Day 28: Two More Canadians at the World Cup

BERLIN, Germany

Ageism: 60 Mundial years (a day, and a World Cup trophy fridge magnet handed to me at the Berlin Fan Mile)
Pallor: Rested (relatively speaking)
Forecast: 35C outside (36C in hotel room)

A lot of things have happened in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate. Kennedy gave his famous speech. The wall came tumbling down. And yesterday, two Canadians defended national honour and a well-fortified lifestyle at World Cup Karaoke.
This all went down after I’d walked the Berlin Fan Mile, the street that splits the Tiergarten between the Gate and the Victory Column with big-screen TVs and a bewildering array of activities and souvenir and food and beer concessions. There are sand sculptures and a white-sand beach for volleyball. A ferris wheel. Kick a ball into a hole and win a car. A rest area run by an evangelical Christian group, next to a young women getting the Portuguese flag painted on her bare breasts. The usual stuff.

ARMANDO FRANCA/AP

More history going down at Brandenburg Gate.

By the time I wandered from top to the stage set up under the gate, they were getting to karaoke. Four teams were introduced: a foursome of women from Frankfurt; four guys from Berlin; five from Hamburg; two from Toronto.
“Toronto? What are you doing here?” asked the emcee.
“We just got in last night,” said one of the Canadians, and he turned to the crowd. “We’ve only been here one day, BUT IT’S THE BEST DAY OF OUR LIVES! YEAH!”
The emcee looked like he was about to burst. He looked like Monty Hall next to some guy from Houston who’s wetting his pants with excitement in a chicken drumstick suit.
“Vive la FRANCE!” yelled one of the Canadian.
“For-ca Port-u-GAL!” yelled the other, making sure to exhibit the proper Canadian inclusivess.
Then it was time for the competition. The Hamburgers did something I didn’t recognize, or if I did it was so mangled I couldn’t tell. The Berliners, the main one wrapped in the Germany flag, did 54 74 90 2006 and although they were kinda standstill they were not bad at that (it's really a gimme putt, that one). The Frankfurters stumbled YMCA, the Canadians doing the Egyptian dance around them. Then it was Canada’s turn: Of course, it was Eye of the Tiger. They slayed ‘em, a karaoke Mick ‘n Keith prancing around and preening. By this time, at around 7 pm, two hours before kickoff, the place was beginning to fill up, too.
“Let’s hear it for Canada!” screamed the emcee, and they were giving it to them. Then he turned to them. “Just in case you need it, guys, I’m going to invite you for a beer.”
It was time to vote, and of course the Canadians got the loudest cheer. The prize was two official World Cup soccer balls – but wait, the Berliner guy with the flag didn’t hear the difference in cheers! He’s not leaving the stage until they have a cheer-off! The emcee shakes his head but the crewcutted guy is adamant and one of his partners, wearing a bandana and an eye patch with a diamond stud in his ear so big I can see it from 20 metres away, looking like Yohoho and a bottle of Pils, is leaning in over his shoulder, nodding and backing him up. So the emcee relents. It’s a cheer-off.
“SCHEISS!” yells Sonia, a goth-pallored Berliner leaning over the railing at the front of the stage. “All is Scheiss! The Canadians won! Fair and square!”
She turns to me. She’s on rollerblades – I’d interviewed her earlier for today’s petroleum-based contribution – and she is tall and thin with a silver stud in her nose and jet black hair. “They are cheating your Canadians. You are a reporter. You should do something!”
I just nod my head, take my pencil out, and write something down, anything. What else can I do? It’s not like there’s karaoke police or anything.
At the cheer-off, of course the Germans win. They have noisemakers and horns. I have no voice left – literally, I lost it three days ago – but I try and squeak out something to add for the Maple Leaf forever. Just to say I tried.
The emcee intervenes! It’s a tie! One ball to each, and a bag of official sponsor swag! An international incident averted. "It's still scheiss," says Sonia.
I catch up with the Canadians at the security entrance to the stage: Andrei Gropper, from Bathurst and Eglinton, a business student at Western, and Raphi Aronowicz, from Yonge and York Mills, economics at McGill. Both 20 years old, backpacking around Europe, having landed in England on July 1. Just got into Berlin last night, and watched Italy-Germany at a bar near where they’re staying.
“My mom’s from Italy, and I go down to St. Clair since ’94 for every Italy game during the World Cup,” says Andrei. “I was cheering pretty hard for them. I was the only guy in the place for Italy.”
Yesterday they came down to the Brandenburg Gate just to see the place, wandered into the Fanfest and some guy asked them if they wanted to do this – perhaps the matching T-shirts that say “Euro 2006 – Shift it into Sixth Gear” tipped them off.
“We had some nerves,” explained Raphi. “I’ve never seen so many people in one spot. We knew we’d blow away the competition because we had so much alcohol in our system.”
“It wasn’t that much,” says Andrei. “We only had a couple beers. Maybe four or five.”
“Yeah, but remember before we got here.”
“Oh yeah, right.”
As I’m talking to them, the German guys come out clutching their soccer ball. “It’s good fun,” says Yohoho, shaking the Canadians’ hands.
They walk away. “That’s our ball,” says Andrei, pointing.

