It's my second time in Berlin this month. Earlier, I had visited the Waldbühne to enjoy a fabulous Metallica concert. The Waldbühne is adjacent to Berlin's Olympic Stadium - the arena for today's quarter finale match between Germany and Argentina. I went pretty nuts during the game. This was probably the best thriller I have seen so far.
Hope you enjoy some of the images...

Optimists

Continue reading "Germany vs. Argentina - Penalty shootout thriller" »

Posted by Naturelich at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Friday evening I will be leaving for Munich. Germany is playing Sweden in the Round of 16 and I am very lucky to have a ticket. Flight and hotel have been booked. Now we need a victory... :D

Posted by Naturelich at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 17:50. 10 minutes to go. The fans unroll a big banner.

The players get back onto the field. It's probably the greatest moment in their career so far. We stand for the National Anthems. Die Luft knistert. 60,000 sing the German Anthem. This is loud. Gänsehaut.

Two minutes to go. 17:58. The teams are ready to go. The game has been kicked off. Germany vs. Costa Rica, June 9th 2006 - FIFA World Cup, Germany.

18:00. We are singing: Jetzt gehts los! 2 billion people in front of their TV. The FIFA World Cup 2006 has started. It's been a breath-taking day... So far. Now, let's hope we'll win... :D
We will do anything to support the team. I will be losing my voice. That's for sure.

After six minutes, Lahm scores his first goal. What a great shot, it is simply unbelievable. We are dancing on our seats, partying with each other but also with total strangers. The atmosphere is great. One can feel the relief...

A few minutes later - 1:1. From our position, we clearly see it as being offsides. The guy in the row behind us calls someone in front of a TV set. It's only been passive. A regular goal. We are shocked. It takes about two minutes and we start again: Deutschland, Deutschland, Deutschland,...

Klose, 2:1. Yeeeees! The best birthday present he probably ever gave to himself. And to Germany. Well done, Miro, we are so happy again. It's going up again. The game is not that good but it's certainly thrilling and intoxicating.

Halftime. We try to get another beer. Any one person can only buy three beers at a time. Can you believe it? The people here are really friendly. The mood is great. The mobile phones are running hot. It is a dream.

Second half. Time flies. After a few more minutes. Klose 3:1. Great goal, directly in front of our eyes. Our mood is getting better and better. Until the second goal. 3:2. Paulo Wanchope, a name to remember. Again, we cannot shake the feeling that this has been offsides. Why don't the referees see it? It's a nightmare. The defense is a nightmare and almost all the attacks go through Schweinsteiger.

Frings eases our minds with a great goal. 4:2. This is it. It's been a great great game and a thrilling opening game. The best I have ever seen. And the first I have seen live.

Posted by Naturelich at 7:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After the opening ceremony, Michael Ballack steps onto the field. His injury got a lot of media attention in the last few days. Although he wanted to play today and said he was fit, Klinsmann did obviously not let him.

Lehmann is the first player on the field. He is followed by the entire German team. We can see Borowski, Schweinsteiger, Podolski, Schneider, Lahm, Klose, Metzelder and all the others. The fans are getting all excited. It is 17:14. Only 46 minutes to go before the opening match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Five minutes later, the Costa Rica players came onto the field. The fan block is getting really excited.

At about 17:40 Toni Braxton and another guy give us the honor of a "nice" song. Not my type of music, really, but a nice dress (at least). Although Toni's shoes were not made for a soccer field, I guess :D

Posted by Naturelich at 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some impressions from the opening ceremony. And, NO, not all Germans wear these suits!

Bavarians in formation

It's getting loud

Nice formation

Hay stacks - The rural Germany (100 years ago)

Continue reading "The Opening Ceremony" »

Posted by Naturelich at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The ticket control points did not require us to show our ID cards. They only checked whether the ticket was for the correct game. Now, we are in and we are pretty excited at the same time. After getting some drinks - oh, yes, they did sell Bitburger - a German beer - anything is better than Budweiser.... ;) - we took the chance to inhale the atmosphere.

The police is everywhere. Even in mini format

The arena...

