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Football Fans Demonstrate in Berlin

13. Oktober 2010 in Berlin, Football, Our Neighbourhood by Paul

football demo 2

Located as we are 0n the Rosenthaler Platz, it is quite normal for the many demonstrations that take place in Berlin to pass by the Circus Hostel and Hotel. Last Saturday it was the turn of German football fans to have their voices heard, as 4000 fans from over 50 clubs took to the streets of Berlin to protest against rising ticket prices in the German game, as well as the increasing commercialisation of the sport.

As football clubs in England and elsewhere suffer under mountains of debt, fans are priced out of tickets and the clubs continually weaken their connection with their local communities, the German leagues continue to be held up around Europe as a model of football that others would do well to follow. But as the demonstration on Saturday shows, the fans remain vigilant when it comes to changes in their game. You can read more about the demonstration on Saturday here on the Local.de, and here is another link to an interesting article from the Guardian last year about “how the Bundesliga puts the Premier League to shame.”

football demo 1

WM 2010: England vs Germany in Lego

29. Juni 2010 in Football, Stuff We Like, World Cup 2010 by Paul | 3 comments

Here’s an excellent recreation of Sunday’s game using that childhood favourite…Lego. It comes from the website Legofussball.eu where you can see recreations of loads of different World Cup, Champions League and Bundesliga matches. Possibly my favourite scene is their recreation of the American goal in the opening match against England. Somehow, even the lego figure manages to give off the utter sense of disbelief and despair that Robert Green must have been feeling as the ball squirmed into the net.

Video: Germany 4 England 1:

Becker’s African Diary #12: Five days in the life of a football fan

29. Juni 2010 in Becker's African Diary, Football, Travel, World Cup 2010 by Andreas | 2 comments

german team(Here is the diary of Andreas’s last five days in South Africa, from the response to the tight 1-0 victory over Ghana to the joy of stuffing England 4-1…)

Thursday 24th June

Johannesburg

1 am and back in the hotel…wrecked body and soul dead…a match that got me physically exhausted as if I played myself. Tense, tight and nervous…on and off the pitch. A team that is visibly insecure, immature. Beautiful strike from otherwise disastrous Oezil. Brilliant atmosphere, sold out crowd, and the most colourful crowd of Germany supporters I have ever seen. There seemed to be more Asians and Africans in BlackRedGold than Germans. My God, what a relief. Now England. Bring them on. Bring them on. Watching Italy hopefully being eliminated tomorrow at Ellis Park – Sorry Daniele – and then off to Blomfontein…small Stadium, small city…400 km from here, and it will be a cool ride..

Friday 25th June

A Love Letter to Emma and Daniele

When I walked over to Ellis Park today for the game of Italy I, of course, hoped that at the end of the day could celebrate an early exit of the Italian team from the world Cup, like anyone who loves this beautiful game. Why? Because of Inzaghi, even if he is not here, because of the arrogance this team shows on the pitch, because they got away too often with mediocre play, because they betrayed a brave Australian team of their greatest moment with a dive 4 years ago, because they were so arrogant to send this aging, boring and uninspired team to the Cup, because, well, we are Italy. But now, at night, back in the hotel, walking back, man, thousands of sad Italian fans. Sad? An archetypical type of sadness. Without a doubt no culture on this planet celebrates sadness as beautifully as the Italians do. Single tears…shock and agony…A drama worthy of the big screen. And, oh boy, well dressed. Sad and elegant. A spectacle in itself.

As you might have understood by now, I am writing this to let you know that I share your grief, your pain and your desperation. I am Italian tonight. And seeing you guys being last in a group with New Zealand, Paraguay and Slowakia does not make me laugh at all. Really not.

Oh, and I miss you both. It would have been nice to have you here tonight…

P.S. Now you can finally get your Germany flags out of the closet.

Saturday 26th June

Bloemfontein

In Bloemfontein, and there seem to be more English and Germans then actual inhabitants. The match is tomorrow and it feels BIG. The local media is going a bit nuts, and it’s a bit embarrassing, too. Examples? One national paper had the front page reading “Germany and England ready for war.” Bloody idiots. Another one had before the Ghana game the header “Ghana prepares for German Blitzkrieg” and after, under a picture of Oezil (!!!) ”Deutschland ueber alles”. Today the Star wrote ”We are ready for Ze English”…

A bit gross, that a countries media, that is complaining since weeks about the stereotypes and prejudice they see in foreign reports about South Africa is producing crap like that. Anyhow, we might have to live with this for the century. If we win it’s “Germany looking for freedom”, I am sure..

Of course, for us Germans, being the theatre loving people we are, it is top notch entertainment to sit back in the audience, and watch the drama of a once glorious nation to put all their hopes in catching a glimpse of that lost splendour into the hands of 11, intellectually- limited individuals – is there anyone actually taking Terry REALLY seriously? – every 2 years, only to see it failing again and again with an astonishing predictability, and then defeat being blown into biblical proportions by a hysteric media. That’s Greek stuff, isn’t it? Or better, it was the first 3, 4 times…Now it’s more like Monty Python..

