Spielen wir Fußball

I see the World Cup was a subject of discussion on FFB here. While in Italy we just decided to take a trip up to Berlin to see the big party. We arrived the day that Germany was slated to play Poland. That evening every bar and cafe in Berlin had tables and TVs out on the sidewalks and none seemed to have an empty chair or table for a trio of two Italians and one American until halftime when some patrons moved on to other bars. The locals were not disappointed with a last minute goal and victory. It was sheer pandemonium afterwards. The next day was no different. Sweden had a match in Berlin and the entire city was awash with blue and yellow haired fans wearing shirts with yellow crosses on a blue background. The Berliners even erected a huge (and somewhat tacky) World Cup display in the form of a large football in front of the Brandenburg gate. Back in Italy I then watched the US-Italy match and it seemed as if the entire country was geared up for one month-long celebration of the “Mondiale”. The entire spectacle is quite impressive up close and blows away the Super Bowl or any other American sporting event in the sheer magnitude and universality of the celebration.

Having arrived back on American soil it’s great to see coverage on ESPN. We’ve been invited to a local pizza shop run by an Italian to watch Italy and the Czech Republic Thursday morning, so that should be great fun (I’m assuming we’ll also catch some clips from the US-Ghana match going on at the same time). I also heard today that ABC and FOX are going to show some matches, despite the fact that FIFA won’t cave in to TV timeouts, so it appears that TV execs in the US are waking up to the appeal of footie across the globe. That popularity transcends global politics -- I suspect that Mexican immigrants in the US are undoubtedly AWOL from work in greater numbers today while Mexico is playing Portugal than they were for the immigration bill protests.