A 7am train to Leipzig for the afternoon kickoff meant another early start. We had about 4 minutes to change trains in Berlin but no problems, as the trains are very reliable. The Berlin to Leipzig train was more crowded than a 3rd class carriage on Indian railways but the joy of German organization meant we had seat reservations and our seats were there. Leipzig is actually a beautiful city although I suspect very few fans stayed there as it had stupid rules in the hotels that you must stay at least 3 nights. There was time for a stroll around the town, to sit and watch the world go by in a sidewalk café before heading out to the stadium. Lo and behold there were plenty of tickets outside and while many Dutch traveled without tickets there seemed to be plenty and for the first time lots of empty seats. The stadium is impressive inside although there is a lot of walking and climbing involved in getting there. A quick dash afterwards back to the station and a pleasant surprise to discover there was a train to Frankfurt South over half an hour before our one to Frankfurt Main station. Well it must be easy to get to the main station from Frankfurt South so off we go. Big mistake. We ended up on a local train that stopped at every village and farmhouse along the way and arrived in Frankfurt south well after our original train arrived in the main station. Thankfully it was easy to get a train to the main station afterwards. Still time for a beer or six in O’Reillys Irish bar near our hotel and the main station.
We finally got to meet some England fans and to hear the song of the 2006 World Cup. This is of course “10 German Bombers”. To the tune of se’ll be coming down the mountain it tells of the RAF from England shooting down the bombers one by one. Given the excellent English spoken by most of the hosts it must be annoying and embarrassing for them. There is also a T-shirt that accompanies the song. There were much better ones such as “5-1 even Heskey scored 5-1 even Heskey scored” and surely it would have been better to have stuck to the football chants. Thankfully all was peaceful and no problems with our Irish shirts. We did have a rather bizarre chat with Eamon from Tralee who was there in his England shirt and Kerry accent. He grew up in London of Irish parentage, started following England and still does despite having moved back to Tralee many years ago. It descended into the bizarre though when he mentioned he has a cousin in the IRA who served 8 years in jail and when speaking to him just before heading out to Germany he said why didn’t you tell me earlier and I’d have come with you? Eamon is in Germany as long as England are there and has no tickets. You’d think M16 could have swung a couple of extra seats for the games for him and his cousin beside Freddie Scappatici and Martin McGuinness.
I had my first example of “The Rules” on my trip home. Despite my cabin bag being regulation size and never having a problem before on Aer Lingus the check in lady insisted that no bag even half a kilo over the 6 kilo limit could be allowed as carryon and must go in the hold. This was “THE RULES”. Once a German says that it means they are being totally and completely illogical but they will not change their mind no matter what. It went in the hold. Yet German businessmen on the flight had bigger and heavier bags. After a couple of days at home it was back out again for trip number 2, 4 friends who travel regularly with me to Irish away games had planned a 2 match trip without tickets expecting to pick up tickets in Frankfurt for Korea v Togo and then off to Leipzig for Spain v Ukraine. The Togo FA sold them 4 tickets for the game in Frankfurt at almost 4 times face value but one ticket turned out to be a re-issued ticket and Jim couldn’t get in. Although the Togo FA official was subsequently found no refund or satisfaction was gained. Jim was so disgusted he didn’t bother driving to Leipzig the next day and watched the game on tv.