Day 26: Escape from Frankfurt

En route to DORTMUND, Germany

Ageism: 53 Mundial years
Pallor: Shiny
Forecast: Different that yesterday – sunny and VERY hot

While packing up and saying goodbye to the apartment on Esslinger Strasse this morning, it occurred to me how utterly flawless this tournament has gone, at least personally. No mechanical breakdowns, save for the Cackberry bonking out, which was no big deal. Cellphone coverage is spotty here too, but again no big deal. Otherwise, no missed trains or connections. Solid people helping along the way. Lots of instant friends made. The laptop never quit, knock on wood. The net cards we bought here were a godsend.

PAULO DUARTE/AP

Not everyone survived the tourney sans breakdown.

Mostly, though, it was the apartment that made the last nearly four weeks so much less stressful. The place was big enough. Well stocked. Good neighbourhood. And that porch leading out to the courtyard. I actually felt like I would miss it, which may be the highest praise of all.
Andrea from our Corporate Concierge agency picked us up right on the dot of 10 a.m. to drive us and our baggage 2 ½ blocks to the station. I asked her if the agency operates outside of Germany, thinking ahead to Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria.
“Oh yes,” she said. “I am our Euro project manager. I’m just starting work on that.”
So. Euro 2008 then. Whoever goes from The Star, they’re going to have a fine home base.
Now it’s on to Dortmund, and Germany-Italy playing off for a spot in the final in Berlin on Sunday. I think this is your true World Cup final here. Whoever wins, I think they’re each a little bit better than France or Portugal, who meet Wednesday in Munich.
But more than that, I’m hoping for a good, classic match. As good as this tournament has been – its organization has been superb, the security low-key but effective (the perfect mix), Germany has been a great host, and there’s been some good goals (though not nearly enough of them,

LUCA BRUNO/AP

Zidane: Reborn.

the scoring rate the lowest it’s been since 1990), one lion-in-winter performance (Zidane last time out) and one budding superstar (Lionel Messi, inexplicably nailed to the bench in Argentina’s exit game) and the usual outbursts of controversy – there hasn’t been a single, transcendent game yet. Of the games I was at, Germany-Poland still stands out, but as much for the intense atmosphere and the sense that it was a turning point for the hosts as the game itself. France-Brazil the other night was a great upset with some tremendous flow to it, but it was pretty one-sided, hardly a back-and-forth slugfest. Maybe we’ll get it here. Meantime, I want to link to the finest goal I’ve ever been lucky enough to see: Dennis Bergkamp, 1998, in Marseille. There's countless others we've all seen on TV -- Neil Shipperley putting Palace up a couple years back comes to mind, but maybe that's just me (yes, I'm quite sure it's just me). But live? What a beauty.
Feel free to send along your candidates. Maybe we’ll see another one for the ages today.

Today’s game

Italy 2, Germany 0. An exquisitely tense match broken up very late, Grosso scoring in the 119th minute -- yup, it went extra time -- and Del Piero getting a clincher just before the final whistle. Very late here, I'm on the train, sorting through the usual abusive e-mails, so more tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s game

France vs Portugal. Portugal gets first-team midfielders Deco and Constinha back, and with the former running the show they should be more incisive than they were against England. One of Figo or Zidane are headed off into the sunset depending on the result, and the same can be said for France’s wonderful duo of Makelele and Thuram -- and Patrick Vieira, and Fabien Barthez. Henry is finally the same danger man on this stage that he is at Arsenal, and marking him will be Portugal’s biggest task. This should be tight, but Thuram at the back and Henry up front -- plus defensive midfielder Armando Petit out with suspension for Scolari's band -- tip the scales for me. But forget all that, there's a dandy race at the top of the World Cup tantrum board -- France with a tournament-high 23 and Portugal with 22. Gentlemen, start your hissy fits. France 2, Portugal 1.

