Day 22: Rating the Stadiums

En route to BERLIN, Germany

Ageism: 50 Mundial years (yesterday: another day, and two souvenirs – a Duisburg Zebras toque for my grandson, and a Zebras tumbler thrown in by the kindly fellow at the MSV Duisburg team shop where Italy have taken up residence for the World Cup)
Pallor: Black, red and gold

Chris is a great guy. We miss him a lot.

Forecast: Berlin Mile jammin’

Whew. That’s 50 Mundial years added to my life, and having woken up bolt-upright at 3 a.m. this morning, I’m feeling every one of them. Out so early this morning, like Joe the Lion, made of iron, the street-sweepers with their straw brooms were out.
And for now, a long post: Rating the World Cup stadiums. I haven’t been to near all of ‘em, colleague Cathal doing the northern thang when he was here – maybe I’ll get him to weigh in here in response. These are the ones and what struck me, in order of preference:

1 Westfalenstadion, Dortmund. Talk to Germans and this is the one they call the best stadium in the country. Very easy to see why -- tight to the pitch, a real box, and the stands go up steeply. Big too, with 65,000 capacity for the World Cup and more for the Bundesliga. Overhanging roof really keeps the noise in, a hell of a din. I’d expect that even at the top it’s a real treat. The media tribune seats have been great in here too – third row over the Poland enclosure for Germany-Poland, and fourth row over Brazil for Brazil-Ghana. I also like the vomitories in the corners – that’s what they’re called, honest – where people come in and where you can see outside. At Sydney’s Bondi Beach beach volleyball venue at the 2000 Games it was the same deal. Having a little window to the outside world in the midst of all the madness of a good game is a nice touch. And the media centre, with its pizza and pasta bar and its enormous working area, is the best here by far. One of the best, most atmospheric stadiums I’ve ever been to, anywhere -- I'd put it alongside Fenway, Yankee Stadium, Conseco Fieldhouse and the old Soldier Field for the total package. I’d love to see a Bundesliga game here – someday, I hope to return and do just that.

2. Allianz Arena, Munich. Imagine a three-tiered wedding cake, the frosting being the white translucent cushions that surround the outside, changing colour at night and making it instantly identifiable from a distance, a real landmark. Inside, it’s a fan-friendly place, too, home of Bayern Munich – they had to float a loan to their Munchen rivals to keep them there and helping pay the rent, the two teams’ relationship sort of like the Clippers-Lakers at the Staples Center in L.A. – where there’s not a bad seat in the house. Media tribune is at the top of the first deck – a really good seat. If Dortmund has the footy cathedral here, this is the new-age temple. Designed by an award-winning pair of Swiss architects who are also building Beijing's Olympic Stadium for the next Summer Games, the New Yorker put it this way of the two projects: "Both designs suggest that a sports arena, for all the blood and sweat on the field, can be an exalted space of otherworldly beauty." Only problem is getting to it, out on the northern edge of town and a long hike from the closest train station.

THOMAS KIENZLE/AP

Olympic Stadium in Berlin prior to the start of the quarterfinal between Germany and Argentina. Final will go down here also.

3. Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern. Another temple of the game, located on the top of Betzenburg mountain, although it’s more like a big hillock. Great views of the town below from here and an intimate, rockin’ place to see a game. Even for a visitor like me with casual knowledge of the Bundesliga, you can feel the history and tradition. These are the Green Bay Packers/Saskatchewan Roughriders of German football, a small town that draws on the surrounding region for its fan base, mourning relegation right now. A real treat, but getting in and out of the place can be devilish. Best route down, anyway, is to take the stairs. There’s just one single-lane road leading up for autos and it just gets jammed afterward, as did the area around the station.

4. Franken-Stadion, Nuremberg. Intimate stadium marred only by a running track around the pitch, pushing fans back from the action. Coming in is quite dramatic, the Nuremberg parade ground still standing and quite forbidding, a small lake the size of Grenadier Pond separating it from the stadium grounds. It’s also pretty close to downtown, which is nice. Good place to watch a game, despite that track, very open to the sky and with just one tier – there’s an upper and lower seating area, separated by a ramp – it reminded me a bit of old Empire Stadium in Vancouver.

5. Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen. I saw one game here with the roof open and one closed. The lighting in both cases was murky – I actually preferred it closed, although it got quite clammy for Mexico-Portugal. Okay place to see a game, but nothing special, and the media tribune seats are up top, which is a long way from the pitch.

EUGENE HOSHIKO/AP

Rhein-Energie-Stadion, Cologne. Not a bad seat in the house, but little else.

6. Rhein-Energie-Stadion, Cologne. For such a cool town, with its cathedral and university and charming little streets, I was disappointed with this place. There’s no running track or anything, and the seating is pretty close to the field, but it’s pretty sterile otherwise. Nothing memorable, though there’s not a bad seat in the house, from what I could see.

