Deutschland Blog

by Rick Bosch

A World Cup experience is unique, regardless of its host nation. South Africa is putting its best foot forward and here are some of my thoughts after being lucky enough to attend two of the group matches in Cape Town. The first game I attended was the very first game to be hosted in the Mother City and it was on a bizarre kind of day. One of those unique ‘never-to-be-repeated’ kind of days. “Why?” I hear you asking, well, let me tell you.

by Tamine Medeiros

The history of football in Brazil begins when Charles Miller, the son of a Scottish railway engineer and Brazilian mother of English descent, returns from England, bringing in his luggage some whistles, balls and uniforms. To an elite group in São Paulo, he introduces a new kind of sport – football.  The activity spread quickly among ordinary people to become the nation’s most beloved sport, which continues to the present day.

by Rick Bosch 

The World Cup has kicked off, and our entire country has a severe case of ‘Football Fever.’ People that have never watched a game of football in their lives are suddenly glued to their television sets; the talk on the streets is all about football. The net result: South Africa is a great place to be right now. Restaurants, pubs, and bars are constantly full, and the streets are a very pleasant place to be. As a huge fan of the sport and my country, I feel a great deal of pride in what we have achieved thus far – and the tournament is only a week old.

By Brian Melican

World Cup 2006 in Berlin (Flickr: SpreePIX-Berlin)

Germans don’t do things by halves, especially where football is concerned. The “beautiful game” is something of a religion out here, and this makes the World Cup roughly equivalent to the Second Coming, or the Day of Reckoning – or whichever bit of biblical imagery you fancy. Anyone who experienced the 2006 World Cup in Germany certainly knows what I’m talking about.

Nobody’s happy. Not the coaches, not the players, not the officials in charge, and certainly not the players. Nobody is happy with the ball to be used at the World Cup, despite having had weeks to get used to kicking it in frustration.

The new Adidas ball is ironically called ‘Jabulani,’ meaning ‘to celebrate’ in the native South African isiZulu dialect, but nobody is celebrating its apparent unpredictability.

First Spain’s Captain and Goalkeeper Iker Casillas had a go at it, said it was too light, and described it as a “beach ball.” Brazil shot-stopper Julio Cesar wasn’t complimentary either: “It’s the same as the balls you buy in the supermarket,” he said.

Die letzte Entscheidung der Bundesliga-Saison ist gefallen: Der 1. FC Nürnberg bleibt in der 1. Liga. Die Nürnberger setzten sich in zwei Relegationsspielen gegen den Zweitligisten FC Augsburg durch. Am letzten Donnerstag gewannen die Nürnberger 1:0 im eigenen Stadion. Am gestrigen Sonntag siegten sie im Rückspiel in Augsburg 2:0.

Der FC Bayern München ist deutscher Pokalsieger 2010. In einer einseitigen Partie behielt der Rekordpokalsieger gegen Titelverteidiger Werder Bremen mit 4:0 die Oberhand. Für München war es der 15. Pokalsieg insgesamt. Die Bremer hatten im Endspiel in Berlin nur wenige Torchancen und mussten sich nach Treffern von Robben, Olic, Ribéry und Schweinsteiger verdient geschlagen geben.

There’s one thing my coach never tired of saying to me: “Hau den Ball ins Tor hinein!” – best translated with: “Just slam it into the back of the net!” What did yours used to say to you? What about this one: “So, let’s sit down and take stock.” If it was the last day of play, he might well have.