Day 23: First look at Berlin

FRANKFURT, Germany

Ageism: 53 Mundial years added to my life (a day, and a game, and one more for nearly nine hours on the train to Berlin and back -- frankly, the novelty of trains has worn off)
Palllor: Tricolour (might be the last we see of Zidane on this stage, after all)
Forecast: Very hot here (and up in Gelsenkirchen, where England play Portugal)

Blog's going on holiday time for the next couple of days. Happy Canada Day to everyone back home.

Just an add to yesterday's Rating the Stadiums, now that I've been to Berlin:

Olympiastadion, Berlin. This was built for the infamous 1936 Olympics, and to get to it you walk along Jesse-Owens-Allee, where some band was cranking up a pretty rocked up, almost listenable version of Go West, surely the most all-played out of footy anthems. But back to the stadium. It's been pretty much rebuilt, first for the 1974 World Cup, then again for this one. Open at one end -- the Marathon Arch -- it's easily the most massive stadium at this competition, although its maximum capacity is less than that of Dortmund. You sort of feel swallowed up inside it, and I was sitting in a midrange area, about 10 rows up in the upper deck. Allianz Arena, which is almost as big, never feels that way. Outside the stadium are the remains of the smaller, second stadium built for the '36 Olympics -- the press centre tent was located right across the old running track from the weedy stone terraces. Around the grounds many of the old Nazi sculptures are still standing. I'm glad I'll be back here for the final -- I took the S-Bahn out to the stadium from near midtown and a friendly women with a bike was pointing out some wonderful neighbourhoods here. Overall assessment of the Olympic Stadium: A decent place to watch a game, but I'd still rate Dortmund, Munich and Kaiserslautern higher in my ratings.

That's all for today. Like I said, the blog is on long weekend.

Today's games

Portugal 0, England 0 aet (Portugal wins 3-1 on penalties). Crazy game, as usual. Rooney sent off for stomping on Ricardo Carvalho's privates and shoving (very lightly) his Man United teammate Cristian Ronaldo of Portugal. Down to 10 men, Portugal can't penetrate English packed defence, so it goes to penalties, where Frank Lampard, whose had a haunted look this whole tournament, misses their first to set the tone. Simao, Postiga and finally Cristian Ronaldo with the clincher, while only Owen Hargreaves (on Canada Day, yet) can find the net for England. Portugal's into the semifinals for the first time since 1966, and only the second time ever. And England's goin' 'ome -- again.

France 1, Brazil 0. Now we have us a tournament! The favourites are gone, and a just result too. France never goes negative, Zidane rules the midfield and delivers the perfect 40-metre free kick from the left side to a mystifyingly wide-open Thierry Henry at the far post, and he volleys it into the top of the net. The French were given up for dead until the second half of their final group match with Togo. Now they look like a finalist, with a date against Portugal in the semis coming up on Wednesday in Munich. 

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 12: Two Canadians at the World Cup

STUTTGART, Germany

Ageism: 26 Mundial years added
Pallor: Black, red and gold
Forecast: Warm, flag waving