7. Waldstadion, Frankfurt. Out a ways, surrounded by a forest, the offices of the Germany soccer federation and a Nike store. But it’s a real long walk from the S-bahn station, and the stadium itself is no great shakes. Media centre is lousy too – very small, so it’s always overcrowded. Don’t like this place much, and that shadow on the field caused by the scoreboard in the England-Paraguay game was as off-putting in person as it was on TV.

8. Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart. Saw Ivory Coast-Holland here, and at halftime went to the press centre to watch on TV. My seat, at the back row of the stadium, would’ve been fine at any other of the venues I’ve mentioned. But here, with the running track, the extensive infield and seating that slopes up very gradually, nowhere near the dizzyingly steep pitch of Dortmund – it was fixed up for the world track championships in 1993, and I suppose it would be fine for that kind of stuff – it felt like I was watching all the way from Poland. A pretty charmless place, too, very drab and utilitarian. Won’t miss it at all, it’s the one place here I’ve been that was utterly forgettable.

I’ve yet to see Berlin, and unfortunately I won’t get to see Hamburg, Hannover or Leipzig. But that’s okay. I’ll catch ‘em next time, right?

Today’s games

Germany 1, Argentina 1 aet (Germany wins 4-2 on penalty kicks). It's cloudy and cool here in Berlin, quite unlike the conditions we've seen before at this tournament. A dud of a first half, Argentina slowing the tempo down and playing it cagey, gives way to a gradually more urgent tone ushered in by Ayala's goal early in second half. Klose equalizes as Germans press behind Ballack -- great game -- and sub Odonkor, who might be the fastest player I've seen at the tournament. After 120 minutes it comes down to penalties. Germany hit all four while Lehmann stops two beautifully and there's your final. Tough loss for Argentina, but they were hampered by loss of starting goalie (and a substitution spot). Pekerman will be questioned for leaving Messi on bench and taking out Riquelme, who really didn't do much but he is their general.

Italy 3, Ukraine 0. Didn't see a minute of this, was busy working. But it sure sounds like a comprehensive result. So there's one of your semis: Germany vs Italy, in the splending Dortmund Westfalenstadion on Tuesday. I'll be at it, can't wait.

Tomorrow’s menu

Brazil vs France. I think this one will be a lot closer than most are thinking. France playing suddenly with some conviction – but does Zinedine Zidane have enough in those bones to summon up one more for the ages and extend his time on this last World Cup stage? A real poser, that. Should be a cracker. Brazil 3, France 2.
England vs Portugal. The red tops are really making hay on Scolari – “Chicken Phil” according to the Daily Mirror, who turned down the England job. Bet shops over ‘ome have posted the following over/under numbers: Trips to the technical area, or the coach’s box – Scolari 16, Eriksson 3; and number of minutes spent sitting on the bench – Scolari 10, Eriksson 84 “or slightly less than Theo Walcott”. Portugal missing Deco and Costinha; England gets Gary Neville back. Edge to Scolari, but that Deco suspension really hurts. England 2, Portugal 1.

Just Another Rational, Reasoned World Cup Fan

Esteemed colleague Cathal Kelly, now headed for a well-deserved weekend away from the home office, sends along a pointer to this story, of a man in China who wasn't going to let his house burning down around him disturb his viewing of Tuesday's Spain-France game:

"When the neighbours shouted 'fire!', I took my little baby and ran out in my nightclothes," the man's wife told the paper.
"My husband paid little attention to the danger, just grabbed the television and put it under his arm.
"After getting out of the house, he then set about finding an electric socket to plug in and continue watching his game."

Day 21: Day at the Races, Night at the Beach

FRANKFURT, Germany

Ageism: 47 Mundial years added
Pallor: Rosy
Forecast: Sunny and warm

It was all going so well, so perfect, so day-offy.
We were at the Beach Club in Frankfurt’s warehouse district last night, a more charming and compact version of the formula employed by the grim Docks in Toronto: On the north bank of the Main River, the gamut was being run from vigorous activity (beach volleyball, beach badminton, beach table tennis) to sedate contemplation in a lounge chair, nursing a sundowner while the house sound system thumped away.
An oldie had just finished – Eurhythmics’ Sweet Dreams, and it was good, 1983 all over again – and after a late-afternoon-into-early-evening at the racetrack I was lost in a revery, barely noticing the next tune starting up and suddenly my colleague Mr. Brunt, sitting across the way, looked stricken.
“Oh no,” he said.

FRANKA BRUNS/AP

Hard not to "Feel the Love" in Germany these days, even at the Reichstag.

