Die Welt du Gast - musings

Amid the gathering gloom of the prospect of a 4th German win, there are moments of light relief. Oliver Kahn's completely gutted face on the bench is one of them. After Podolski was substituted in the Sweden match he went over to let the great ape congratulate him, and then found to his dismay that the only free seat left was next to the beast. He looked up and down the bench in panic, hoping for some means of escape, before bowing to the inevitable and sitting down next to Mr Popular.

Another is the story of the two England fans who parked their car in Köln and wrote down the name of the street in case they couldn't find it after the match. The policeman to whom they duly presented their scrap of paper reading 'Einbahnstrasse' must have had a problem keeping a straight face.

I spent yesterday scouring Berlin to find something with the motto 'A Time To Make Friends' on it as a present for my mum. None of the many souvenir stands had anything which might remotely do, though team specific flags, face paints, whistles, mugs, blow up dolls etc. were in abundance. A Time to Get Hysterical About Supporting Your Country and Wish Ill to Everyone Else, Especially Your Historic Rivals then, as normal.

The award for the greatest WM rip off so far has to go to the toilet attendants on the Fan Mile who are charging 50c to use a Glasto style plastic filth bucket.

¡Que se vayan Argentina!

Ihr habt noch nicht gewonnen

Am living in an alcoholic haze, interrupted only by classic footballing moments. Woke up this morning to find a bright orange feather boa on the end of my bed. Later vaguely remembered my friend Cindy liberating it from some Holland fans too sick at heart to argue the toss.

WM

What with all this football to watch and all this beer to drink, it's hard to find time for much else at the moment. England's second round match is a great cause for concern, especially given how badly we've been playing. Obviously it would be fantastic to knock the hosts out, but something tells me we might not manage it. And if we're going to lose, better to do it to Ecuador.

Outside of football (if such a world can exist) Berlin is fantastic at the moment. The chills of the winter seem a long long way away, and I can't imagine myself leaving here any time soon.

I've even managed to have a few full conversations in German recently. Granted some of them were when I was actually trying to speak Italian, but still.