All over but the shouting

Well, Germany just beat Portugal for third place, but someone who didn't know that second fact might be excused for thinking they'd won the championship: there are fireworks downtown (that I can hear but not see), and the corso started before the game had even finished.

The match, the second-last of the world cup, was played here in Stuttgart, and the city was full to bursting. The police barricaded the city centre four hours before the kickoff, there was already standing-room-only at all of the open-air screens.

I crossed paths with the fans in the Hauptbahnhof subway station on my way home, and was amused - nay, charmed - by the atmosphere: they were delighted! The fans were so happy to be able to watch Germany play again in their own home town that winning the championship would not have added a whit to the pleasure. The game may have been played seriously (although we note that a quarter of the team called in sick!) but for the fans it was purely fun. Nothing to lose, no points to worry about (who cares about third place, really?) - just the chance to see some of the world's best football right here at home.

A song was being sung everywhere in the city today (to the tune of the Beatles' "we all live in a yellow submarine"):

Stuttgart ist viel schöner als Berlin,
schöner als Berlin,
schöner als Berlin!

In other words, how lucky that we can watch Germany play here in Stuttgart, rather than having to go to Prussia tomorrow for the championship! Slightly tongue-in-cheek, of course, but I for one think it's true. Berlin is obviously bigger and more fun than Stuttgart, but it also has all of the problems and disadvantages of big cities; like Manhattan, it's a great place to visit but thank God you don't have to live there. The song is a true spotted-in-the-wild meme, it didn't exist yesterday evening but this morning everyone knew the words and sang along lustily.

To my own surprise, I must admit that the world cup has been fun.