the beer and bratwurst lecture, then imply Americans are cowardly because the US Embassy issued what is likely a routine warning about festivities that could get out of hand. With goodwill ambassadors such as you about, I like Germany that much less now." -- Bill Foreman, US "Just wanted to say that the embassy statement is absolutely crazy, and that not all Americans are as retarded as our government." -- Paul Lyell, US "This embassy warning is the most stupid thing I have heard from US State Department crowd in a while. It sounds like something that awful Karen Hughes, Bush's former campaign adviser and more recently something at the State Department, would have dreamed up. My wife and I were once on the Berlin U-Bahn with soccer fans going to or from a Berlin-Munich game. The fans were singing laughing and just having a good time. We never felt threatened or even annoyed. The idiot who issued this warning should be fired. We can't wait to get back to Germany. We have a trip planned for next May. I'd go every year if I could afford it." -- John H. Anderson, US "I lived in Germany for 3 years. Most Germans are proud but also not very tough. Not too much to be afraid of unless you think about taking their government hand outs from them." – Joe, US "I received this message yesterday from the US Embassy as I am traveling to Germany for 24 days of vacation. It amazes me how paranoid we have become. I know that most people will be watching the games for the enjoyment not to make trouble. However, I have seen and heard some stereotypical jokes about the Turks passed around by my German friends. I myself do not worry about traveling in Germany." -- Stephen Hicks, US "Honestly, to me as an American this is a bit of an embarrassment. I was there for Germany '06 and had a great time. I never once felt in danger, especially at the Fan Fests. I guess the embassy officials are thinking all soccer fans are hooligans, which is far from the truth. It's a little tough to dispel this idea in a nation that really doesn't have much of a soccer culture." -- Joe (another one), US  "I would be just as wary of going to an Oakland Raiders American football game in Oakland, California, USA. If you show up there with the wrong uniform on you will absolutely be confronted. If you are a young male and you don't have a lot of friends willing to back you up, you will be physically confronted. There is also the occasional "riot" after a championship game but these are usually limited. Alcohol and young men at sport functions can indeed result in violence. That being said, I can understand why the US Embassy gave warning. While there can be violence at games in the US, it is nothing compared to the history of hooliganism in soccer where hundreds (even thousands) of people are involved and hundreds are arrested." -- David Krausz, US |
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| 26.06.2008 |
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 The "Save Jogi" Campaign would like to take this opportunity to thank Philipp Lahm for his last minute goal which eased the pressure on the Germany coach. Before the goal which sent Germany into the final, Jogi was looking like he was about to explode - which would have made the DFB's job a lot easier had Turkey struck a winner of their own. But with German hopes, and Jogi's sanity (if not career) hanging by a thread, young Philipp the rabbit fancier stepped up and won the game. A special case of carrots is coming your way, Lahmi, with our gratitude. |
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| 26.06.2008 |
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| Gary Lineker's now famous quote about Germany is getting plenty of air time today after last night's semi-final. "Soccer is a game for 22 people that run around, play the ball... and in the end, Germany always wins". It really seemed that against Turkey, despite the nail-biting finale and the indominatble spirit of the Turks, Germany could have done anything and still won that game. They could have taken to the field in lederhosen, each carrying six Steins of Weißbier, every one of them clenching a bratwurst between their buttocks and at some point before the final whistle, a German would have knocked in the winning goal. There was an inevitability in the air. Germany may have given their own fans a bit of a scare but the supporters of every other team that they have ever beaten in the past while playing a disjointed and inaccurate game all knew with quiet confidence that Germany would win in the end. None of this is to say that Germany weren't good value for their win. Turkey may have been the more cohesive team for most of the game, had the best chances and looked the more competent at passing but Germany showed once again that there has been a spirit instilled in this team, one that can achieve near-miracles when its will is set on one goal. Germany's play wasn't all crossed wires and misread signals. There were flashes of the team that beat Portugal in style amongst the wayward passing and panicky clearances. And - believe me when I say I am as surprised at what I am about to write here as you will probably be to read it - most of the magic came from Bastian Schweinsteiger. I love to bash Schweini. He's such an easy target with his bad hair, a face that only a mother could love (his model girlfriend must know of other attributes), and ability to make Lukas Podolski look like a Poet Laureate. He can be an arrogant so-and-so and a petulent little primadona but - ouch! - he is a very, very good player.  Okay, he had a stinker of a season at Bayern Munich, one so bad that it had many a pundit adding his name to the list of prodigies who never fulfilled the immense talent of their early youth. And it looked that way at times. He didn't look as though he had fully recovered from the lyme disease which had ruled him out for a fair portion of the Bundesliga campaign and his confidence and touch looked to have deserted him when he did make it onto the pitch. But when his country called, Schweini managed to dig deep and remind everyone why he had created such a buzz at the 2005 Confederations Cup and the 2006 World Cup. Whenever the statistics box pops up during a Germany match, Scweinsteiger is always the man to have covered the most distance. he clocked up more than nine kilometers against Turkey and about the same in the match against Portugal. He covers so much ground. One instance from the semi-final stands out for me: Germany lost possession in the final third, leading to a Turkey counter-attack down the left wing through goal scorer Ugur Boral. Rolfes backed off the Turk, allowing him to advance. Suddenly from nowhere, a blonde streak arrived in the frame, dispossessed the Turk and laid off the ball to a German midfielder. The ball was passed across the midfield line and the same blonde streak was at the end of the move to collect the ball, start a new attack and steam off in the direction of the corner flag. That blonde streak was, of course, Schweinsteiger.  Then there was that goal. If the Thierry Henry of old had executed such a deft flick the world would have been salivating over the nonchalant genius of it all. Schweini can expect marginally less reaction. But what a goal - arriving in the box at speed with a defender on his shoulder, Schweini diverts the ball past Rustu with the outside of his right boot without breaking stride. Schweinsteiger has been Germany's best player in the last two games and has justified Jogi Loew's faith in him. He has not only battled for a place in the side after being left on the bench at the start of the tournament but he has won it and made it his own. It is a testament to how much of a creative spark and attacking danger he can be that Loew is sticking with the blonde streak. The coach sees the return of Schweinsteiger's belief and form and knows he is a potent weapon to have when in such a mood. Bastian Schweinsteiger could not only prove to be a match winner for Germany but he could be the man to clinch the title for this team. He still has stupid hair though... |
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