My First German Soccer Experience

I never actually had the privilege of meeting any of them face to face; in fact, I probably wasn’t even born yet, when most of these players started kicking the ball around the house, dreaming of not only playing for their country but representing it as well. Welcome, my friends, to one of the greatest and biggest sport tournaments on the planet… The European Cup!

The European Cup (Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is an annual continental competition organized every four years for the top football clubs in Europe since 1955. It has now become one of the most prestigious tournaments in all of the world. The championship game of the competition is one of the most watched annual sporting events worldwide, drawing over 300 million television viewers.

I am a huge soccer fanatic! I love soccer like kids love Christmas! Yes, that’s right, I love soccer that much and because I love it that much I’m going to share with you an amazing opportunity I had when I attended one of the public viewings of the intense semi-final game between Turkey and Germany during the 2008 European Cup in Chemnitz, Germany.

So on a perfect crystal clear summer day, in the middle of the Chemnitz City Plaza, was a HUMONGOUS T.V. Screen set up to broadcast the game between the two teams. I personally have never seen anything bigger than that in my entire life than that T.V screen that stood right before my eyes. Right then I knew I was about to experience something unforgettable.

I got to experience the highest of highs and some of the lowest of lows all in one magical game. In the last minutes of the soccer match as the time was slowly winding down, it felt like everything was going in slow motion for within the few minutes that were left, there was a total of 3 lead changes. Goals were being scored by both teams simply trading scores back and forth, until the last seconds of the game, when Germany, as time was about to expire, scored the go-ahead goal to propel their team on to the championship game against Spain.

When Germany scored the winning goal, the enormous (standing room only crowd) erupted into the biggest Rooooooar of chants and screams that I’ve ever heard in my entire life. Horns and sirens were going off, fireworks were exploding all around me and the people who weren’t busy doing all that kind of stuff, were busy hugging and jumping on everyone and anyone that they could get their hands on.

The people of Germany really treat each game as if it were life and death. When Germany wins, the country spins into a wild frenzy of the most lovable people in the world. You couldn’t be able to find or meet any happier kind of people on the entire planet. But if they happen to lose, well, you will just want to get as far away from them as you possibly can.

So with the win, Germany played its way into the Euro Cup final. Germany usually doesn’t have any troubles getting itself into the championship game, the only real problem is actually winning it. So like most of the championship games that Germany has played over the years, the game against Spain in the Euro Cup was no different. Spain won and Germany Lost. While Germany did lose the game, it still doesn’t change the fact that they are still one of the three most successful teams in the world in international competitions, having won a total of three World Cups and three European Championships. It also doesn’t change the fact of what I experienced that day. For me it felt like I became a German citizen that day with the way everyone treated me and with how the game went cheering, singing and yelling with the German people. It also helped that we won the game to get us into the championship game.

I would highly recommend this to anyone that likes fun and unforgettable experiences! Even if you are not a fan of soccer games, the atmosphere and culture that is there gives you a real indication of what life in Germany is all about.