...with a view to downtown Munich

The field is still covered for the opening ceremony

The stadium is still pretty empty (15:21)

while many fans enjoy the atmosphere in the stadium and look for their seats

Working for 2 billion people

Posted by Naturelich at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 9th, 2006. Düsseldorf Airport, about 9:00 hrs. We are enjoying a cup of coffee at the airport and waiting for our plane to leave. Destination: Germany, Munich, FIFA WM Stadium, Germany vs. Costa Rica. I did not sleep at all last night. Well, maybe an hour. I checked my alarm clock for the last time at 5:15 and remember looking at it at 6:30 again. I am so nervous! Can the German team win? The last two years have had their ups and downs. A lot of downs, but a few ups, too. We'll be reading this again all on our flight as we are equipped with Lufthansa's WM Magazin, the latest edition of Kicker and a Rheinische Post.
About 11:00 hrs. Munich, Airport. A lot of VIP guests are being picked up. You can see plenty of Sponsor limousine cars picking up the guests. We have our own transportation. A friend is going to pick us up. After some going back and forth we make our way to the stadium to pick up the tickets. Option tickets in this case. But first we see this - across the Autobahn. How did Jens Lehmann feel upon his arrival?! :D

My heartbeat is getting faster. I am in line at the Stadium Ticket Center. This is where dreams are made. Will I have all the material to get the tickets? I am checking my ID card for the hundreth time. Yes, it's there. Good, all is under control. Now, it's a matter of time, the queue is long. But some very friendly customer service agents wave me forward. Your letter is up. The tickets will be given away by first letter of your last name. We are in Germany!Everything is well organized. All the people here are friendly. I had expected worse but this was a remarkably unpainful experience. In contrast I am grateful and thankful to all these people. Some discussions at the booth next to mine get a little bit louder. The sign reads Trouble Shooting ONLY. After 20 minutes I am ready to go. Hell, I had expected to wait 3 hours or more.

12:30hrs. We rejoin and drive to the Englischer Garten to enjoy lunch. Time does not fly by. My nervousness is increasing. One hour goes by. We then take a detour to check-in to the hotel. From there we take a taxi. It's 13:30 and congestion time. Less than five hours to go. The taxi driver has to drop us off as we didn't have a parking permit. Yes, we are in Germany. Everything is well organized, even the parking space needs to be pre-ordered. Normally, this would really annoy me but today is different. All is going well. It's going to be a party, a real Fußballfest. I ask several fans for their tip. Everyone goes for 3:0. I agree.

We take our way through security. Since we left our bags at the hotel it all goes smoothly. The Costa Rice fans are in a good mood. The German fans are in a good mood. It's peaceful. We wish each other good luck and see this...

And a big sponsoring area with many booths. Here is one of them ;)

It is 15:06. Is this an omen? And for what? Or is it just me... ;)

Posted by Naturelich at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My Worldcup ticket has arrived. Finally. What a great day. Looking forward to Germany making it to this semi-final :)

Posted by Naturelich at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YES!!!!!

I just received THE best news of the year!

I have one ticket for the FIFA World Cup 2006 semi-finals in Dortmund on July 4th. If Germany wins their group and makes it to the semi-finals round I will actually get the chance to see them live.

Oh my God!

Thanks to the Fanclub Nationalmannschaft and Coca Cola. You just made my day...

Here is the schedule.

Posted by Naturelich at 8:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

After a three month break we finally met for another Badminton evening at Cosmo Sports. To celebrate the occassion we enjoyed a decent meal beforehand and started playing at 9 p.m. for one hour. It was not particularly full speed. But this was totally required as I wanted to avoid sour muscles. And I am okay for the time being.

However, since we plan our next session on Thursday we will see what Friday has to offer...

Posted by Naturelich at 11:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Badminton was called off. We had our court booked at 1900 hrs and were 10 minutes late. The lady resold our court a few minutes ago to another group. Excellent service! Yehaaaah. What can I say? As a customary gesture we decided to order a decent pizza and discuss the online poker robots, the ant algorithm and some weird stuff about the effects of a person's blood being exchanged by common salt solution. It was really funny...

Posted by Naturelich at 11:20 PM | Permalink

Today, I watched the soccer match between Schalke 04 and 1. FC Kaiserslautern live Auf Schalke. The atmosphere in Gelsenkirchen's Veltins Arena was absolutely great - probably one of the best I have ever experienced. After all it was season opening and all the fans were really anxious after a long long time without the Bundesliga.

Continue reading "Schalke beats Kaiserslautern" »

Posted by Naturelich at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After FC Bayern won 3:0 against Mönchengladbach yesterday, we saw quite a few goals today. A similarly high victory were scored by Hamburg against Nuremberg (3:0). However, three goals were not enough to make it to first place. For today, this place is held by Werder Bremen who beat Bielefeld 5:2. The great news: Cologne won as well, although Germany's new star Lukas Podolski did not play well and was exchanged a few minutes before the end. But the penalty kick was well scored - although one could argue whether it really was a foul. But anyway: getting Premiere has been the right decision-the live conference is really fabulous. Tomorrow Schalke plays Kaiserslautern and Leverkusen travels to Frankfurt. I am happy to have a ticket for Schalke's first game this season. I hope we see some fascinating games this year!