It was off to Nuremberg then for game number 4 – England v Trinidad and Tobago. This was to be yet another bizarre and very enjoyable day. I decided to wear my Irish shirt to the game, which went fine apart from some good-humoured banter. The English fans were impeccably behaved and Nuremberg is another beautiful old city with a very nice beer garden right beside the stadium too. Credit must go to the genuine English fans who have recaptured their national team from the yobs who disgraced their country for amny years. There was the strange sight of a Japanese fan with his Japanese hat and “10 German bombers” T Shirt. There was the guy in the England shirt wrapped in an Irish tricolour. Apparently somebody (presumably the same guy) was spotted on tv at the Frankfurt fanfest for the Paraguay game. On the way in I had my 2nd case of “THE RULES”. For all games in Nuremberg a free programme like newspaper is handed out in the main station. I was not allowed to bring it into the stadium. I pleaded asked why only to be told it was “THE RULES” I might apparently throw it at a player. I pointed out that for €10 I could buy the official programme and that would do a lot more damage to Goldenballs if I could hit him. My mood was not helped by an English guy going in wearing the “10 German Bombers” T Shirt and carrying an inflatable Spitfire. I actually pointed this out to the idiot of a steward that this was allowed and my 8-page tabloid size German newspaper was being confiscated. Little did I know the experience the Dutch fans were to have the following day. Then there was the American who came in beside me just before kickoff announcing he thought he’d get €1,000 for his ticket but the best he was offered was €250 so he decided to watch the game. I think I’d have been justified in beating him up. I was in a neutral section and the Germans all appeared to be supporting England. When the England fans sang God Save the Queen during the 2nd half 2 Germans behind us were singing along and shouting at the rest of us to stand up and sing too. Two Scottish guys in front and I didn’t know what to make of this and still can’t. When Peter Crouch scored a wild celebration followed from the Germans and included the guy behind me depositing a quarter of his beer over me and the other 3 quarters over the Scotsman sitting in front of me. The support hasn’t gone as far yet as the Germans donning the “10 German bombers” T-shirt but there is still time and I wouldn’t rule it out. I subsequently ended up chatting to a German fan en route to Kaiserslautern who also was at this match and had Germans near him cheering for England too. He couldn’t understand it either and said no regular German football fan would have been cheering on England unless they were playing the Dutch. A bizarre day had one final twist a few minutes after arriving back at my Frankfurt hotel when I overheard some Dublin accents chatting to the receptionist. I turned to say hello only to stare open mouthed at 3 Irish guys wearing England kit. Unlike Eamon from Tralee they were totally embarrassed by my Irish shirt and didn’t stay to chat. Still why was this such a surprise with an estimated 4,000 Irish people travelling over to Old Trafford for every home game. Anfield would have a significant number also and Celtic Park quite a few too. If you can give such loyal support to a British club side then why not a British national team. This explains too why despite being by far the most popular sport in the country in playing numbers and tv viewing figures football in Ireland loses out in the attendance stakes to GAA and rugby.
My father arrived in that night for 2 games and we headed off to Stuttgart to watch Holland play the Ivory Coast. The game kicked off 18 years 4 days 2 hours and twenty four minutes after Ray Houghton scored the greatest goal in history but who’s counting. A chance encounter with Roman Abramovich on the street in Stuttgart did lead to a photo although I think he declined my offer to invest in Limerick. We managed to get free Dutch hats from Heineken in an ambush marketing exercise but even though the hats were in green/gold and only said Holland they were banned from the stadium. Also banned were orange lederhosen with Bavaria beer on them, which meant hundreds of Dutch fans watching the game in their underwear. Thankfully my Limerick FC shirt was allowed in even though Charlotte Quay Pharmacy did not get accepted as an official World Cup Sponsor. Can I risk Danny Drew’s Asian Foods at a quarter final? Unlike Costa Rica my Ivory Coast TST had me sitting beside people who’d never been to the Ivory coast in their life and probably couldn’t find it on a map. The fans however did don the orange shirts of the Ivory Coast and did cheer for them. That was fine but midway through the 2nd half it was back to supporting Germany and a chant in German which translates as “Without Holland we are going to Berlin” I couldn’t bring myself to support any country other than Ireland but I appreciate there is a significant group at this world cup supporting a country other than their own. 2 German guys in front of me had Ivory Coast TST5s that has now ended up as a quarterfinal ticket for Germany v Argentina.
We had 5 tickets for Portugal v Iran in Frankfurt that was the only game we all managed to attend. My tickets for this world cup are an Iran TST6 that is a single ticket right to the semi final. At my 6th game of this tournament I finally had my own name on a ticket but it wasn’t checked. We played Iran in the playoff for the last world Cup The Persian people are the warmest and most welcoming people in the world. Great support including Iranian women in full Hijab and others in sleeveless tops. Again great support although Portugal were clearly a better side.
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