But first about the racetrack – the galopprennbahn. The difference between mediocre and good at the track is simple and has everything to do with customer comfort. At the Renn-Klub-Frankfurt, there’s a railside biergarten at the clubhouse turn where you can sit under linden trees and study the program or, if you’re really ambitious, the racing paper Sport-Welt. Steps away is the walking ring where the horses are brought, guys with rheumy eyes and beautiful women dressed to the nines sizing them up, the connections gathering and an ancient steward rings a bell hanging on a tree for riders up. Handicapping by sight, I had a decent day financially – a little longer nose in the sixth, my nightcap, and I would’ve walked out of there with a fat wad of profit – but really, in a place like this, there is no bad day. People bring their dogs to the track here, for pete’s sake (I must call John Siscos when I get back to see if I can take Jinks to Woodbine). In the vast infield, there’s a driving range and a pitch-and-putt golf course – throughout the card, there was the incongruous sight of men walking in with golf bags slung over their shoulder, heading for the tunnel that went under the turf course (rated “gut”) and took them to the practice spot. I asked one regular reading Sport-Welt if a horse had ever been hit by a golf ball. He smiled. “Only the horses I play,” he said. A real wiseguy, this one.
I could’ve gone to an art museum, I suppose, or done some sightseeing, but this was pure relaxation: Watch the horses in the walking ring, walk over to the mutual window across to place a bet, walk to the small grandstand to watch the race, come back via the biergarten for the next, and it all starts over again. The World Cup seemed as far away as the Frankfurt skyline off in the distance. Back at the Beach Club, I wasn’t sure what Brunt was getting at. Then I realized – those chords, that strummy guitar, that whiney, faux-Peter-Frampton voice starting up: “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah … Feel the Love Generation,” he sang.
Here we were at the end of a great day, and one of the World Cup’s most inane, officially-licensed pregame assaults was coming on. Every match, you hear this one. Feel the Love Generation – it sounds like Japanglish, something you’d see on a T-shirt in Tokyo. Hear it enough and it becomes this aural tapeworm, looping inside your head as you walk home from the train station, or with the morning coffee – it’s inescapable!
We got up, padding over the trucked-in white sand and out into the parking lot and a waiting taxi. It wasn’t the perfect ending to the day, but it was a perfect escape.

Tomorrow’s menu

Germany vs Argentina. This is certainly the game of the tournament so far, with a number of great matchups -- Mascherano marking Ballack, Frings on Riquelme, and forwards like Crespo and Klose and Podolski terrorizing defenders. At the bet shop, it’s a pick-em proposition. Ever so slight edge to Argentina, whose coach Pekerman has made all the right moves and has shepherded many of these players through pressure-packed, hostile encounters before. Argentina 3, Germany 2.
Italy vs Ukraine. The teams drew 0-0 in an exhibition game on June 2, Shevchenko missing out with injury in that one. Now he’s back, against Italy team rocked by news that their friend and Juventus caretaker manager Gianluca Pessotto was in hospital after falling from the team’s office building. They’ve managed to pull together here so far. Italy 1, Ukraine 0.

Day 20: Rating the Final Eight

FRANKFURT, Germany

Ageism: 46 Mundial years added (Big day yesterday: another day on the calendar knocked down, a game, a Borussia Dortmund sweatshirt (got cursed out by some Schalke fans for that) and an Italy press guide.
Pallor: Drawn
Forecast: Raining winners (it’s opening day at Frankfurt’s Galopprennbahn – the racetrack – so of course I’m going. How else do you expect me to spend a day off?)

Finally, it’s time to draw breath here. Yes, a day off. After getting off the train from Dortmund early this morning, grabbing some Chinese takeaway in the station and heading back to the apartment it was time to sit on the patio, having a glass of wine, feeling every one of those Mundial years. Even the birds were quiet.
There’s eight teams left here. From what I’ve seen, here’s how they line up, in order of preference (UPDATED, with the latest odds from the friendly neighbourhood government-licensed bookmaker here, with Mario Basler -- my favourite German footballer -- making an appearance there this Saturday):

ROBERTO CANDIA

Roberto Abbondanzieri: No glaring weakness here.

1 Argentina. They’re loaded, and survived a nervy knockout with Mexico. The one team here with no glaring weakness (9-to-2).
2 Brazil. These top two could be the final the way the grid is set up. But their defence looked shaky at times against Ghana – in the first half, there was lots of real estate being yielded. Argentina has enough firepower and skill to exploit that, if they end up meeting (5-2 favourites).
3 Germany. The real revelation here, they’ve been great fun to watch and they’ve got the home-country fever pushing them along. Their defence has yet to be seriously tested, and they’ll get that against Argentina next out, which should be the match of the tournament so far -- prove themselves in that one, and they well could ride it all the way to the final. That’s going to be an either-or game, but the way they play and with that packed house in Berlin, it cannot be anything but thrilling (4-1 second choice).
4 Italy. They’re the real wild-card here, and I may pop by the shop today to see what kind of price they are on the board. They looked like potential World Cup winners in group games against Ghana and Czech Republic, both of them 2-0 wins against good teams. And although they struggled in their other two, they have the best defence among this final eight group (5-1).
5 Portugal. Scolari is the man with the plan but they kinda lost their cool in that crazy one against Holland and they’ll be missing the ultra-important Deco against England. They’re the trickiest team left (11-1).
6 France.

