Well I did blog over the last weeks but the entries were either not complete or too weird so I deleted them. This is a mix from stuff I wrote over th last couple of weeks and some updates:
World cup group phase match 1
The soccer world cup is upon us and I am loving it. The soccer world cup in Australia is very different compared to Germany. The typical Australian knows that soccer exists but the game doesn't have the same significance as Aussie rules football or cricket. I remember the last cup in Germany when every second car was displaying the German flag and public life came to a hold during the Germany matches. Here public life is on hold anyway because the games are at night and I even saw two cars with the Australian flag...
Soccer is the domain of the immigrants here. Melbourne is the biggest Greek city outside Greece and we have a lot of English, Irish, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Ex-Yugoslavian, Russian and other European immigrants who brought their love for soccer with them. But for the true blue Aussie soccer is a pussy sport.
Well, as little as soccer plays a part in the public life it is nevertheless quite big in the media. And before the first Australian world cup game the media and public opinion here was kind of "the bigger the opponent, the harder they fall". Most Australian soccer fans I talked to before the game actually believe that Australia has a decent chance to get past the group stage or even win the group. I always replied that in my opinion it'll be a hard group and as I really like the socceroos I was quite sad when FIFA announced the group they have to play.
I watched Germany vs Australia with approx 25 Aussies and after 25 minutes the crowd was silent. All I have to say after I watched the German performance is: thank you Kevin-Prince Boateng for taking out Michael Ballack! This German team was the best I have seen in a long time. It might be due to the fact that Australia was not a strong opponent but still. After the first round I can say that from all the so called favorite teams only Germany played like a favorite. Spain lost, Portugal vs Ivory Coast was a lame kick, France and Italy were bad and Brasil wasn't good either. The Dutch won but it was not a very convincing victory.
World cup group phase match 2
Now that the second round is done I have to adjust my opinion a little. The dutch were still ok but the German loss against Serbia was shit. But Italy...hahaha...my dream might come through, please let them go home after the group stage. I went and watched Australia vs Ghana in the city.
Melbourne public viewing was kind of good but I have to say that summer is actually the better season for public viewing. Even though winter here is what we call autumn or spring back home but nevertheless 20+ degrees are better for watching soccer. After the first goal for Australia people were quite optimistic but when the game was over it as clear that that was that for the socceroos. It's a bit unfortunate as the Australian soccer would have benefited from a better performance at the world cup but this is also the problem. If it comes to soccer Australia is a third-world country. They are able to compete and beat other soccer third-world countries like Oman or China but if they have to play against teams from the first soccer world they don't stand a chance. It's not surprising if you watch the A-League here, any half decent team in the third league in Gemany could beat any team in the Australian A-league. The season is extremely short compared to Europe and the style of play here reminds of last millennium. Sorry my Australian friends but it's the truth.World cup group phase match 3
Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! The fucking Italians are flying home. The highlight of this world cup. For me it is more important that the fucking Italians went home after the group stage than who actually wins the tournament. Fuck YES!!! The arrogant bastards actually thought they would win the cup and they got sent home as last of their group. Paraguay, Slovakia and even New Zealand were better. Hell, yeah! Fuck you Italian soccer, this world cup showed you were you belong! One word to my Kiwi friends: awesome! New Zealand unbeaten, that's a great efford and I hope we'll see you again next time around. Germany won against Ghana but it wasn't a great game and for 20 minutes it kind of looked as if the miracle could happen and Australia could reach the round of 16 but it was not meant to be.
World cup round of 16
One day afer Germany's last group game my jersey arrived.
I was ready to face England. What a classic and all my English friends and funny enough most of the Australians supported England. Well fair enough in the case of the English but regarding the Australian soccer fans I didn't get it. The Australians love facing England in sport (Cricket, Rugby etc) and they are ALWAYS against England which is understandable because as a former penal colony it's still great to show the former warders who's boss. But this time they supported their hated motherland. Well, what good did it do? I loved that game it was like witnessing history in the making. The highest German win against England ever and the equaliser for the Wembley goal in 1966. Of course some hopeless diehards still go on about that the referees stole Englands victory but that's just pathetic. Period.I also had to pay the prize of having married a dutch woman
Only one person gave me a hard time but as he is a Bayern Munich supporter I could ignore his "expertise".So now the exciting games are Holland vs Brazil (Fr) and Germany vs Argentina (Sa) and I am dreaming of a final Holland vs Germany which would also be a classic...which Germany could win...
That's all for today...enjoy the next two days without soccer, take care and cya later