And actually: the truth is, we love each other. Brothers, kind of. They have, what we want – a glorious past- and we have what they desire – a functioning society. Besides that, brothers. The nasty, raucous one, always a bit too loud and drinking too much, but clearly more fun, and the other one better in school, but with a stick up his ass…

Will we win? No idea. Whatever will happen, it will be highly entertaining, and, whoever will win, Argentina will be waiting, very likely, and that was that.

I am excited. Totally. The good way. It will be grand.

Sunday 27th June

Bloemfontein

Germany 4 (Klose, Podolski, Müller [2]) England 1 (Upson)

Monday 28th June

Hermanus, after a 1,100 km ride from Bloemfontein.

3 Lions – 4 Goals…Nearly half of the time on the bike today I spent singing “joyful, victorious”. It was a beautiful day. A justification for the whole trip. The sun was out, the atmosphere thrilling but peaceful, the game: unforgettable. I had endorphin rushes the whole 90 minutes, was dancing on the press tribunes after, gave a live interview to the Austrian radio, was shot by South African TV when ecstatically singing the anthem. It was beyond belief.

Seeing the 2 counterattacks up close, and subconsciously knowing what is happening, and see it executed, with surgical precision…priceless. Despite the Lampard shot, which I am very, very sad about that it was denied, there was a class between the teams, and here, you might be bored by now, especially psychologically. A kind of naive youthfulness, no “cleverness”, but a lot of passion, against a team dominated by vague sense of fear. Simply put, I don’t think it has ever been more joyful to be a German football supporter then in the last 2 days.

I know I should not say that, but I am quite sure we will go out against Argentina. I am afraid to see Mertesacker against Tevez, and I assume Mister Khedira will find his limits too against little Leo. Anyhow, no one can take that day away from me. Just a game, but I have been smiling for the past 24 hours.

WM 2010: Who knows the score?

16. Juni 2010 in Circus Hostel, Football, Goldman's Bar, World Cup 2010 by Paul | 1 comment

Tipping_WallchartFor every major football championship since the Circus first opened its doors back in 1997, the staff and friends of the company have taken part in a Tipping Competition. The rules have been tweeked over the years, but the basic principle remains…we all have to tip the results of every since game at the World Cup, as well as predicting who will win each group, which four teams will reach the Semi-Finals, and which nation (Argentina) will emerge victorious in the final on the 11th July.

Now, modesty prevents me from telling all the lovely readers of the Circus Blog exactly how well I myself am doing…let’s just say that a good number of teams and players at this tournament have let me down, and yes, I am taking it personally (I’m looking at you Slovakia).

With only two more games to go before every nation has played at least once, the current leader of the Circus Tipping Competition is Jim with 14 points, followed closely by Andreas and Sophie who both are on 13. Here’s the evidence:

Tipping_BexyJimboTipping_Sophie

So at least through Jim we have one Englishman performing creditably during the 2010 World Cup, even if his own patriotism might possibly hamstring his attempts to take the coverted victors crown by the end of the tournament.

If this all seems a little self-indulgent, then please forgive us, but we do also have a tipping competition that is available to everyone who comes down to the Circus to watch the games. For €1 people predict the score down in the bar, and the winner or winners share the pot at the final whistle. If nobody picks correctly then we have a roll-over, and by the start of last nights game the pot had risen to €50 and one english pound.

Fittingly, the first big winner of the daily tipping competition was a South African. Kathline is staying with us all week, having been involved in the preparations for the tournament back home before her travels began. Last night she tipped the result of Brazil vs North Korea with unearring accuracy, and therefore ended the evening taking home the entire pot:

Tipping_Kathline

Kathline seemed less impressed with the English pound. Can our national pride take this continual battering? I’m not sure I even dare to watch on Friday…

Becker’s African Diary #8: Photographs from the World Cup

16. Juni 2010 in Becker's African Diary, Football, Travel, World Cup 2010 by Paul

Despite the standard of the football, I (Paul that is) am still excited by this World Cup…but what it must be like to be there, and in amongst it all I can hardly imagine…the crowds, the stadiums, the noise, the “Uwe Seelers”…it must be great. And just when we were wondering what our World Cup and Southern Africa Correspondant was up to, he sent us some pics so that we can get that little bit more jealous of his experiences…

Andreas at Soccer City in Johannesburg…

Joburg Soccer City

Another passion…Andreas hooks up with a motorbike parade in Durban

Durban Moto Parade

One of these men used to be a football player…

Juergen Sparwasse

The man in question is Jürgen Sparwasser, former East German footballer and scorer of the legendary goal against the West Germans at the 1974 World Cup to give the German Democratic Republic a 1-0 victory in Hamburg against their neighbours. It was the only time the first teams of the two Germanys would meet in competition. You can read more about Andreas’s new buddy on wikipedia.