THOMAS KIENZLE/AP

Little help, please?

They seem to have got their acts together, although I didn’t see the surprising win over Spain on Tuesday and now they draw Brazil. I still find it hard to believe that Patrick Veiera is back and playing so well, but experience is something they certainly have (9-1).
7 England. They certainly have had the luck you need to go far at the World Cup. They certainly could get by Portugal next out, but too often their chief inspiration Wayne Rooney is playing all by himself (13-2).
8 Ukraine. Apart from a four-goal outburst against a very weak Saudi Arabia team, they’ve scored only one goal. For a team that relies heavily on Shevchenko, they look like they’ve gone as far as they can – and in their first World Cup finals, that’s a pretty good run (34-1).

Day 19: The Morning After

FRANKFURT, Germany

Ageism: 42 Mundial years added (quadruple play yesterday: a day, a match, a T-shirt and that penalty decision)
Pallor: Bronzed
Forecast: Waves of gold and green

On the way to Dortmund and Brazil-Ghana later this morning. German TV, meantime, is pretty wooden: On both networks that have TV rights to the World Cup, they each feature the same approach: a bunch of men sitting around a table, talking. If this were Italy, Spain or Portugal, some large-breasted woman would be there as an ornament, but here it's all serious and sober and aggressively male. They talk. They show a replay. Then come back and talk some more. They show a replay.

IVAN SEKRETAREV/AP

Agony for Aussies.

So yesterday, it was immensely frustrating trying to find a replay of the penalty decision, which of course, was one of those plays that FIFA does not show on their in-stadium TV broadcast. In North America, they'd have been Zaprudering the damn thing to death.
But let's go on. Here's some reaction to that stoppage-time penalty in the Italy-Australia game, a decision that on the scale that's at work around here with the refereeing, was nowhere near as blatant a miscall as the earlier red card on Materazzi, at least in my mind (oh, and if you're keeping score at home, our driver Alex hit 220 km/h in the Merc on the way back from K-Town, while I'm in the back seat posting to the blog. Way cool, that).

First, here's Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink who, amazingly, didn't think it was a penalty (and makes the telling point that his team didn't do well with that one-man advantage, failing to take the game wide and squandering their edge in possession):

'Even when Materazzi was on the park we controlled parts of the game and then when we were sent off, we assumed full control,' he said.
'Then we fully dominated against a team that is much more highly ranked than us, before we got caught out in the last minute and if you see the replay there is no doubt it wasn't a penalty.'

Hiddink's counterpart Marcello Lippi takes the other side (surprise, that):

'There were two fouls on him. He didn't go down under the first and he carried on dribbling and then sustained another clear foul.
'Why?' he asked the news conference. 'Does anyone have any doubts about the penalty?'

Here's Australia's The Age:

The Socceroos are out because of a woeful refereeing decision, but they are not the only team to claim that. Spanish official Jose Medina Cantalejo, the same man who adjudicated the play-off against Uruguay in Sydney last November, was sucked in by a piece of amateur theatrics from Italian full-back Fabio Grosso in the 93rd minute.

Richard Williams in The Guardian:

There will surely be questions concerning the decision taken by the match referee, Luis Medina Cantalejo of Spain, with the additional three minutes all but expired. Fabio Grosso, Italy's left back, had taken the ball past Marco Bresciano and into the opposing penalty area when he found himself confronted by Lucas Neill, the rock of the three-man Australian rearguard. When Neill, anticipating a move to the byline, thrust out his right leg, Grosso jinked to the right before tumbling over the defender's fallen body. There seemed no intent to foul or even to make an illegal obstruction, but as Grosso went down, Senor Medina went for his whistle.

Today's games

Brazil 3, Ghana 0. It's pouring rain and a touch chilly here, the first time at this tournament there's been conditions like that.

Pregame: Now it's just a drizzle. Team sheets contain no surprises: Forwards Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Muntari return for Ghana from suspension, and Emmanuel Pappoe is in at left back for Habib Mohamed. Michael Essien is on the bench on suspension. For Brazil, Robinho is out with an injury.

Postgame: Brazil flexes their muscles against a dead-game Black Stars team that, at least in the opening hour, gives them plenty of headaches. Ronaldo passes Mueller to stand alone atop the World Cup goal-scoring parade with his 15th, Adriano adds one in stoppage time of the first half, and Ze Roberto, who had a great game, wraps it up late. Other highlights: Cafu, at 35 the oldest on the side, running miles in the second half down the right side, Kaka (again) with some really nice passing and in goal, and Dida in goal, having a huge game, but his best save appeared purely accidental on a point-blank John Mensah header that ricocheted off both his legs and went out late in the first half -- a chance that might have changed the shape of the game, if not the outcome. 