On the platform at Stuttgart station, the old-school Canucks T-shirt was a dead giveaway.
“Sprechen Sie Englisch?” I ask him.
“Yup,” he answers from his wheelchair.
“Where’d you get your shirt?”
“Vancouver. That’s where I’m from.”
You meet people from all over the world here. Even Canada. Turns out Melvin Unruh and his brother Dustin are grizzled vets of this kind of thing, having ventured to England to hang out during the ’02 World Cup and made it to Portugal for Euro ’04. But being in a wheelchair presents special situations getting in and out of places – especially crowded places like World Cup stadiums and train stations.
“Edmonton lost,” says Dustin. May as well get the important news out of the way first. If his brother’s shirt wasn’t enough confirmation, the grin on his face as he delivers the news nailed down where the allegiances lie.
The Unruh brothers got here on Saturday. Monday night they were in Stuttgart getting a bit of rain on their parade. They’re on their way to Munich, and the Ivory Coast against Serbia & Montenegro. Thursday it’ll be back here for Aussies against Croatia, and Saturday back home.
I can’t imagine trying to negotiate my way through the crowds here in a wheelchair. I mention the chaotic, crushing scene outside Kaiserslautern station on Sunday night, for example.
“You take care of it all in advance with the train people, and so far it’s worked out okay for me,” says Melvin. “The wheelchair seating is usually pretty good at games. It’s usually quite low, so you don’t really see the perspective you get from above, but it sure is close. You can really see the incredible technique at this level.”
For Spain-Tunisia, he was a little concerned coming in to the stadium. “There was a big crush of people, but it’s good to have a big guy with me. He sort of clears the way.”
“I sat in the row behind him last night,” says 31-year-old Dustin. “I usually end up sitting like that.”
Melvin is 33. He suffered a broken neck playing hockey 15 years ago, checked into the boards from behind, and has been in the chair since. It hasn’t prevented him from enjoying the World Cup. Among the visitors, some are here for sport and some for travel – these guys fit into both categories.
“I’ve never been to Germany, so this is great,” he said. “Portugal was great too. We just went down to the Algarve and stayed there.”
For the Spain game the wheelchair section was quite low, in the first row, behind the running track that circles the cavernous stadium. “Not a great place to watch the game, but not bad. We got rained on a bit.”
It was nothing to compare with Euro 2004, and the Dutch-Sweden quarterfinal that went to penalties. When Melvin got to his wheelchair spot, it was right at the corner flag. When Ruud van Nistlerooy came over to take a couple of corners, Melvin actually had to move his chair to make room for him. “I thought it was weird, Ruud taking corners, he’s such a big target guy and that’s why I remember it so well. Larsson took a couple, too. And Davids. Oh yes. Edgar Davids. That was cool.”
The Die Bahn fellow in charge of special requests comes by. “B,” he says, pointing to the spot up the platform where the train to Munich will have a special lift to get him on the train.
“Germany’s pretty good,” Melvin says. “Everything’s pretty accessible. We kinda scrambled to get here, we ordered our tickets online a long time ago and only a month ago did we get notice that we were going to get in. Then you have to fax in the wheelchair seating request. We actually asked each other – do we really want to go? And of course we did. And it’s been great.”
Then he’s wheeled on to the lift and Dustin climbs aboard behind him with the luggage. Off to Munich.

Tuesday’s games (will be updated)

Germany 3, Ecuador 0. A quick goal by Miroslav Klose then another just before the half -- a real pretty piece of work it was, Ballack flicking to him and the Polish-born Klose flicking over the onrushing 'keeper while he shrugged off a defender, then an easy tap-in -- and this one was academic. Germany has looked better each time out, and as the home team, they have to be respected to go deep now, unbeaten and very confident. Germany wins the group, Ecuador No. 2.
Poland 2, Costa Rica 1. Good to see the Poles bounce back and grab a consolation. I didn't see this one, having been fixed on Germany-Ecuador.
Paraguay 2, Trinidad & Tobago 0. Apologies to all, but I was on a train and I didn't see this one. So I really have nothing to say, but by all means, let me know.
England 2, Sweden 2. Jammy English finish top of group, avoid matchup everyone wanted. Is there a phonier top-of-group team out there? I'd like to know.

Wednesday’s menu

Netherlands vs Argentina. Dutch to rest six starters, including Arjen Robben. Cool fact of the day: Argentina coach Jose Pekerman owns three pets named for each of the youth tournaments he won: Qatar, Malaysia, Argentina. Argentina 3, Netherlands 1.
Ivory Coast vs Serbia & Montenegro. This could get a little ugly, the unlucky Ivorians in against a side that’s disappointed. Ivory Coast 2, Serbia & Montenegro 1.
Portugal vs Mexico. A draw will see Portugal through top of the group; Mexico wins, and they get the group No. 1, but attacker Jared Borgetti is injured. Portugal 3, Mexico 1.
Iran vs Angola. Angola’s already overachieved here, and have a very outside chance to go through to second round. Iran’s impressed no one, but they have scored a goal. Iran 1, Angola 1.

Changing places

Time to go. Next post you'll get in this space will be from the Star's World Cup headquarters for the next month, an apartment in central Frankfurt that I'll be sharing with the competition -- the Globe's Stephen Brunt. From there the plan is to fan out via the rail network to cover games. I'll even be allowed back in print, as well as keeping JABS as up to date as is possible. Soccer columnist Cathal Kelly is along from the Star as well, and he'll be the rover, travelling around.
But until the next time, here's something to look over that's a little different - The FIFI Wild Cup:

With just under one week to go before the World Cup kicks off in Germany on Friday, the atmosphere in Hamburg's Millerntor football stadium on Saturday afternoon was thick with anticipation for the international contest. Standing for most of the match, fans waved a sea of mini green, black and yellow flags while closely following the action on the pitch -- spontaneous cheers were followed by distraught groans as chances were created and wasted. A wave cheer even rippled around the stadium shortly after the half -- and the chanting was almost ceaseless. Over and over, the air above the field vibrated with a staccato three syllables: "ZAN-ZI-BAR! ZAN-ZI-BAR!"