I had fully expected the English to win. In fact, I didn't know how I was going to get through the 90 minutes at all without a sedative. A friend reserved a table in a Turkish bar in an out-of-the-way suburb of Mannheim and 8 of us sat in very comfy armchairs directly in front of the large screen.
I don't think any of us expected Germany to win. Despite that we remained very chipper, joking and laughing and waving the German flag. After about 20 minutes I went out to the smokers' room for a cigarette - where all the Turkish people were watching a smaller screen TV - and bang! the first goal came for Germany! I jumped up, banged my knee (have a big bruise) and ran back to the main bar shouting Goal! Goal!
Barely 12 minutes later Germany shot another goal and we were incredulous. It seemed like Germany might actually win!
The English woke right up then and within minutes had their first goal. And just a few minutes after that, they had a second - while I was on another cigarette break - but when I came back to the bar it appeared that the referee hadn't noticed the goal.
This was not only a very bad turn for the English, whose second goal had been a valid one, but it left a very bad taste in the mouth. Germany shouldn't have to win like this! The only consolation might be that this is finally the answer-back to the famous 1966 Wembley Goal which was technically not a goal, but gave England the match.
The atmosphere perked up tremendously in the second half, when Germany shot another two goals. I have to say though, it was mostly our table making all the noise in the bar. That was because we were kind of the only people supporting Germany in there! There was almost nothing going on outside either. It was a bit funny to see how all the Turkish people didn't really seem to care one way or another.
Anway, I drove off about an hour after everything had finished as I was a bit worried that all the streets would be blocked and I wouldn't be able to get back home! It's funny, there's a lot going on out there, though it's not yet the craziness of last week, but maybe it will get that way later.
German football fans have given Germany a new name - Schland (an abbreviation of Deutschland). It continues to be a very exciting time.
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