Plenty of groggy heads as people stumbled from their tents and into the harsh light of morning. It emerged that those drinking from the bar had avoided hangovers, whereas those buying the bottled but less expensive beer from the general store were in bad shape.
It turns out the tap beer was locally brewed and contained no preservatives, a major selling point that would help them win the beer war of Bad Duerkheim (not to be confused with the Australian beer wars of the 1980s between Foster’s, Castlemaine XXXX and Swan Breweries).
KAISERSLAUTERN
Back on the coaches for the relatively short journey to Kaiserslautern - or “K-Town” as it’s known locally. Our starting point was St MartinPlatz which was packed with a mix of Australian supporters, Japanese supporters and excited locals – a giant sea of green, gold, red and white.
The mood of the locals could best be described as a heady mix of excitement and awe. K-Town is the only German World Cup venue that isn’t one of the big cities, so playing World Cup football there is the equivalent of Bendigo hosting a series of matches if Australia were to host the event.
The locals had filled the streets and their windows with the flags of all teams competing in their town but seemed to adopt the Australians as their favourites from the outset. They certainly backed a winner this day when they went with an Australian-themed party pre-game rather than a Japanese one.
St MartinPlatz went ballistic as the speakers pumped out Aussie classics like 'Land Down Under', 'Khe Sanh', 'Holy Grail' – even 'I Think I’m Turning Japanese' which got a good laugh. The locals didn’t know the tunes but definitely knew how to have a good time. To their credit the Japanese supporters got amongst it too.
This was followed by thousands of fans walking to the stadium along the "World Cup Mile", a long and straight main road which rises steadily towards the stadium. The entire run was filled with vendors, street performers and musicians plus locals cheering the fans on.
FRITZ-WALTER STADION
At the top of the mile was an intersection overflowing with thousands of fans whilst locals filled the footpaths or hung out of surrounding buildings waving their flags – it was like being part of a marathon or road race that contained as many competitors as spectators!
At the gates fans were frisked more thoroughly than at any airport or concert I’ve ever been to, then it was time for "The Climb"... home of 1.FC Kaiserslautern football club, Fritz-Walter Stadion is perched forty metres above the town and access is only via long stairways or winding roads.
On the way up we passed numerous people who had pulled off to the side to recover their breath or wait until the crowds died down, plus one guy who was being attended to my paramedics. Personally, I think building a stadium so high above its surroundings is a masterstroke – after trekking all that way to the top name me one football hooligan who has enough energy left to shout abuse let alone throw a punch ;-)
In sad news I managed to lose two sherpas during the climb to the stadium, if their families are reading this, I want you to know their last words were, “Hiddink is the master coach” and “Super Timmy Cahill”.
Outside the stadium is an impressive sculpture featuring K-Town's five members of the 1954 West German team that pulled off one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history. Their opponents in the final, Hungary, had not lost a match for four years and led 2-0 after only eight minutes. But the Germans fought back, eventually taking the lead in the 84th minute and holding on to win in what is now known as "The Miracle of Bern".
GAME 1 – AUSTRALIA v JAPAN
I’m pleased to report that Australian fans have moved on from the abysmal “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi” chant that has been prevalent the last few years (any yobbo on tour who tried to get that chant started found himself pelted with rubbish and howled down by the green and gold masses – it was a thing of beauty).
This being football, fans put a bit of work into their chants. Some of the best on show were…
(To the tune of 'Go West' by the Village People & Pet Shop Boys)
Stand up… for the Socceroos, stand up… for the Socceroos
(Tune – 'Daddy Cool' by Boney M)
Harry, Harry Kewell
Can’t stop Harry Kewell
(Tune – 'My name is Luka' by Suzanne Vega)
My name’s Viduka, I live on the second floor…
(Tune – 'Guantanamera')
One Johnny Warren, there’s only one Johnny Warren
And the three most popular…:
Come on Aussie, come on, come on
Super, Super Tim
Super, Super Tim
Super, Super Tim
Super Timmy Cahill
Aus-tral-iii-aaaaaa
La-la-la-la-la-la-laaa
La-la-la-la-la-la-laaa
All these chants got a thorough workout before, during and after this incredible match.
The stadium was filled to capacity (48,500) and the atmosphere was indescribable. The stands are extremely close to the pitch and very high so you feel part of the action at all times and surrounded by a wall of noise. Our seats were in row 4 and whenever a corner was taken it was like we could have kicked it ourselves – amazing seats.
As many of you reading this would know Australia went 1-0 down early after a poor decision by the referee, who decided not to award a free kick when our goalkeeper was taken out of the play.
This knocked the wind out of our sails and for a while it was pretty quiet down our end of the stadium. Then in the 84th minute Tim Cahill scored and we came alive once more. This was followed by another goal to Cahill then Aloisi in the 89th and 92nd minutes respectively.
Australia had recorded it’s first-ever World Cup victory and the place went absolutely nuts. Waltzing Matilda and Advance Australia Fair were belted out numerous times with gusto. It was one big party on the way down the stadium steps and singing our way back along the "World Cup Mile".
Next stop was the live fan site in StiftsPlatz at the other end of K-Town for one heck of a party. The entire town joined in the celebration with locals young and old out to celebrate the victory. One Aussie even made his way to the top of the town fountain to hang an Australian flag.
Tough choices were made late in the night, catch the last bus back to the campgrounds and keep celebrating there or miss the bus and spend the night in K-Town, I chose the bus but the next morning it was clear who chose the all-nighter option!
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