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Serbian tears in Frankfurt
June 16th, 2006
This morning was nice and cool in Frankfurt and a lot of the day was overcast. It was a great relief after the heat and humidity of the last week.
I needed to go to a hotel near the city centre to pick up a rail pass for my father who arrives in Germany a week from today.
Unusually for a European city, Frankfurt’s main train station (which my hotel is near) is not particularly close to the city centre. There’s plenty of public transport between the two but I like to walk – and I wasn’t in a hurry.
I took the slightly longer (but scenic) route to the city centre by walking along the Main River. It’s always pleasant walking along a waterway. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why I liked Rotterdam so much.
It’s the same walk I did three days ago when I went to watch Brazil v Croatia in Frankfurt’s Fan Park. Because it was still morning this time, there were fewer people around and I was able to notice more things – like some lovely parks and gardens on the river’s banks.
Frankfurt’s Fan Park is quite long and on both sides of the Main. Its highlight is the gigantic screens that show the games. The screens are back-to-back in the middle of the water. Quite a sight.
The Fan Park is also near the city centre’s historic area and the centre´s most attractive feature is a square called Römerberg. Here you can find a large paved area around a fountain and it’s all surrounded by timber-panelled buildings that are several centuries old. From Römerberg, you can’t see any of Frankfurt’s skyscrapers.
The only problem with these otherwise pleasing areas (and this is a worldwide phenomenon) is that they’re bound to contain tacky souvenir shops.
I suppose they serve a purpose. It’s probably time I sent some postcards back to Australia so I used a souvenir shop to buy a few.
After visiting the hotel I needed and looking around a few other shops, I found a café with a massive screen to watch the Argentina v Serbia & Montenegro match in. This café had a couple of Serbian scarves draped inside it so I figured that its owners were simply getting into the spirit of the tournament. In fact, this turned out to be the most depressing experience I’ve had in the last two weeks in Europe.
After ordering my coffee, I realised that the Serbian scarves were there because the café was run by a Serbian couple. About thirty seconds later, I also worked out that I was the only non-Serb there (though, at half time, three Iranians and three Portuguese turned up).
Well you know what happened – Argentina smashed the Balkan team and, amidst the gloom, I found myself praying for the final whistle to be blown early. I felt that I shouldn’t leave during the match because the café’s owners sat down with their patrons to watch it and, had I left, one of them would have needed to go to the cash register so that I could pay.
Two seats away from me, a young woman began crying when Argentina went 2-0 ahead. She never stopped. By the time the Argentineans scored their fourth, she was wailing.
At 5-0, one of the café’s owners got up and turned the match commentary off and played upbeat Serbian music to try to lift everyone’s spirits. As soon as he sat down again, Argentina scored its 6th goal. When the match ended, I paid for my coffees and bolted. I simply had to watch the next match somewhere else.
Now I know that Group C is the Group of Death and that Argentina was in top form. But I was shocked by the Serbs’ ineptness. Make no mistake, they wouldn’t have reached the last 16 if they’d been in an easier group.
The same can’t be said for luckless Côte d’Ivoire.
Of course, the west African team was also dealt a cruel hand and had to dislodge at least one tournament favourite to reach the second round. A spirited display against the Netherlands wasn’t enough.
I’d really like to see the Dutch go far in this World Cup (though I’m getting increasingly frustrated by Arjen Robben’s special relationship with the earth’s gravitational force). This Netherlands team doesn´t have as many genuine stars as some of its predecessors but it seems to have achieved greater unity.
I was still around the city centre area after Angola claimed its first ever World Cup finals point so I had to walk back to my hotel in the dark.
This is never recommended when you’re in an unfamiliar city (though I almost feel like I live here now) but with well lit streets and so many people around, it isn’t particularly daunting.
One of Frankfurt’s best lit tall buildings has the biggest advertisement I’ve ever seen on it. This building would have to have 30 or 40 storeys (I’ll find out exactly folks) and huge pictures of Kaka, Michael Ballack and Lionel Messi nearly take up its full height.
I’m yet to meet any footballers here, past or present. (I haven’t exactly been trying to.) But in my hotel’s bar this evening, I had an interesting chat with Geoff Aunger.
Aunger played for Canada in the mid 1990s and, coincidentally, one of the English chaps in the bar was a long-time Luton Town season ticket holder and had seen Aunger play for his club.
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