World Cup Antidote

With the world cup starting within a week, i'm getting pretty excited by it all (especially since i managed to get a couple fo tickets with mates). But the thing i'm anticipating the most is the general atmosphere that should be around with place with so many people from different countriew here to enjoy themselves.

If the weather picks up (it's been freakishly freezing for this time of year for a couple fo weeks now), the beer gardens should be great for watching a game or two on their big screens, or visiting the Olympic park to watch it there.

The strange thing is, very few Germans seem enthusiastic about it all. No one seems to rate their team at all. I know they haven't been on sparkling form recently, but you can never count out the Germans. Look at 2002. As Gary Lineker famously said "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win". I know it's not quite the same these days, but they've got pedigree.

I think the Germans biggest worry is that they think their town and cities will be crawling with football hooligans, mainly from the triumvirate of England, Poland and the Netherlands. And that their cities will be covered in litter and empty beer bottles. Which i can understand. But they should also feel lucky that the have a chance to hold this tournament, it's an honour and a privilege that most countries will never have.

It's also a chance to show the country off for what it is, give the place a much needed economic boost, and to try and sell the world a better image of Germany. I have found the germans to be friendly and helpful in nearly every way since i came here (civil sevants are the exception to that, but that's normal everywhere), but i can still see the traits coming through that gives the german their stereotype.

Now is the chance for them to try and change that image.