July, 13th, 2014. A day to remember for
every soccer lover in Germany. I think, it is safe to say that this country
finally wakes up out of its fabulous and amazing dream of WINNING the title of
the soccer World Championship in Brazil. Yes, my lovely followers, it is indeed
no dream. Germany actually won the title.
I know, I know it has been over three months that this
day happened, but as I mentioned before we all thought we were dreaming. And
afraid to wake up in case it was a dream. But now, I guess it is time to
realize that it was not a dream and it is true.
Anyway, before the actual event started, not all
Germans were convinced that our team might win the whole thing. Most of them
thought, if they survive the group stage, that would be pretty good. At this
moment I, probably, need to mention that we were in a difficult group with the
USA, Portugal and Ghana as our opponents. Others thought that we definitely
survive the group stage but lose one of the next two games. The reasons for
those speculations were, that the German team had a rocky preparation with a
last minute injury of an important player. I, on the other side, always
believed that the team is capable of doing great things. So, let the games
begin.
The first game ways against Portugal with their
superstar Christiano Ronaldo (a little note on the side: I cannot stand this
guy.). Everyone expected a difficult game. Portugal has a team that is
difficult to play against. However, the expectations were proofed so wrong.
Germany actually won the game with 4:0 goals. This was spectacular. The second
game against Ghana was a little nerve-stretching with an unfortunate outcome of
a tie (score 2:2). The third game against the USA was a difficult one for me.
As you can see, I am German and I love my home country very much. Hence, I root
for Germany. But, I also have lots of family in the USA and I absolutely love
the USA, too. Nevertheless, my heart and soul are German all the way. I do not
want to get into many details of this game. I only want to mention that Germany
won with a 1:0 against the USA (I am so sorry, my dearest US family and
friends). Due to two won games and one tie, Germany was at the leading position
of Group G followed by the USA (yiippiie J). The next game against Algeria was so
nerve-wracking. The best player during the whole game was without a doubt
Manuel Neuer, the German goalkeeper. He played the parts of goalkeeper,
defender and midfield player all in one player. We made our jokes, that it
would safe us, if we could just clone him ten times. Because of him, they were
able to win this game. Manuel Neuer was the German hero after this game. The
game of the quarterfinal was against France, another top team. We thankfully
won the game and moved forward to the semifinals.
At this point, I have to explain a few things about
how Germans watch World Championships and European Championships in soccer. We
take soccer very seriously. Well, you can say that we are soccer-crazy. So
instead of watching it alone in our living rooms, we make a party and major
event out of it. Bars, restaurants or café’s supply their customers with several
TV sets, so that they can watch the games. Larger cities also supply large
screens in public places, where hundreds or thousands of people can watch the
game together. Hence, I watched the first game with hundreds of students on
campus. And for the game against France, I went to a soccer stadium with some
friends to watch it there on a huge screen with over 30.000 people. The
atmosphere at those public places is incredible. Thousands are cheering on one
team. It is even more special when a whole nation is cheering for one team.
Moving on to the semifinals, we were facing Brazil,
the country of soccer. The land, who hosted the whole party. The team, who has
the most international titles. I think, we all thought that this was it.
Winning against Brazil in their country, their home, in front of their people,
seemed impossible. But, we also thought that the German team is always good for
a surprise. And the process and the outcome of this game were incredible,
unbelievable and I have no words for that. Germany 7 goals. Brazil 1 goal. They
crushed the Brazilian team (I am so sorry). Oh final, here we come!!!!
Argentina, you need to watch out!!
The final day was planned accurately. Nobody cared
about how early they have to get up for work or school or whatever they had to
get up for the next morning. Nobody cared about anything besides where do we
watch the game of the year. The weather was pretty bad, it rained a lot. So my
friends and I decided to watch it with other students (hundreds of them) at a
large lecture hall at the university. We waited three hours to get inside. For
some of you that might sound crazy, but as I mentioned before, we take soccer
very seriously. Anyway, the game was intense, more nerve-wrecking than any
other game before. We even had to go into overtime until Mario Götze made us
incredibly happy. He shot the winning goal. Germany is the new World Champion.
After 24 years, we have another World Champion title, the fourth star overall.
Germany was a huge party in black, red and gold.
Now, over three months later, the nation is sure that
this was not a dream. This win was reality. During every game the team of the
DFB had a whole nation standing behind them. And this will never change. We win
together, we lose together. One nation, one team. This whole country is so
proud of what they have accomplished. They brought four weeks of joy and fun
into this country. This was more than a Championship title. They brought a
whole nation together. And they will continue to bring amusement and fun. So,
let’s keep the ball rolling and bring the next title home; the European
Championship in 2016 (last night’s loss against Poland was not quite good…hopefully it is just a bump in the road).
On a side note, I can cross “Experience the German
soccer team win a World Champion title” off of my bucket list.