France 3, Spain 1. It's all over but the Fabregas for the Spanish, heartbreakers again. Tied 1-1 with seven minutes to go till time, and suddenly it's the earlybird special at the rest home, and every man for himself: Patrick Veiera scores, then Zidane seals it, and France and Brazil are headed to a rematch of the '98 final in Saturday's late quarterfinal in Frankfurt. I don't think they have a hope there, but they have come back over the past game and a half to redeem what looked like a lost tournament, with Barthez in goal, yet.

Was it a Penalty?

You tell me.

ANDREW MEDICHINI/AP

Seconds left. Was it a penalty?

Two things about it, from my vantage point right above the play, in the corner halfway up the stadium: First, Neill's challenge was pretty clumsy, throwing himself splay-legged at Grosso as he moved deep into the box after turning Bresciano in the corner, who fell down on the play. Grosso legitimately went down, falling over Neill. But was it a penalty? Referee Medina Cantalejo of Spain, who sent off Materazzi for a marginal foul earlier, pointed with no hesitation to the spot.

Second thing: A murmur went round the seating area when they posted three minutes of stoppage time -- I was sure it would be two, off my watch. And the critical play happened with 20 seconds left in that three minutes. Standing there watching it, an unbelievable sequence capped by Totti, out of form Totti, converting the penalty.

Say one thing. The refereeing at this tournament, from Merk to Poll to Ivanov last night and now this, is right now the headline story.

Day 18: Driving to K-Town

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany

Ageism: 38 Mundial years added (easy day yesterday, only one year added)
Pallor: Rosy
Forecast: Partly cloudy, cooler

There’s a definite shift at the World Cup once this round of games begin. Up until now it’s all about parties. Then it turns serious, the focus shifting to the field of play. Today it’s Italy, halting so far, against Australia, a mild surprise that has a long shot of winning here. And the setting is beautiful – Fritz-Walter-Stadion, named for the former German soccer great who led them to the 1954 World Cup, up on a hill that’s called a mountain, with a great view of the city below.
But it can be a tough place to get to. After the craziness getting out of here last time following that wild Italy-USA game, we took no chances. Along with Rob Longley of the Sun and Stephen Brunt of the Globe, we hired a Frankfurt cab driver to bring us over here and take us home. Instead of a near two-hour ride on a packed train, it was a 45-minute straight shot down the highway – not the full-out Autobahn,

JORGE SAENZ/AP

An elbow to the face? Or the thought of taking the train again?

but a four-lane sub-version of it that Alex Hoffman, our Ukrainian-born pilot, figured would be freer of traffic. He was right. The needle maxed at a little more than 190 km/h, or about as fast as your usual crazies on the 401 without any of the blind lane changes and weaving, in the Mercedes A-Class 220 (four years old, and already there’s 580,000 km on the odometer) -- we were pickin’ em up and layin’ em down all the way to K-town where, according to Longley, one of the local favourite drinks is dark beer and Coke. Somehow I don't think I'm going to try that.
According to Alex, 90 per cent of the speeding tickets here are given out via photo radar, and police tend to turn a blind eye to excessive speed. I never quite believed that there is no speed limit here, and Alex insists there is (50 km/h in the city, 90 on the next up level of roads and 130 on the highway, he said). I sure didn’t notice any. It felt like we arrived here before we left.
And the best thing? Alex really, really wants to get back to Frankfurt in time for the Ukraine-Switzerland game at 9 p.m. local time tonight. That’s what I like. A motivated driver. Go Alex! Go Ukraine! And goodbye, train station!

Today’s games

Italy 1, Australia 0. Pregame: Interesting lineup note out of the Azzurri: Luca Toni starts and out of form Francesco Totti sits. That makes three natural forwards in today's starting lineup for Italy (Toni, Del Piero and Gilardino). For the Aussie, Harry Kewell sits with a groin injury.

Postgame: The first holy **** moment of the tournament, as a colleague here put it. Italy go down to 10 men when Materazzi, in for the injured Nesta, is sent off rather harshly for a challenge on Aussie winger Bresciano. Cannavaro magnificent in defence all day, and Buffon turns back a few tough chances -- but Aussie never really looks like able to score. And the moment comes in three minutes of stoppage time at end of second half, when Grosso chases down a high ball in the corner, turns Bresciano who falls down and then in the area, Aussie defender Lucas Neill's splay-legged tackle brings down Grosso. Spanish referee points immediately to the spot -- tough call, but it was very clumsy from Neill -- stadium goes absolutely nuts. Then it's Totti, out of form Totti, to take the penalty, after coming in as a sub for the invisible Del Piero wtih 15 minutes to go. He scores, place goes absolutely absolutely nuts. The first holy **** moment of the tournament. We make our way down the hill surrounded by stunned fans, turn right and right on schedule there's our driver Alex waving at us, which is another kind of moment. At 7:45, we're on the road back to Frankfurt and Alex is hitting 160 and getting warmed up. At 7:50 he hits 200. He really wants to get home, our Alex.

