Bruce Arena's evening stroll
- 22 Jun 06, 12:15 AM
NUREMBERG - You, the readers, decided that we should watch Holland versus Argentina on a big screen rather than try to buy tickets for a dead-rubber match between Ivory Coast and Serbia & Montenegro at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
One was a fairly low-key draw between two teams keeping their powder dry for forthcoming encounters, the other sounded like an electrifying match betweens two sides desperate to leave the tournament with some points.
However, that is not to say that the evening was without a moment of fleeting excitement (if you could call it that).
Ricco and I headed to the Fans Fest, which is close to the stadium and, happily, our campsite.
Unfortunately there was just about nobody there so we ventured into town and settled down at a bratwurst place to watch the match.
Kick-off is but minutes away when I suddenly hear lots and lots of clapping.
I look to see what is causing such well-mannered commotion and observe USA coach taking an evening stroll.
Could you imagine Sven (not Svan) leisurely walking through Nuremberg's old town the evening before England play a World Cup match in the same city?
To be fair, as the clapping gave way to chants of "USA" over and over and over again, Bruce looked slightly bemused and just a touch embarrassed.
There don't appear to be too many people around from Ghana, though the few that are seem to be congregated outside the hotel the team are staying in near the train station.
When England did the same thing fans from the host country - and doubtless various others - kept the team up all night but I don't think the Ghanaians will have the same problem.
The undoubted highlight of my day, though, came early this morning.
I reached into the furthest reaches of my rucksack in the desperate search for clean socks and stumbled across three pairs. Unbelievable.
Ricco and I are probably going to be in the area over the weekend but don't know too much about it. Anybody been there?
And we were thinking of watching the England match on Sunday in the village of Colditz, which is closeish to Leipzig. Is that a good idea?
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"One was a fairly low-key draw between two teams keeping their powder dry for forthcoming encounters, the other sounded like an electrifying match betweens two sides desperate to leave the tournament with some points."
Yes it was amazing. However, Argentina dominated in the second half. Argentina looked very solid today. They have really a much better side than 1986.
This world cup is really changing a lot of things in many countries. It is amazing that the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica on June 9 had a TV rating of
whereas the India's Test match with West Indies had TVR of just 2.8.
This is really amazing considering the fact that INdians are crazy for cricket.
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See, live football beats watching on a tv anyday of the week.
Let the fact you have seen one of the most boring games so far on a tv instead of being at the ground when a team came back from 2 goals down for the first time at a world cup since 1970 be a lesson to you...
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So a smooth win against a very poor looking Ecuador then a premiership type game against the Dutch in the quarters (which we should win, a la Euro 96 style).
England only have the two South American giants in their way to repeating 1966.
I predict the next England jersey to have two of those little gold stars glistening above the three lions...
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henricus van vliet wrote:
"Any possibility to check the FIFA website before talking/writing? There you will not find a participant by the name of Hollland. So what are you talking about?"
We call the Dutch team Holland. Live with it.
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You have to check out Dresden (90 min. from Leipzig by car/train) - in my book the most beautiful city in Germany.
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Leipzig is a very nice city with grand old buildings. It is also the place where Johann Sebastian Bach composed some of his most important pieces. You can visit the church where he did it on the organ. Leipzig is also called the "Heldenstadt" (city of heroes), because here the peaceful revolution in the GDR of 1989 had its start. These people started to turn the wall down, when the GDR was still in full force.
Dresden was largely destroyed, but it麓s stunning historical center was repaired. It麓s a nice, vibrant and friendly place. The Frauenkirche (church of our lady) was reerected through donations, also from England. It麓s the masterpiece of saxonian baroque.
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A few kilometers east of Leipzig is Torgau, a very beautiful little town on the banks of the river Elbe. It features the first protestant church of Europe (sanctified by Luther), the first renaissance palace of Germany, the tomb of Luthers wife and a medieval town center.
I would't call Dresden the most beautiful city in Germany. Dresden has a beautiful, but small, historical center, but the rest was largely destroyed and now is a mixture of socialist and modern architecture. I would't even call it the most beautiful city of Saxony.
Very beautiful cities in Saxony are Freiberg, Meissen, Bautzen, G枚rlitz, Pirna, Torgau and Zittau. All completely (!) preserved and sanified. If you want to know how german towns looked before ww2 you have to check them out.
Oh, and if you want a rest from the world cup: Saxon Switzerland, next to Dresden, is simply gorgeous!
PS: and try Schwarzbier (black beer), a local specialty.
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In Leipzig there is Europe's largest train station terminal building (it's actually a multi-level shopping mall with railroad connection) and Europe's largest (not tallest I believe) monument, the V枚lkerschlachtsdenkmal (Monument of the Battle of the Nations). Oh, and in downtown Leipzig there is another shopping gallery which is a replica of Milan's Vittorio Emanuele gallery.
But other bloggers are right. The must-see in Saxony is Dresden. But also nearby Leipzig, a bit further North is Dessau with all it's beautiful gardens and castles, which has been very popular among British tourists in recent years.
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I wish I could share followingengland's confidence. If we get past Ecuador (a big if) we are more likely to meet Portugal than Holland and nobody needs reminding what happened at Euro 2000 and 2004. My life in Lisbon won't be worth living (they still go on about how they should have won in 1966)!!
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If (don't mess around with Lady Luck) we beat Ecuador then I say bring on Portugal. We want revenge for Sol's Goal and Big Phil's clever wage rise negogiations.
C'mon England!
P.
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Great idea to go to Colditz, but be prepared when you get stopped at the roadblocks for the goons to stab any straw bales in the back of Svan with their bayonets looking for escapees.
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Referring to the Netherlands as "Holland" is akin to referring to the UK as England. Some Dutch people don't mind, others do. But I think it's most fair and respectful to use the proper name, which is the Netherlands. It's not like it's hard to say.
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Was working in leipzig during the Cold War and asked the family there if it would be safe to visit Colditz Castle, with soem bemusement they said yes and off I went.
After bribing the guard and telling him my father had been interned there (a lie) toget in I spent an hour or so walking around. Hardly any different to how you would imagine....lot of people aorund though which struck me as odd.
After venturing in and out of various rooms I returned to the famous courtayrd to be confronted by a man talking to a tree...eventually I clocked it.....the place had been converted into a lunatic asylum...this explained peoples strange behaviour when I enquired about visiting/entering !
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I agree with Toby but it must be noted that it does say Holland on their Football Shirts.
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I live in Leipzig. Send me a mail and i'll give you a tour.
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It's a big mistake for Bruce Arena. In order for USA to be a formidable team as we hoped for, he should throw the majority of his players to other leagues in Europe and other parts of the Globe just to experience how Football is played in example, Europe, South America, and Asia Pacific Regions.
Bruce should know this. We Aussies place our players in Europe, that's why we excelled a lot.
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I think you'll see a lot more US players moving from Major League Soccer to Europe in the next 12 months.
Oguchi Onyewu may be moving to Middlesbrough, while players like Eddie Johnson could provide good attacking options for an up-and-coming Premiership or Championship side.
I predict Bruce Arena, meanwhile, won't be in charge for much longer. Expect a German who lives in Los Angeles to take the job later this year.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
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