The match we´d been waiting for

Many of the Australians on tour with FFA gathered in a Munich Beergarden at the north end of the English Garden, one of the largest city parks in Europe. The mood was good but after an early lunch of almost half a chicken, chips and a litre stein of beer I figured that I could not continue this patten until heading to the stadium for the Brazil Australia game.

I headed into the city to soak up a more mixed atmosphere of Brazilian and Australian fans and to check out some of the sights close to the city centre. Like many European cities Munich is very beautiful with many old civic buildings and churches. Unfortunatly I missed the famed Glockenspiel do its thing but to see the town centre was still worth the trip in.

After a short detour to the beer garden I was glad to head to the stadium early to watch the finish of the Croatia Japan game. The Australian crowd was pleased with the 0-0 result as it left it in Australian hands as to wether we would get to the next round. Interestingly this stadium was constructed using the same technique as the rocket tower for the National Space Centre in Leicster.

The stadium quickly became a sea of green and gold of the Australian and Brazillian fans filed into the ground with a spattering of German colours. I won´t go into the game as there is plenty written elsewhere about it except to say that the feeling of those around me was the played well and the score could have been very different. I was pleased that Brazil was scoreless at half time and felt that our team had their measure.

We only had a short time in Munich after the game before having to board the train back to Stuttgart. I don´t think I could sum it up better than I did in an SMS to a friend who asked "So do the Brazillians party as hard as the Japanese?" To which I replied: "The Brazillians party louder than the Japanese but not as hard as the Australians when we lose.