Posted by Naturelich at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I enjoyed one hour of badminton. It was a very long (read: hot) hour. The sports center opened their roof for the heat to come and join our game. It was about 27°C although it felt like the temperature increased by .5 degrees every 5 minutes.

Naturelich is really improving his play (although V is still faster and better than me but it is not as bad as the first few times). We enjoyed several really cool rallies. I was just glad to reach the shower alive.... :D

Posted by Naturelich at 8:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What a sports weekend:

Posted by Naturelich at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Frankfurt's Waldstadion is a magnificent arena. We went there to see Germany play Australia as part of the Confederations Cup 2005. Our seats were excellent and we had great views of the first two Australian goals, as well as the last two German goals. The game was really thrilling as Germany's defense was again a nightmare. But the offense made up for it. Let's hope Kahn gets exchanged on Saturday and we see some improevements of the German defense throughout the tournament.

The finale is set on June 29th and we expect nothing less than Germany participating.

Posted by Naturelich at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today, Naturelich enjoyed another hour of badminton. A lot of fun, but the sore muscles from Tuesday rendered me rather immobile (more or less). It was still a lot of fun and we had some cool rallies. But now it's time to sit and relax the muscles...

Posted by Naturelich at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We went to see Germany play Russia tonight. This soccer game was the first international match to take place in the new Borussia-Park arena. My grandson and uncle managed to arrive a little bit earlier than I did. Despite the crowd we met each other directly in front of the stadium. Our seats where on the third to last row in the stadium. However, the view and atmosphere was still great.

The game started off with a small disaster: Russia scored first somewhere around the middle of the first half. Germany's keeper, Oliver Kahn, made a very bad impression on this one, as he was tunneled by Russia's Anyukov.

Luckily, Schweinsteiger (funny name if translated to English: pig climber) was able to score a tie - with a little luck as the ball was diverted by a Russian defense player. Germany got better and better and eventually Schweinsteiger scored again in the second half. The German team had a few more close encounters with the third goal but it did not happen. Instead, when everyone was already thinking about upcoming after-game events, the Russians scored during injury time. And again, Oliver Kahn was very indecisive when being played off by Kerzhakov. Maybe, he is not the best choice any more?!

We shall see during the upcoming FIFA Confederations Cup 2005. For Germany the tournament opens against Australia on 15th June in Frankfurt. I was able to get two tickets and naturelich we hope for a better result. Don't we???

Posted by Naturelich at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today we played Badminton at a different venue in Hilden (located close to Düsseldorf at the intersection of Autobahn A3 and A46) with a large group of people. I think we were 7 altogether and had 2 courts to play on. I started off by playing 2 vs. 1. Our opponent was really good - although we tried hard he went ahead 0:6. But then we made it back into the game scoring a fabulous 6:8 - only 2 more points to get. But it was a pain and he eventually beat us at 12:15. Not bad at all :)

In the next game (a single match) I was lucky to win 15:8. But the real great thing happened in the next game. We played a double against another player and he was playing like a Badminton god. It was a great experience and we explored each and every corner of the court (going back and forth, back and forth, back and...). I think we got like 2 points here.

Then we switched sides and I had to play alone. How fair was that? But, I got really ambitious and was able to score 8 points. But 6 points were really luck (or rather: good-will)! Nevertheless, it was a huge bit of fun and extremely enjoyable...

Posted by Naturelich at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All hell broke loose in Basel when FC Basel won the Swiss soccer championship. There were huge crowds on Barfüsserplatz celebrating their teams victory. Since the weather was real nice it was a wonderful party with excellent atmosphere. Although everyone was a little bit too drunk.

Congratulations to the new Swiss champion 2004/2005...

Posted by Naturelich at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today we played Badminton again. After a week of sickness and another one filled with a business trip my game was in pretty bad shape today. Exhaustion is probably the word describing it best. I had two large drinks afterwards and I felt they were well deserved. The game was real fun but I got chased and chased and chased without having too much luck or success. But we had a couple of good laughs during the game so my good mood will continue on over night, I guess...

