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I love Kaiserslautern
June 20th, 2006
Ladies and Gentlemen, I LOVE Kaiserslautern.
I love its beautiful pedestrian-only shopping areas; I love its nice old buildings; I love its parks and gardens; I love its size - not too big or too small; and I love its atmosphere.
When I last visited Kaiserslautern, I mentioned that it has no genuine tourist attractions but that it is, nevertheless, an attractive city. Just spend a day or two there the next time you’re in Germany and you’ll understand.
I’m so glad that Australia recorded its first ever World Cup finals win in Kaiserslautern. May the local economy benefit from Aussies making pilgrimages to this city.
If anyone in Kaiserslautern feels like employing me for a few months, please send me an email. Any job between being the city’s mayor and sweeping street corners is just fine.
And while we’re talking Kaiserslautern, let’s recognise its contribution to football. It has a great club in the Bundesliga with a proud history.
You might know that it supplied West Germany’s 1954 World Champions with several players, including Fritz Walter. (Did you know that you can buy Fritz Walter Beer here?) Of the German cities I’ve seen so far, it has also been the best World Cup host.
I’ve already talked about Kaiserslautern’s excellent World Cup Mile but its contribution to the tournament doesn’t end there. A high percentage of businesses are displaying the flags of the nations that were drawn to play here - even the lovely historic churches are doing it. The locals make you feel so welcome here as well (this has been the case throughout Germany but the burghers of Kaiserslautern seem to be the friendliest of all).
With no match kicking off until 4.00 pm today, I had a few hours to enjoy a pleasant walk around the city. There was a bit of rain today but at least it was cool.
The Trinidadians were in town and they were at their colourful best. Did you know that if you study in Trinidad & Tobago you can get a doctorate in how to party?
Throughout the day, the Soca Warriors’ fans were handing out tattoos of their flag to locals at no cost. No wonder this team has become everyone’s favourite underdog.
There were so many Germans wearing Trinidad & Tobago’s colours today (and so few Paraguayans in town) that I thought about 75% of the crowd at today’s match at the Fritz Walter Stadium would be supporting the Caribbean team. (I was way off the mark - it was closer to 90%.) Some of the local shops selling World Cup merchandise had to put up signs saying, “Trinidad sold out”.
There were, however, more locals (understandably) wearing their own team’s colours because Germany played Ecuador today.
The biggest mistake I made was that I didn’t try to find a pub or café to watch Germany’s game in until an hour before it kicked off. By that time, those pubs and cafés were already forced to turn people away and there were also long lines for the big screens in the Fan Fest area.
I walked away from the World Cup Mile area and eventually found a tiny cocktail bar to watch the game in. It was so small that only 25 people could watch its large screen. It was still a lot of fun. Naturally the bar erupted every time Germany scored and, after the final whistle, fans spilled on to the streets to celebrate. There really is nothing like being in a host country when its team plays and wins.
With three hours until Paraguay v Trinidad & Tobago kicked off, I was able to enjoy this odd but likeable mix of Trinidadians partying and Germans rejoicing.
There was nothing I wanted more in tonight’s match than to see the Soca Warriors score a goal. It was the least that their fans deserved.
Fortunately my seat was again near the area that was allocated to the Trinidadian fans (though it seemed that nearly everyone was supporting them this evening). I was elevated, in line with the goal line to the right of screen (from the main camera’s view), and on the side the main camera was facing.
Sadly, T & T is leaving the tournament without scoring. In truth, I was expecting this match to be a 0-0 draw as that seems to be Paraguay’s eternal objective. (The final draw should have given the Paraguayans a match in Nuremburg. We could have had a new round of Nuremburg Trials and charged them with crimes against football.)
After no less than five Paraguayan players had feigned injury, the South American team took an undeserved lead through an own goal in the 25th minute. Not surprisingly, this goal was met with the quietest reaction I’ve heard at the World Cup to date.
In the second half, the Warriors tried (oh how they tried) to reward their fans with a goal but their execution simply didn’t match their endeavour.
Late in the match, the most extraordinary thing happened - a move of some beauty resulted in a goal for the Paraguayans. Why did it take them 265 minutes at the World Cup finals to produce it?
After the game, the Trinidadian fans decided that, just because their team lost, there was no reason to stop partying. Even though it was getting late, I couldn’t resist one last walk through the World Cup Mile.
I’m glad I did it because Germans were still celebrating their win, mainly in a beautiful square called Stiftsplatz (the same place Australians celebrated the win over Japan).
It’s great to see them so happy. Believe me, this country has been a magnificent World Cup host.
If Australia records a win or a draw against Croatia, the Socceroos will return to the Fritz Walter Stadium for their second round match. I have more reasons to hope that it happens because I love Kaiserslautern.
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