Ukraine 0, Switzerland 0 (Ukraine wins 3-0 on penalties). Swiss miss! After Shevchenko made like chicken Kiev and missed the first one, Swiss shank three and the Ukrainians make all theirs. So it's Italy vs. the Ukraine on Friday night in Hamburg, with a semifinal spot on the line: edge to the Azzurri.

Tuesday's menu

Brazil v Ghana. This somehow got eaten by The Man, so I'll just mention the predicted score. Can't see Ghana without Essien winning this one, but you know they'll always try. Brazil 3, Ghana 1.

Spain vs France. Spanish have too much for aging French, but it will be closer than first glance would indicate. Spain 3, France 2.

Day 17: Ten Canadians at the World Cup

FRANKFURT, Germany

Ageism: 37 Mundial years added
Pallor: Amber
Forecast: Stinkin’ hot

I had a great seat for Germany-Sweden on Saturday: three rows off the pitch, right over the Sweden enclosure, close enough to watch the impeccably turned-out Juergen Klinsmann at work and near enough to hear Lars Lagerbeck’s exhortations and curses, especially after Henrik Larsson skied that penalty – for a media tribune, that’s about as good as it gets. From so low down, the three-tiered Allianz Arena appeared even vaster than it seems from the outside, where it’s recognizable from miles away, a big white pillow in the distance.
Then I spotted them, three rows up in the next section over. The red and white Canada Cat in the Hat hats, with the Maple Leaf on them, were a dead giveaway. And there seemed to be a lot of them, holding up Canadian flags and cheering with the rest of the crowd as the teams came on the field.
You see lone Canadian flags at World Cup stadiums quite often, and pairs of fans coming in wearing their national pride on their backs, their butts, over their shoulders, on their heads. During drowsy times in games, you imagine a corner filled with this kind of sight – instead of those 6,000 or so Swedes turning that far end into a monotonous yellow, consider its red and white equivalent.
And here were not just a couple but 10: Seven girls from Sudbury’s under-16 Ontario Youth Soccer League team, their coach and a couple of parents. They were obviously having a great time, taking pictures, yelling their lungs out and occasionally glancing around the stadium like I was, taking it all in.
I went up at haltime and talked to Lucie Tagliafierro, one of the parents. Turns out they’ve been planning this trip for two years, raising money to pay for it through silent auctions, car washes and the like. Included was a World Cup finals game, just a game – and here they were in the 6th row, almost at midfield, ringside seats to watch Germany’s gathering storm engulf Sweden.
“We knew it was going to be good,” said Lucie. “We never realized we’d be this close. This is fantastic.”
Outside the stadium, the remainder of the Sudbury U-16 party, including the six remaining players, were hanging out. They drew lots to see who would get the tickets, and these were the lucky ones.
“We’ve had it pretty hectic since arriving here from Toronto at 10 a.m. yesterday (Sunday) morning,” she said. “The hardest thing has been figuring out Toronto’s subway system when we came down from Sudbury. It’s been go go go since we landed. We went to tour a castle, Ludwig II’s castle, and this morning they had an hour and a half practice with one of the German national women’s team coaches from here in Bavaria.”
Today they’ll play in a tournament here and do some more training later in the week. Then it’s on to Italy and southern France for more training and games, then up to Paris and home on July 17. That’s a pretty impressive itinerary. What a trip this will be for them – and here we are, they're barely arrived, and already they’re at a World Cup game. It's their only one, but still . . .
I look into that corner of the stadium where all of Sweden’s supporters sit, look back at the girls in red and white, look back at the corner – maybe some day, eh? Then I think of Frank Yallop’s abrupt resignation. Frankly, knowing how well the Canada women's programme has done, I think these girls have a better chance of being out there on the field.

Quote of the day

Italy's La Republicca on England's Peter Crouch (from The Observer): "England have a lot of great players but owe their progress mainly to a stork with bird flu. The thing is he isn't even that good with his head. He is a basketball player, as agile as Nelson's column."

Sunday’s games

England 1, Ecuador 0. Forecast in Stuttgart is a scorching hot 34C. I can hear Svennis moaning already. England continue to pay just good enough to win, a Beckham free kick from about 30 yards out that the 'keeper could've done a better job on the only goal. Not an artistic masterpiece otherwise, and on the TV here they showed a replay of Posh celebrating more than they did the goal.
(Postscript: At the urging of fellow Canadian Stephen Brunt, I put 5 euros on 6-to-1 Ecuador here, noting the heat and the English's harping on it beforehand. It was a fruitful trip back to the shop too -- put 5 euros on Time On at Saint-Cloud in the Prix de Malleret and she went wire to wire. The 13-euro profit knocks the deficit here down to 21 euros, before today's games. We're coming back.)
Portugal 1, Netherlands 0. The play at the shop this morning: 5 euros on the Dutch to win at 7-to-5 odds. And it's a loser, but what a loser: 16 yellow cards, 4 reds, the referee making a complete shambles of this one. England to face Portugal on Saturday, but the Portuguese will be missing those two sent off here: midfielders Deco and Costinha. England into the semis?