Posted by Naturelich at 11:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's the bad news of the day: Naturelich got no tickets for the 2006 FIFA worldcup. The team-specific tickets I was interested have already sold. But not only for Germany, also for the other important teams like England, Brazil, etc. It is a real pity - now let's see what those things are worth on ebay...

Posted by Naturelich at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today the first wave of FIFA worldcup tickets have been drawn by lot. Naturelich had applied for one of the 147,000 team tickets. As the final results will not be made public until April 22nd, I still have to wait another week.

However, there is some good news: I was able to get tickets for the match between Germany and Russia on June 8th in Mönchengladbach's Borussia Park. This game is in preparation of this years Confederations Cup. Accompanied by my godson and his father, we will watch the game starting at 20:45 hrs. Germany has played Russia 16 times so far and won the majority of games (12 victories, 3 losses, 1 draw). I just hope they'll do the same this June.

Posted by Naturelich at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We went to Prickynoo - Düsseldorf's extraordinary Thai restaurant - before our badminton match. Naturelich, it is strange to have dinner before the actual sporting event. But that's the way life goes if you spontaneously try to get a badminton court at Cosmo Sports. On Monday afternoon we decided to meet on Tuesday for our weekly dosage of badminton. The only time-slot Cosmo had available was 22:00 hrs.

Yeah, what can you do? Eat first, and work-out then. And I can tell you: the more food inside your stomach, the funnier the badminton event. I believe we had so much fun that the serious players next to us were a little bit ... shall we say... annoyed. But that did not stop us from having a real good time. Next Thursday we'll return to more serious business...

Posted by Naturelich at 11:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I was in Düsseldorf's new stadium LTU Arena to watch a soccer match between Fortuna Düsseldorf and FC St. Pauli. The two clubs are in the amateur league Regionallige Nord. For a game like this the arena hosted some extraordinary 20,800 visitors. The atmosphere was really good as both St. Pauli and Fortuna fans where giving their best. The game itself was not too bad and the three goals where really worth watching. But some 20-30 minutes it was boring as hell.

Their victory may have saved Fortuna another year in the Regionallige Nord. Fortuna's fans were singing "Oh wie ist das schön" for a long long time. For FC St. Pauli the dream to make it back into the second league has died. We'll have to see what the future brings for both clubs...

Posted by Naturelich at 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Schalke wins 4:1 against Nuremberg. Naturelich saw the game live in Arena auf Schalke. The last game I saw live was against Wolfsburg. Since Munich also won (0:3 in Wolfsburg) these two teams are still neck-to-neck in the premiere German soccer league. The first and last fifteen minutes of the game were rather dull. It felt like an easy victory.

Posted by Naturelich at 12:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Sportpark Wallenhorst was chosen as arena for the badminton match of the year. A match between giants in this sport *ahem*: Naturelich vs his sister. The court was crowded with people, the arena was filled to the last spot. Approximately 10,000 people who were shouting at each and every point...

Well, or something like that... ;)

In the end we both had a lot of fun! And we will certainly have a re-match soon!

Posted by Naturelich at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today, Naturelich had his fourth Badminton session. When it was just beginning to become a regular installation in my life, it already starts to fall apart a little bit again: next week and the next week after had to be canceled because of conflicting business schedules. It's a pity. But we'll pick this up after those two weeks. The problem being my general fitness will start to deteriorate again. Hmmmm. Anyway, my sister has booked a court on Saturday, so I'll be enjoying a good game after all...

Posted by Naturelich at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My game is improving each time we play. The badminton sport owes a lot of it's dynamic and fun to the agility of its players. I was not particularly good two weeks ago when I first started playing after a few years. Today, we played the second time this week and it is getting better and better as well as faster and faster. It's good fun and a very good way to reduce my stress-levels. The next match is scheduled next week's Thursday. Let's hope I'll be able to keep up the pace...

Posted by Naturelich at 9:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have you ever noted a soccer player say something really funny? They are not trained like politicians and sometimes their honesty can be real fun. A German website covers all the best quotes:

http://www.ja-gut-aeh-ich-sag-mal.com/

Naturelich's favorites:
Andreas Brehme
Bedanken möchten wir uns auch bei den Fans, auf denen wir uns immer verlassen konnten.

Jürgen Klinsmann
Da sind meine Gefühle mit mir Gassi gegangen.

Posted by Naturelich at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is today's third post in sports category. Naturelich, a novelty on this site. The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup will be held in June. Germany is preparing for the 2006 world cup and has invited the champion of each continent.

