Disaster in Gelsenkirchen
dateline -- Munich -- 8:30 am
Embarassing!!! That was the overriding theme after the United States was throttled by the Czech Republic yesterday ... but before we get to that ... let´s recap how we got to this point ...
After the Holland match in Leipzig on Sunday, I headed back to the hostel where I met a 59 year-old Dutchman called Hank, who has been living in New Zealand for the past 20 years. He was at the last world cup in Germany back in 1974!!! He, myself, and one of my Serbian roomates, Miroslav, sat and chatted futbol for about an hour. Afterwards, I watched Mexico destroy Iran, and Portgal struggle to a disapointing 1-nil win over Angola. I was in bed and asleep by midnight.
Up bright and early (5:40 am) for my train to Gelsenkirchen. Leipzig was simply amazing and I will never forget my time there and the people that I met. I an definitely a memeber of the Oranje for life!
First thing I noticed when I arrived in Gelsenkirchen was that the Americans were seriously outnumbered. Tons of Czechs, everywhere in the city. After a long wait to find a locker to store my backpack (big ups to Chris from California for letting me share his -- without him, I would have been S-O-L) I headed over to the bars the check the scene. This was the best part of the day. The pregame atmosphere where the Americans had gathered was something that everyone from the States would be proud of. The footage I got here is priceless. I can´t wait to see it! We sang and danced in the streets for over three hours. My personal favorite chant was a spontaneous one that we came up with ...
´NOBODY LIKES US ... WE DON´T CARE´
´NOBODY LIKES US ... WE DON´T CARE´
´NOBODY LIKES US ... NOBODY LIKES US´
´NOBODY LIKES US ... WE DON´T CARE´
PERFECT ... we must have sung it about 20 times! During this time I also ran into Washington Post writer Camille Powell (who normally covers Georgetown Basketball) and got her to say some words on camera.
Then it was on to the Stadion! But first, the TRAM RIDE FROM HELL. We were packed in like sardines for what seemed like an enternity, and with everyone all sweaty and drunk from hours of pregamming in the sun, you can imagine the stench. On the Tram, I met a couple from Virginia Beach who are here in Germany on their honeymoon ... too cool!
Once into the stadium, I headed to my seat and continued to partake the singing and dancing. The Americans were loud ... the Czechs were louder. It was just a matter of sheer numbers. I would guess at least 70 percent of the stadium was pro-Czech. Signing the National Anthem was something I will never ever forget. Every American in the crowd sang at the top of his or her lungs. It was very special.
But it sure didn´t help that the Czechs scored in the 5th freakin minute. I was going to go in to a full match report, but why bother ... we simply stunk! Our ´young stars´, donovan and beasley, played like it was rec ball. It was if they had never played international futbol before in their lives. Bruce Arena has a lot of thinking to do before the Italy match, or we could be in big trouble. The US has now lost 7 straight World Cup matches on European soil. We just don´t play well in Eurpoe, period. Who knows the reason, but they need to solve it ... RIGHT NOW. In my personal opinion, yesterday could be the beginning of a big step backwards for American Soccer. It´s one thing to lose with class (not sportsmanship-wise, but flare and pizazz-wise) but it a whole different thing to be run circles round. Enough of that ... I´m starting to get pissed off again.
BTW ... my voice was gone by halftime.
Afterward that debacle, I headed to the FanFest to catch the Italy-Ghana match and sample some of the local brew, Vetlins (the company also holds the naming rights to the Stadium ... Vetlins Arena). If there was one positive of the loss, it was that everyone else felt sorry for us Americans and were buying us bier and just being very nice in general. And let me tell you something else ... German girls ... really like American boys. I found my World Cup Crush (word up to the boys in the Zoo back in Bethesda). Claudia, from Dusseldorf. I will leave it at that.
Oh, yeah .. my freaking watch broke yesterday also ... typical.
Gelsenkirchen was amazing, and I am glad I made the trip to see my national team. It was great to meet all sorts of people from all of the Uniedt States, who were all there for the same reason. One kid I talked to said it best. It´s all about the shirt. It unites us all behind one cause and it brings us together no matter what our differences are. When you are rooting on your country, everyone there with you is your friend and you are their´s. After the game, we all go our seperate ways, but that time we spent together is ours for ever and I am positive, none of us will ever forget it.
My train to Munich left at 12:30 am and it happened to go through Dusseldorf (hehe). I arrived in Munich about an hour ago, and here I am at the hostel.
One last thing. Insomnia is really starting to set in. I have been here now just over 5 days and I have only slept a grand total of 30 hours (and only 12 hours since I hit German soil 3 days ago)
I have gone over the half way point, but there is still a lot left to do. Today, fellow CSN employee, Tim Murphy hits Germany! He was in Prague (the Czech capital) for the game yesterday ... that must have been interesting. We´re meeting at the famous Hofbrauhaus at 3 pm.