Monday’s menu

Italy vs Australia. Suspensions: Italy’s missing Daniele De Rossi and Australia’s minus Brett Emerton, and the Azzurri are further down a defender with Alessandro Nesta out injured. Lippi sticking with Francesco Totti, who’s picked up some media criticism for his out-of-form play. Midfielder Pirlo’s been Italy’s best player at this tournament, but he sometimes disappears. Aussies have an upset chance -- if this is a bet, I may well go with them at good value -- but I’m leaning to the favourites. Italy 2, Australia 0.
Switzerland vs Ukraine. Philippe Senderos, one of my first round all-World Cup XI, is out with a shoulder dislocation. He’ll be missed on a side that didn’t give up a goal in group play. Ukraine have two defenders suspended for cards (Rusol, Sviderskvi). Slight edge to Swiss because of that, Barnetta an unnerving matchup for anyone, let alone a pair of replacements. Switzerland 2, Ukraine 1.

Day 16: My All-World Cup XI (so far)

MUNICH, Germany

Ageism: 35 Mundial years added
Pallor: Yellow (all those madcap Swedes on the morning train from Frankfurt)
Forecast: Penalties (I’ve got a feeling)

Coming off the train in Munich, there was a hellacious din in the station. It’s another one of those Germany days at this World Cup. Win here, and the place will go nuts. Lose, and the air will go out of this tournament faster than you can say “gesundheit!”
But enough of that. This is different: a footy post.
Off the first round, here’s my all-star XI for this tournament so far – or at least, the XI that have most caught my eye (send along yours in the comments, if you like):

Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar (Holland)
Buffon of Italy only was beaten by an own goal he had no chance on, and Switzerland’s Zuberbuehler has three clean sheets. But I give it to van der Sar: a tougher group and although he hasn’t had a lot to do, he did make some good saves and only a scintillating goal from Ivory Coast’s Kone got by him.

KAI-UWE KNOTH/AP

Switzerland's Phillippe Senderos: gotta love it.

Defence: Philipp Lahm (Germany), Phillipe Senderos (Switzerland), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Carlos Puyol (Spain).
Lahm’s been a revelation here. Senderos caught my eye with that goal against South Korea, a header that split his face open -- gotta love that stuff. Cannavaro is a rock, and Puyol couldn’t beat his grandmother in a 100-yard dash – but he’s smart, had Shevchenko waving the white flag with his rugged marking and of course he’s got that classic 70s rocker 'do, although I'm not quite sure which one (Daltrey? Jimmy Page?).

Midfield: Juan Roman Riquelme (Argentina), Michael Essien (Ghana), Kaka (Brazil), Tomas Rosicky (Czech Republic).
Riquelme is the best player here so far, although I picked Klose in the petroleum-based product edition as the MVP (I don’t believe in the best player as MVP all the time). Essien is just a hard-as-nails player who willed his team past Czech Republic and United States in their last two games – shame he’s going to miss the second-rounder because of a very dubious second yellow card from Markus Merk, No. 1A to Graham Poll’s 1 as worst refereeing job . Kaka has played the major midfield role for Brazil. Rosicky impressed me enough in that opener to look beyond the Czech Republic’s early exit in a difficult group.

FRANK AUGSTEIN/AP

Klose to Podolski: Well struck, mate!.

Forwards: Miroslav Klose (Germany), Fernando Torres (Spain).
Klose is top class. No wonder Werder Bremen is telling the big sides to stay away from him. Torres plays with a great deal of determination to go with quality.

Substitutes: Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi (Argentina), Luis Figo (Portugal).
Tevez’s gorgeous goal against Serbia & Montenegro will be shown on highlight reels for years to come. His teammate Messi is the brightest young star here. Figo isn't as fleet as he once was, but he’s playing with a lot of hunger and commitment and he can still turn it on when he has to, witness the setup on Portugal’s goal against Angola.

Today’s games

Germany 2, Sweden 0. I’m here for this one at Allianz Arena, where it’s 28C and sunny two hours before kickoff. Turns out to be a pretty one-sided win for the hosts, two goals from Lu-kas! Po-dol-ski! in the first 12 minutes, Teddy Lucic sent off for Sweden when Klose runs right at him and all the defender can do is trip him, and Henrk Larsson firing a penalty high into the stands.
Argentina 2, Mexico 1 (extra time). I was on the train when this one went down, following it via text messages and email. Sigh. Maxi Rodriguez, yet another good one on this deep team, scored in the extra period.

