Springfield MO Soccer

Day 3 & 4
This was our first day that we had no scheduled games so we thought we would do some touristy stuff. We tried to go to a concentration camp but it was closed so we only got to see it from the outside. It was still intense. Just seeing the conditions of that place was frightening.

After that we went to “Fanfest” in Munich. This was the big fanfest in Germany. They took the old Olympic stadium and turned it into a place for fans to come watch all the games. They had everything; a futsol field, games, and all kinds of food stands. They had another huge screen in the lake to watch the games on. They also had a huge carousel turned into a bar. We stayed there all night and watched the last two games of the day. It was a neat experience

The next morning we took a train to Heidelberg. We stayed in a really neat hotel that was right downtown. The first thing we did was took a tour of the ruins of an old castle. After the castle we walked the mile long street of stores that Heidelberg is known for. We went into a bar to watch the Germany game and that turned into a great experience. It was packed with fans that were going absolutely insane. Every time Germany scored the place went wild. It was almost like being at a game. When we left the bar we finished the strip of shopping and by the time we were done every German in town was in their car driving the streets in celebration. I can’t even put into words how crazy it was. Flags were everywhere. People were out the sunroof screaming. Everyone was honking. This went on for four straight hours. I have never seen anything like that in my life.

Later that evening we went for a nice dinner at a true German restaraunt, then we went to a different bar to watch the England-Sweden game.

Day 5
We woke up today and drove to Frankfurt on the Autobahn. This was cool. Most cars were going way over 100 mph constantly. I was suppose to meet up with Buddy Coulter but he had to leave town before I arrived so we had to skip that. (editors note - I want to hear that story!) After a short nap we went back to the “fanfest” in downtown Frankfurt. This was the one that had the huge screen in the river for fans to watch the games. Today was the day of the Netherlands game and let me tell you it was obvious. There was so much orange I couldnt see straight. After watching a game we went walking around. There were all kinds of performers on the street. There was a mime and a Brazilian that juggled the ball with his arm crutches. He was extremely good too. He sure put Andrew Parsons to shame.

When I get home I’ll have to send some footage of this guy because he was amazing. After we walked around and did a little shopping we went back to the river to watch the first half of the Portugal-Mexico game before we had to leave for our game. It was really cool to watch Portugal play after we saw them live.

We hopped on the subway to go to the stadium for our final game, Netherlands-Argentina. The whole stadium was full of bright orange shirts. Don’t get me wrong the Argentina fans were present too. They had their own band. The drums and the singing went on the entire game. We had amazing seats for this game. Were were right behind the goal only 8 rows from the front.

The game itself was what some would call boring, ending with a 0-0 draw, but the way both teams handled the ball was something to watch. The ball was around midline most of the game because of how evenly matched these two teams were. The game ended as expected, a very even game. Both teams had already qualified before this game so that might of been a reason to hold back a little. We got back to the hotel very late and packed our stuff then went to bed because we had an early flight home the next day.

It was amazing but I was definitely not ready to go home.

Trip Home
I can’t believe I am actually on the trip home right now, writing about how the trip WAS. Although it was the greatest trip I’ve ever taken, in no way shape or form an I ready to be going home.

The atmosphere was just amazing. Soccer really just took over the country. It was everywhere. Just walking down the street you would hear ten different languages and see ten different flags but they were all here for one reason, soccer. Everybody stayed with their groups and cheered for their own teams but they all interacted and got along. I only saw one fight the whole trip. After the Netherlands-Argentina game the fans exchanged jerseys like the players do. The passion everyone had for this sport was really neat. Every second I was there I heard at least one chant being yelled. One of the coolest things to see was at the fanfest there was a pick up game going and there were twenty players on the field all from different countries with different jerseys on, that’s what all this is really about, bringing everyone together.

Even though I was an American, and I let it be known by wearing my jersey at least once every day, everyone was just as nice to me as their own. Everyone came up to me to talk bout the USA and I can’t count the number of times I heard “good luck today” on days the US played. It was so much more than I had ever expected.

The soccer was amazing. I saw players that the world will be talking about for centuries to come; Figo, Ronaldoinho, Ronaldo, Messi and many many more. I really saw the best soccer in the world.

Away from the soccer this was my first time to Europe. It was cool just to see how another country works. Overall everything was the same but lots of little things were different. The driving was a lot more crazy. The rules were a lot more lenient (drinking age for one example). The towns also just seemed to function different. It was really hard being the minority and not being able to take advantage of small things like being able to read signs or ordering food. I can’t think of a more perfect way to experience my first trip to Europe.

This really was the greatest experience of my life, and after doing it I know I will be doing it again every four years. I thought I loved soccer, then I saw people that just lived it, people that probably couldn’t even play the sport anymore. Even my girlfriend was transformed over this week.

By the end of the week she didn’t want to shop anymore but she wanted to go watch the game somewhere. It was just amazing just to be there in the greatest atmosphere any sport has. People were all soccer 24/7. This was an experience that I will never forget. This really was the most amazing week of my life.

Editor’s note - Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us Danny. Your comments bring back found memories of the time I have spent in Germany (Munich is my birthplace) including the bars in downtown Heidelburg. When will we see pictures? I highly recommend Flickr.com as a free photo hosting site.