This should be fun.
Embarassing!!! That was the overriding theme after the United States was throttled by the Czech Republic yesterday ... but before we get to that ... let´s recap how we got to this point ...
After the Holland match in Leipzig on Sunday, I headed back to the hostel where I met a 59 year-old Dutchman called Hank, who has been living in New Zealand for the past 20 years. He was at the last world cup in Germany back in 1974!!! He, myself, and one of my Serbian roomates, Miroslav, sat and chatted futbol for about an hour. Afterwards, I watched Mexico destroy Iran, and Portgal struggle to a disapointing 1-nil win over Angola. I was in bed and asleep by midnight.
Up bright and early (5:40 am) for my train to Gelsenkirchen. Leipzig was simply amazing and I will never forget my time there and the people that I met. I an definitely a memeber of the Oranje for life!
First thing I noticed when I arrived in Gelsenkirchen was that the Americans were seriously outnumbered. Tons of Czechs, everywhere in the city. After a long wait to find a locker to store my backpack (big ups to Chris from California for letting me share his -- without him, I would have been S-O-L) I headed over to the bars the check the scene. This was the best part of the day. The pregame atmosphere where the Americans had gathered was something that everyone from the States would be proud of. The footage I got here is priceless. I can´t wait to see it! We sang and danced in the streets for over three hours. My personal favorite chant was a spontaneous one that we came up with ...
´NOBODY LIKES US ... WE DON´T CARE´
´NOBODY LIKES US ... WE DON´T CARE´
´NOBODY LIKES US ... NOBODY LIKES US´
´NOBODY LIKES US ... WE DON´T CARE´
PERFECT ... we must have sung it about 20 times! During this time I also ran into Washington Post writer Camille Powell (who normally covers Georgetown Basketball) and got her to say some words on camera.
Then it was on to the Stadion! But first, the TRAM RIDE FROM HELL. We were packed in like sardines for what seemed like an enternity, and with everyone all sweaty and drunk from hours of pregamming in the sun, you can imagine the stench. On the Tram, I met a couple from Virginia Beach who are here in Germany on their honeymoon ... too cool!
Once into the stadium, I headed to my seat and continued to partake the singing and dancing. The Americans were loud ... the Czechs were louder. It was just a matter of sheer numbers. I would guess at least 70 percent of the stadium was pro-Czech. Signing the National Anthem was something I will never ever forget. Every American in the crowd sang at the top of his or her lungs. It was very special.
But it sure didn´t help that the Czechs scored in the 5th freakin minute. I was going to go in to a full match report, but why bother ... we simply stunk! Our ´young stars´, donovan and beasley, played like it was rec ball. It was if they had never played international futbol before in their lives. Bruce Arena has a lot of thinking to do before the Italy match, or we could be in big trouble. The US has now lost 7 straight World Cup matches on European soil. We just don´t play well in Eurpoe, period. Who knows the reason, but they need to solve it ... RIGHT NOW. In my personal opinion, yesterday could be the beginning of a big step backwards for American Soccer. It´s one thing to lose with class (not sportsmanship-wise, but flare and pizazz-wise) but it a whole different thing to be run circles round. Enough of that ... I´m starting to get pissed off again.
BTW ... my voice was gone by halftime.
Afterward that debacle, I headed to the FanFest to catch the Italy-Ghana match and sample some of the local brew, Vetlins (the company also holds the naming rights to the Stadium ... Vetlins Arena). If there was one positive of the loss, it was that everyone else felt sorry for us Americans and were buying us bier and just being very nice in general. And let me tell you something else ... German girls ... really like American boys. I found my World Cup Crush (word up to the boys in the Zoo back in Bethesda). Claudia, from Dusseldorf. I will leave it at that.
Oh, yeah .. my freaking watch broke yesterday also ... typical.
Gelsenkirchen was amazing, and I am glad I made the trip to see my national team. It was great to meet all sorts of people from all of the Uniedt States, who were all there for the same reason. One kid I talked to said it best. It´s all about the shirt. It unites us all behind one cause and it brings us together no matter what our differences are. When you are rooting on your country, everyone there with you is your friend and you are their´s. After the game, we all go our seperate ways, but that time we spent together is ours for ever and I am positive, none of us will ever forget it.
My train to Munich left at 12:30 am and it happened to go through Dusseldorf (hehe). I arrived in Munich about an hour ago, and here I am at the hostel.
One last thing. Insomnia is really starting to set in. I have been here now just over 5 days and I have only slept a grand total of 30 hours (and only 12 hours since I hit German soil 3 days ago)
I have gone over the half way point, but there is still a lot left to do. Today, fellow CSN employee, Tim Murphy hits Germany! He was in Prague (the Czech capital) for the game yesterday ... that must have been interesting. We´re meeting at the famous Hofbrauhaus at 3 pm.
This should be fun.
posted by littles: at 2:40 AM
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