What could be a more authentic World Cup
experience than watching the host nation strut its stuff in its capital city?
Germany’s clash with Ecuador on Tuesday afternoon in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium
may have lacked some of the traditional tension Satta kingthat one
expects on the final game of the group, with both teams already having moved
into the second round with a minimum of fuss, but there was a great deal of
excitement in the 66,000 crowd.
The German fans were in party mood and sang
their national anthem lustily, just as they had a few minutes earlier when FIFA
played their, now traditional, pre-match songs. ‘Football’s coming home’ and
‘All Together Now’ make their appearance just before the players make theirs on
the pitch. The English (Liverpool) pop music has been entertaining the fans
much more than the English national team have managed so far (or Liverpool for
the past few years).
There were a good number of Ecuador fans on
Berlin's wonderful S-Bahn and in the stadium, their yellow-shirts too bright on
a sunny afternoon. One such clad middle-aged South American women asked a
German fan on the train to the stadium: “Who is your number nine?”
It proved to be a difficult question and
newspapers had to be consulted. Eventually, the answer came. “Mike Hanke.” “He’s terrible!” Said the woman of the Wolfsburg
striker. “He’ll never score.” “He hasn’t played yet,” replied the non-plussed
white-shirted fan.
“ As I told you, he’s terrible.”
The strikers that did play, Lucas Podolski and
especially Miroslav Klose, enjoyed themselves against a hole-ridden Ecuadorian
defence and midfield. To be fair satta king to the South Americans, who had comfortably
seen off Poland and Costa Rica to go top of Group A, Colombian Coach Luis
Suarez rested five players in preparation of the second round clash, later
confirmed to be against England.
It was easy for the Germans and when Klose put
the team ahead with a fine finish from inside the area in the fourth minute,
the result was never in doubt. The reported bad feeling between the strike
pair, brought about when Klose told the press that his fellow Polish-born
striker needs to be “less tense” and “move more”, looked to be absent when the
two hugged happily after Podolski’s second half-goal.
For some reason, FIFA had made a mistake with my
press pass and instead of being in the printed press section, I was lumped in
with the television boys. Being surrounded on all sides by Ecuadorian
commentators speaking so fast that sweat was pouring down their faces was an
interesting experience, more so that the procession that the game turned into.
Talking to a couple of these guys after the
game, none were too concerned about whether they faced England or Sweden. “England
haven’t showed their power yet,” said the commentator for RCO TV, “and I don’t
think they will. They are a strong but limited team. I am confident that we can
beat England or Sweden.”
Perhaps the fans were the same as none seemed
remotely concerned about losing the game and were singing and dancing outside
the stadium after the game in much the same way as they done before.
Will they be dancing on the streets of Quito on
Sunday?
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