Support women's sports and SHARE this story with your friends!

A longtime Freundin of the blog is currently in Germany as part of a covert operation launched by AWK enjoying the soccer and taking in the sights and sounds of the World Cup.

She’s been kind enough to send us a few tidbits from her travels. We hope to post them throughout the tournament. Because they - much like our source - is awesome.

Sunday:

• TV news (ZDF?) had piece on the impact of women’s soccer on the nation – ie, does anyone know the players. Street queries revealed that almost no one (well, three people) could name a player, until a woman suddenly named Prinz and Laudehr. Anyway, at least they can name someone!

• There are many German side view mirror flag things on cars – we say this during men’s WC. Drug stores everywhere have funny soccer window displays ext to their usual summer displays for ticks and sunscreen.

• Heard in [Berlin Olympic] stadium behind us – man “It’s so nice that the women’s game is so much slower than the man’s – you can really watch each play.”

• Enormous amount of families with kids, our German friends say this is unheard of at men’s soccer games, where it is 80% men, and very unpleasant men at that, that get on the s-bahn drunk as hell. Many families and women of all ilks walking around Berlin in soccer hats. Very well-behaved, (ahem!) Strong gay presence, About 5% of crowd was lesbians.

Monday:

• Had front row seats to Eng- Mex game. Very few English fans, correct. Unsure why. But there were HUGEeee Mexican sections in crowd, including right behind us. 5-5 Drunk men in super hero face masks (not kidding) screaming “Ay-ex, Ayex I love you!” as a way to distract Alex Scott.

Tuesday:

• At the [U.S./North Korea] game: the stadium was packed to the brim on the shady side, which was not visible on TV (?) Only the sunny side had a few hundred tix remaining.

• In the sun, it was searingly hot – about 85 to 88-ish F. But yahoo sports et al falsely reported that the humidity was oppressive. Huh? If that’s humid, then they have never been to the eastern US. The humidity here is wonderfully low. LOW.

• Stalwart Pia stood in the rays the entire time, while her staff took cover in the barely-there awnings on the bench. She looked riveted, concerned but calm the entire first half. She barely flinched when the US kept tripping, slipping over or fumbling the ball. She’d make a good parent.

• This crowd was about ten times as loud and exuberant than the England-Mexico crowd in Wolfsburg, even though attendance was similar.

• And here in Dresden there was a heavy American presence, more Uncle Sam hats and USA clothing than could possibly be seen on TV, also many Anglo logos and such on t-shirts, but then we often heard German voices underneath them. My German friends pointed out that still, as always, anything in American is hip, even if that hip nation bombed your city to rubble 70 years ago.

• Some local papers can’t resist working the war and/or cold war issue in to their coverage: Local newspaper Bild-Dresden edition had a http://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/fussball-wm-frauen/sexy-mitts-trifft-heldin-der-arbeit-18554672.bild.html ">huge spread of Heather Mitts in a sexy black dress and exclaimed “Cold war? This sexy woman will make men hot!” They noted her long blond hair, height and rating by Playboy as US soccer’s sexist woman.

• ….Speaking of Bild, they also took a swipe at England with the headline “Typical England!” and claimed Bardsley goofed by not saving an easy strike. “They made fools out of themselves!” the paper bellowed.

• …Indeed, I was surprised by the German North Korea fans. Not the usual “Korea is One” union people at every game all over the globe, but dozens of Germans with red shirts and North Korean flags.

Wednesday:

• German team went on shopping trip day they arrived in Berlin on street known as Ku-dam (big shopping area) & no one recognized them…

• Mild controversy over whether Prinz should start instead of Popp…

• Prinz just finished her degree in Psychology & is now a psychologist!

• BBC sport calls L Cheney “Lauren Chancey”.

• Even the conservative paper Berliner Zeitung ridiculed the Nigerian coach’s lesbian witch hunt.

• American ambassador to Germany a part owner of SBfc- says he loves the women’s game.

• A bakery has named a bread after Kim Kulig.

Support women's sports and SHARE this story with your friends!

Filed Under:  

• Soccer
• Sports
• SportsPLUS
• Fans
• Travel
• FIFA

This post is related to an event on our Calendar:

• 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Germany

This post is related to the following ongoing stories:

• 2011 FIFA Women`s World Cup
• Dispatches from Deutschland

View Original Post at allwhitekit.wordpress.com

View jennaawk's Full Profile