WM 2010: Zen and the Art of English Goalkeeping

14. Juni 2010 in Circus Hostel, Events, Football, Goldman's Bar, World Cup 2010 by Paul | 1 comment

Robert-Green-006Hmmm…the first few days of the World Cup are behind us, and after a relatively low-key start the talking points revolve around the continuing tradition of goalkeeping howlers, regardless who is wearing the famous three-lions jersey between the sticks, and a wonderful performance from a young German team that produced the most exciting football of the tournament so far.

In Berlin the flags are flying…for the national team of course, but you can spot the colours of most of the competing teams somewhere in the city. On the weekend, in Hohenschönhausen, there were even a couple of English flags flying from a couple of balconies. There is no question what the sound of the World Cup is so far…and walking the Berlin streets during a match, with televisions set up outside cafes, bars, bakeries and newsagents, you get the feeling that the city is being attacked by a swarm of angry bees or hungry mosquitoes.

Today my German colleagues seem pretty happy, and in the glow of such a fine victory they are gracious enough not to tease us Englishmen too much. But as ever with the World Cup, there is hardly a pause for breath. Over the next few days these are the games we are looking forward to, and of course, are showing live on the big screen at either the Cafe or Goldman’s Bar in the Circus Hostel…

Today (14th June)

13.30 – Holland vs Denmark (Cafe)
16.00 – Japan vs Cameroon (Cafe)
20.30 – Italy vs Paraguay (Goldman’s Bar)

Tuesday 15th June

13.30 – New Zealand vs Slovakia (Cafe)
16.00 – Ivory Coast vs Portugal (Cafe)
20.30 – Brazil vs North Korea (Goldman’s Bar)

Wednesday 16th June

13.30 – Honduras vs Chile (Cafe)
16.00 – Spain vs Switzerland (Cafe)
20.30 – South Africa vs Uruguay (Goldman’s Bar)

Forza Pankow! Football in the Berlin suburbs

20. Mai 2010 in Berlin, Circus News, Football, Stuff We Like by Jared

pankow football(Jared and some friends go to watch the football…or, what the Circus staff do in their spare time…Who’s Who from left to right: Andrew, Toga, Josefine, Sean, Bernie, Konny, Jared and Cami )

This past Sunday I woke up with the traditional feeling that it was Saturday night the day before. I woke up to my handy going off with a text: “Football today meet at Pankow S-bahn at 13:30”. So I nursed my small hangover and jumped on the tram to be taken way out of my hood. (I am known for never leaving Berlin Mitte). I arrived in Pankow and could only think: Dorothy, we are not in Kansas no more.

I arrived in Pankow to see a girl beating up her boy friend. Not something you see very often…but as Jim and little Jo Jo arrived with Andy and little Bernie I told them the story and it seemed to be some what of a regular occurrence in this part of the world. Sean rolled in and then Toga on his bike and to top it off, Konny and Cami in a car.

We caught the bus to the stadium, where I discovered we were to watch Konny’s old team Einheit Pankow, who were playing against BFC Preußen.  Arriving at the out door pitch Konny shook hands with the guy selling tickets and organized us a deal at the door. Making our way to the beer Konny seemed to know everybody there. I knew Konny could play football (since I am the official circus physio)  but I didn’t know about his good old days as  a famous player for Pankow. He had to hang up his boots  since he got married and the team demands 3 days of training and one game day.

We hit the fan curve. It was just us all speaking English and about 50 other people drinking  crates of beer and smoking butts.. The away teams fans must have  got lost since they had about 5 of them there.

The game kicked off and we watched and yelled what ever and when even Konny told us too. We got a couple rounds of beer in before half time, and at half time it was time to wash a few sausages down with a few more beers. The second half was supposed to be more exciting than the first half, but the final result was 0-0 and there were few chances for Pankow to score.

The game ended and it was time to retire to the club house. Konny gave me tour of the club house where the players were enjoying asparagus and potatoes. They all looked at me like I was in the wrong place but Konny had my back and showed photos of his famous father on the pitch , in the period when he was a leading light in the over 50s team. Now he is playing for the over 60s!

Paul, Katrin and little Lotte showed up about a half hour after the game – we are still trying to figure out why there were so late – to drink a few beers (not Lotte). The sun came out later in the day and the kids were having a great time.

It was a great day to hang out with people since most have kids these days and they got no time for beer drinking. The weather held out for us, the beer was plentiful and well priced, and the football was as exciting as it gets. Actually I was more fascinated by the planes passing by about to land at Tegal.

Thanks for everyone that made or Sunday trip so much fun and I am sure when there is another game and a trip to the forgotten corners of the Berlin football world,  Konny will let you all know.

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