Goooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaal!

Coming to Germany at the beginning of June, it was hard to believe that I nearly missed kick-off for the 2012 Euro Cup here in England. There had not been much build-up to the European soccer championship at all, probably mostly due to the slightly unsatisfactory performance of the English team in recent tournaments. 

Driving through Holland on the way to my parents though, the atmosphere already started to change, with every service station being decked out in orange and billboards advertising products geared towards soccer fans looking to support their team by buying ice cream or burgers.
But my home country topped it all. More cars than not sported some kind of flag or sticker in German colours, and a visit to the grocery store revealed a whole cornucopia of products celebrating the German team, who are very popular after having played well for a while now.

You can start your day with eggs dyed black, red and gold or like a soccer ball.

Your sandwich will be topped with Nutella from a commerative jar.

 

During the match, you can pig out on themed gummi bears, M&Ms or chocolate with a soccer ball shape.

Not only your car will proudly wear your team colours, your whole family can support the country with panache, building up from the underpants.

Once you are appropriately kitted out, you can relax and watch the matches with your beer and a twin pack of chips. One part for the first half, and one for the second.

And when Germany wins, you can toast with whisky from your soccer shoe bottle! 

Marco and I watched the first Germany match in Cologne last Saturday, all proper in a beer garden. Luckily, 'we' beat Portugal 1:0. Shortly after the game ended, it started showing how crazy the Germans really are for soccer and their national heroes: our hotel was right by a popular area of town with bars and restaurants, so we could see and hear cars driving around honking and people waving flags until the early morning hours. I do hope that the team will do well, but I have a feeling that many of the fans might be bitterly disappointed if not, or already have burned all their energy celebrating their success so early on in the group stage. Tonight, 'we' play the Netherlands, and that should be a good game, although the Dutch are tough to beat.

If all fails for the German boys, I got allocated Greece in the sweepstakes at work, so I guess they will be my other team to support. Plus, I like Holland and England, too, so fingers crossed one of these four teams will make it far!

What about you guys? Do you enjoy the Euro Cup? Do you even get coverage where you live?

© Text & Photos - Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated).