For any sports fans out there, it's an exciting time right at the moment... the soccer world cup is coming to a climax, Wimbledon has begun, and the world tug-of-war championships will soon be on in the Netherlands (a few sleepless nights there, I'm sure). I was fortunate enough to taste some of the world cup action in Germany over the last couple of weeks, and hopefully after this blog I will have left many of you diehard fans who couldn't make it to Germany drooling. (I apologise to those who have no interest in the Australian team, because this is rather one-eyed).
When Australia played Japan on June 12, I was still in Scotland at work, in a meeting, knowing that the Aussies were down 1-0. At this stage, I was contemplating how fruitless my trip to Germany would be if Australia lost, given that Brazil and Croatia were likely to be even more difficult opposition. For me and the lucky Aussies who had tickets, the first World Cup finals appearance in 32 years, starting with the come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Japan, was to be a particularly memorable experience.

Filled with optimism after the opening game, I arrived in Munich a few days before Australia were due to play Brazil, and I was amazed at the patriotism and excitement in the city (particularly from the noisy Brazilian fans). So I went out a bought the biggest Aussie flag I could find. I had heard about the heat in Germany, and I soon realised that my thick, long-sleeved Aussie jersey was not conducive to the conditions (although it'll be great for the rugby match between Australia and Scotland in November).

I stayed with Lok Man, a generous high school friend who has been living in Munich for about 6 months. We drove down to Lake Walchensee, south of Munich in the Alps, and climbed a picturesque mountain overlooking the lake. We managed to catch up with some of the other North Sydney Boys from the class of 1997 over a 1L stein (or a 'mass'), although it would take until the final group game (Australia vs Croatia) for us to realise that there were probably about 15 of us taking a similar route, following the Aussie team around Germany.

Some of the NSB group had tickets to all the group games, but for those of us, like me, who weren't so organised (or lucky), we could go to the official 'fan fest' areas where they would show the games on a large screen or three. In Munich, for Australia vs Brazil, the fan fest area was hardly capable of holding the masses of supporters in yellow and gold. Lok Man and I managed to find our way into the main area during the Japan vs Croatia match, although the heat and the crowds made it almost unbearable. A thoughtful attendant started spraying us with water before the match, although he was probably a bit too enthusiastic and most of us ended up absolutely soaked and frantically trying to protect our cameras and mobile phones. Some people tried an alternative method and started jumping into the nearby lake.

I thought Australia were brave in their 2-0 loss, even with Brazil not performing at their peak. The highlight for me though was the samba moves and rhythmic beats of the Brazilian fans, who seemed to use any excuse to party. Before heading to Stuttgart, I travelling down south again to the Neuschwanstein Castle, made famous by Disney. Although it was 6 hours of travel by train and bus, it was worth it to experience the magical castle amidst towering moutains and cascading waterfalls.

The expectation in Stuttgart was probably more evident than the previous game, given that this would decide who would progress to the next round. Although there were tens of thousands of Aussies travelling with the team, we were severely outnumbered by the Croatians, many of whom live permanently in Stuttgart. At the Fan Fest, which was significantly larger than in Munich, we would have been outnumbered by at least 5-to-1. There was one particularly vocal section of Aussie fans, which we promptly joined, and it was a game where both sets of fans had the opportunity to take turns in seeing who could cheer the loudest. It was such a see-sawing contest, with high levels of drama and excitement, that I was starting to wonder if our small contingent of Aussies could cope with the hoards of angry Croatian fans if we got through... However, we were pleasantly surprised at their gracious response, and other than being showered by some beer, we were left unscathed, and very jubilant (both at the result and at our safety)!

The word was that 1500 tickets were due to be released for the round of 16 match against Italy by Football Federation Australia, at a soon-to-be designated location in Stuttgart. By 9:00am on Saturday morning, Australian fans would be told of the ticket sales outlet via the FFA website, and would be allocated on a first come-first served basis. Our group tried to second-guess the FFA, and lined up near the stadium, only be tipped off at 8:55am that 300 people plus media were already congregated at a hotel in the city! Having piled eight people into the one car, we raced into the city, only to be greeted with massive queues, and some other equally panicked Aussies. We needn't have worried, because 4 hours later we had passes in our hands, and there will still plenty of other joyous fans behind us with tickets as well.

Before heading to Kaiserslauten for the game, three of us travelled an hour south of Stuttgart to a music festival that evening, and saw brilliant performances from 'Live', 'Ben Harper' and 'Muse'. We camped the night in rather crowded and noisy conditions, but got on-side with the Germans alongside us, once they'd had a few beers...

The small town of Kaiserslauten (partly made up of American troops based there) was bursting with people on the day of the game. The town centre was like a human carpark, and the walk up the hill to the stadium took far longer than it should have. We were fortunate enough to be part of a huge group of Aussie fans, almost exclusive dressed in green and gold, and willing to fully participate in the singing and cheering. We happened to be sitting nearby Ken Sutcliffe - it's encouraging to know that average punters like us have access to similar seats to sports commentator legends like old sexy eyes himself!

The stadium itself is fairly well enclosed, so the noise we generated was amplified even more than in some of the larger arenas. We were generating plenty of sound thoughout the entire game, which I think Australia controlled for the most part - the Italian fans seemed to have far less to cheer about. We were looking forward to an extra half an hour of extra-time, where it seemed almost guaranteed that Australia's fitness would see them score a decisive goal, when the unthinkable happened... a dodgy penalty in the box with 10 seconds to go. It even looked a little dubious from our vantage point on the other side of the stadium. The Australian contingent stood silent for the first time in the match. There was still a glimmer of hope that goal keeper Mark Schwarzer could pull off a save like in the Uruguay qualifier, but the shot was far too good. It was very disappointing that such a great World Cup campaign by the Aussies was brought to an end so suddenly and controversally. Nevertheless, the team had exceeded most people's expectations, and they responded to the defeat in a gracious way.

I flew out of Munich the following day, and was back at work in Glasgow the day after that, so my German rendeszvous was over just as quickly as the soccer team's exit. The whole experience was quite surreal, but I was particularly impressed that there was such passionate support for the teams, yet there was no major violence or bitterness. This will probably be the last major trip I'll be able to make between now and the end of the year, where I'll be taking three weeks off for my brother Steve's wedding in Sydney in January. From now on, it'll be short weekend trips in and around Glasgow, so future blogs may not be so 'exotic'. Some of my Scottish friends may object to the assertion that Scotland isn't exotic, particularly during summer, but if I stumble upon exotic locations in Scotland, I will keep you posted!!