Munich, Germany - World Cup #3

We boarded the train to Munich at 7am, wanting to get the most out of the day. We kinda had an idea how well we will be playing against the Ivory Coast so at least we wanted to do some sightseeing and make this trip worthwhile. We arrived, dropped of our stuff at a Turkish hotel, and headed into the city. Given the play of our national team, it was not surprising that the fans were less than enthusiastic to say the least. I think it was after 1pm that we actually finally saw somebody wearing our jersey. Our team did not deserve better anyhow. We strolled through the main street several times, visited a couple of parks, had lunch with some people from Belgrade that we met at the traffic light, and before you know it, it was game time. It was my first time in Munich, and overall it was a nice city, but somehow too rigid. Architecture was beautiful, everything was really clean, yet something was missing. Even besides all the people on the street, it seemed like there was not that much life to it. Maybe locals knew that we were playing that day so they figured it would be better to stay in :-) Bayern's stadium was way outside of the city so it took us a while to get there (not nearly as long as what it would take us to get back.) The arena was amazing, we arrived a couple of hours before the game, just in time before the big storm hit. It was so grey, like the end of the world was coming. Watching all the people running soaking wet, for once i was glad that we made it to the game early. And even though we had to sit there for almost two hours, we were at least dry for the time being. First two goals that we scored qucikly warmed up the fans and for a second it seemed that our team would at least give us one more day of summer before this journey ends. Yeah right....Three goals by Ivory Coast quickly brought us to reality. Our players dragged on the pitch like they did for most of the tournament, and when the referee blew the whistle, i was glad that this torture was over. Now if i can just hide from everyone for about three months maybe people will not remember it. Embarrasing. As we were walking away from the stadium, it started pouring again. How fitting, I thought. We got back to Munich around midnight and since our planes and trains were leaving early in the morning we decided to roam around as opposed to getting a hotel. Surprisingly we discovered that everything was closed pretty early. Starving, we tried to find a bite to eat; as always, when everything else fails, golden arches come to the rescue. Mc Donald's never tasted that good. And best of all it was open till 3am so we were able to kill some time. Rest of the morning was spent on the train station's floor with other fans waiting for their ride back to reality of their lives (And no, that was none of us laying on the floor in the picture above; just an Australian fan. I guess alchocol and time difference never mix well together. Add few of your friends that would drag and drop you off in the middle of Grand Central Station and what you get are a very sore kidneys the next morning.) As i was sitting there, listening to the stories of people that quit their jobs, skipped their college semesters, borrowed money, just to be able to come to Germany and watch our sorry team, i thought about the irony of sports once again. I was pretty sure that our footbal "stars" (or what was left of them since many already deserted the team before the last game) were not loosing any sleep that night. For sure they were not laying on the cold station's floor like the guys that sacrificed and came to cheer them on. I guess it is all part of the game. Still, even though we were probably the worst team of the tournament, the experience was priceless. Just to be in Germany and be a part of it was amazing. I met some very nice people, got to see others that i have not seen in a long time, and fulfilled my dream of being at the World Cup. And besides all the dissapointment, as i was drifting away, without wanting to admit it to myself, I started to wonder, where do I book a ticket for South Africa and 2010?