Sunday’s matches

England vs Ecuador. Well, it’s crunch time for the English and here comes an upset possibility in a well-rested and eager La Tri. Left winger Edison Mendeza is pretty slick and England’s right-side duo of Beckham and Hargreaves could be in for a long day. Over on the other side, the Joe Cole can turn the Ecuador defence. The wall looms for England either here or next round off the form they’ve shown. I think they’ll sneak by once more, but it’s no cinch. England 1, Ecuador 0.
Portugal vs Netherlands. On paper and form, this is the second round’s best matchup and it should be a real thriller, both teams liking to come forward. Portugal knocked the Dutch out of Euro 2004 at home, and the Dutch may well start Dirk Kuyt instead of sputtering Ruud van Nistlerooy. Tough call. I think this one’s going to penalties. Portugal 2, Netherlands 2 aet (Netherlands win on penalties).

Day 15: A Ghana moment

FRANKFURT, Germany

Ageism: 34 Mundial years added
Pallor: Healthy, for once. Okay, reasonably healthy. Well, actually I'm upright and there's no train to catch today, which is good enough.
Forecast: Sunny and clear

Coming out of Frankfurt train station Thursday night, two guys in Ghana colours were coming the other way, wearing flags and dressed in the colours and dancing up the streets, whistling out the beat: tweet-tweet-tweet tweet tweet, tweet-tweet-tweet tweet tweet, and so on.

OLIVIER ASSELIN/AP

Celebrating in the streets of Accra, Ghana.

As we passed, our knuckles met, while they kept on with the whistles: props to Ghana, pop. 20 million, No. 50 on those kooky FIFA rankings, marching into the second round after dispatching mighty America. They kept going.
I like keeping my media match tickets. At home, I have some going back to 1994. There's one from 2002 signed by Franz Beckenbauer, the only autograph I've ever asked for. But there are always cases where they are worth giving away, not to those poor souls who stand outside the stadium asking you for them so they can sell them on eBay, but in certain, special cases.
Two years ago at the Euro, I came out of my local subway station after covering the semifinal to find a mother and her young daughter standing on the curb, waving Portuguese flags to the onrushing traffic. Everyone in Lisbon was celebrating the semifinal win over archrival Spain, and this was their contribution. I couldn’t resist. I dug into my bag, pulled out the Spain-Portugal ticket, and handed it to the little girl. She was mystified, then realized what it was. She kept looking at it, blinking and looking up at me, then back down at the ticket. It was a perfect moment.
So as these two guys moved off, I had a flashback. I turned and looked back, and the two Ghanaians were a block away and moving pretty fast. I yelled. They didn’t hear me, blowing those whistles. So I started jogging back toward them. One of them ducked into the port-a-potty on the corner as I caught up. I dug into my backpack. The remaining fellow backed away, unsure and confused.
I fished out the match ticket from the Ghana-USA game. Handed it to him. He read it : Match 42, Ghana-USA, 22 June. He smiled.
“What is your name?” he asked.
I told him.
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
“I will take a pen and write on it, ‘From Chris, with love to all Ghanaians, thank you.”
We shook hands. And I was heading back to the apartment. I looked back once. His pal had come out of the john and was looking back down the road at me, waving and blowing his whistle. There's one ticket that won't end up on eBay.
Kind of sappy, I know. Just another World Cup moment.

Today’s play: The deficit is at 29 euros after the Czechs went down in flames yesterday, although that Ghana win at 6-5 eased the sting. Five euros on South Korea to pour it on and edge the Swiss at a nice 3-to-1 on the board.

Friday’s games
Ukraine 1, Tunisia 0. No surprise. Ukraine finishes runner-up in group, opponent TBA off tonight's results on Monday night in Cologne.
Spain 1, Saudi Arabia 0. Another dull one. Spain finishes unbeaten and untied, plays Tuesday night in Hanover against an opponent TBA.
Switzerland 2, South Korea 0. Didn't see this one on German TV, but the highlights sure gave the impression it was 50-50. Hey, look at this: Swiss win the group, haven't given up a goal yet and play the Ukraine on Monday in a pretty interesting matchup. Pay attention.
France 2, Togo 0. Patrick Vieira parties like its 1999, scoring a goal and setting up Thierry Henry for another. But geez, they should have put five in here. They get Zizou back for Spain on Tuesday, but I don't see them going beyond that. 

Saturday’s menu

Germany vs Sweden. Now we’re into the knockout stage and right off the bat it’s a worthy opponent for the hosts. Sweden are technically a very good team, much different than anyone Germany has faced. Home field edge is huge at this point – just remember South Korea four years ago, and France before that. This could be a really good one – wouldn’t at all be surprised to see a lot of goals, and perhaps it could even come down to penalties (note – there’s no Golden Goal rule here, so if any of the games go into extra time from here on in, they’ll play 30 minutes regardless, then if they’re still even go to penalty kicks). Germany 3, Sweden 2.
Argentina vs Mexico. Argentina played it very cagey in their last. They’ve got so much quality here, it’s hard to imagine them losing this one. Argentina 4, Mexico 1.