The tournament's climax is the finale on June 29th, 2005 in Frankfurt am Main. And now guess: I was able to get two tickets today. I am totally excited! My fanclub memebership has already paid off: I received an email earlier this morning stating that some of the tickets were returned by some of the participating soccer associations. These tickets had been made available in the ticketing session of the official site.

Now, let's keep aaaaaall our fingers crossed for the German team and let them make the finale against Brazil. That would be soooo cool!!

Posted by Naturelich at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After my last badminton match I had very sour muscles. Upon returning I fell flat on the floor - exhaustion. Today, I jumped the stairs went down to stuff the washing machine and two floors up again. I am wondering if this continues like this or whether I will another sour Saturday!? Let's see! If you like you can place your bets.

We've made additional badminton appointments on Tuesday and Thursday next week. This will be the true test whether there is still hope for my physical fitness... You can't bet me on this one ;)

Posted by Naturelich at 9:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is Badminton day. I am now equipped with new Badminton gear which probably won't have much effect on the sore muscles I had last time.
As Naturelich says:
The more you train, the less, the less muscle pain.

Posted by Naturelich at 5:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have become a member of Fan Club Nationalmannschaft. This step is necessary to prepare my mind for the upcoming Confederations Cup and next year's soccer world cup in Germany. Also, I have just pre-ordered two tickets for the game Netherlands-Germany in August this year. The venue is not yet defined but Oranje will loose and Naturelich wants to be there...

Posted by Naturelich at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

American taxpayers are made aware of the fortune the government spends on the war in Iraq. This initiative is sponsored by CostofWar.com.

Please note the sarcasm in my post (category assignment!)

Also, I think reducing it to a monetary figure (whatever the increase) does not suit the topic either. I mean there are people dying on both sides!

Posted by Naturelich at 12:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tonight (at 22:00 hrs!) I am up for a Badminton match at Cosmo Sports with a friend of my colleague's. I have not played the game in a looong while but I am looking forward to it. A little bit shaky though, as I will loose terribly. I just hope to be able to hold the badminton racket. Naturelich shall see. The next badminton session is already scheduled to start in early March (but earlier at 19:00 hrs)...

Posted by Naturelich at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Naturelich has ordered FIFA worldcup tickets. After a long decision process, I have decided to go for a team-specific ticket (TST) . Guess, which team I would like to follow? As an optimist I chose to apply for a 7 game TST-ticket. Now, we have to wait until the organization commitee informs the lucky winners...

Keep your fingers crossed!

Posted by Naturelich at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Schalke's players applauding their fans after the game

Schalke beats Wolfsburg 3:0! This gets Schalke 04 closer to Bayern Munich and the German football league is going to be more thrilling over the next few weeks. Wolfsburg played terrible, clearly outplayed. The game was excellent, the atmosphere in the stadium (Arena auf Schalke) absolutely stunning. Great experience!

Posted by Naturelich at 8:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The ticket sale for the 2006 FIFA Worldcup in Germany has started. Please wish me good luck on getting a team specific ticket for the new world champion, the German team. Imagine: defeating the English team in the finale in Berlin with 3:2! Or defeating the Dutch team with 6:1! This would be a dream become reality...

Posted by Naturelich at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After a loooong time, I went bowling again... Yesterday. All my troubles seemed so far away...

The whole show started off with two strikes in a row! The venue was a large fitness and sporting complex: Cosmo Bowling. This was definitely beginner's luck as the rest of the evening was rather mediocre - with respect to the bowling. There was plenty of beer and loadsa fun: Naturelich and a few additional loosers took it rather easily while others were really anxious to get some great scores. Next time I plan on drinking even more beer - which makes Kung Fu Master even more shaky hitting plenty of zeros in a row... ;)

Posted by Naturelich at 6:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I have become a member of Robin Hood's Men. An outdoor event hosted by Outdoor2Business in Germany's beautiful Eifel region.

Continue reading "Robin Hood Outdoor Challenge" »

Posted by Naturelich at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What a stunning surprise. They did it! Otto Rehagel did it! It is simply unbelievable: the mavericks win the european soccer championship 2004! I was in a pub watching the game - the crowd cheered as Greece scored for 1:0. Although most spectators were fans of Portugal, the Greece minority screamed like hell, danced, drank, sang,... It was awesome. Above is a pic of the event. Afterwards the streets were filled by cars using there horn, the Greece flag was everywhere! Jámas!

(c) by Naturelich. All rights reserved.

Posted by Naturelich at 7:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)