FIFA Round One

Well as many of you already know this past weekend marked the beginning of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer Championship in South Africa. While Soccer is quickly becoming a popular sport in America it has long been a staple of national pride in Europe and the rest of the world. The Cup lasts for about a month and I will be here for the entirety of the tournament. The two teams I have been following have been USA and Germany. This past Saturday the USA played and on Sunday Germany played.

In preparation for the games we scoured the streets in search of some USA paraphernalia (as if our appearance wasn't enough). We finally found an American flag in a small "Football Fan Shop" on one of the back streets of Freiburg. Eric quickly snatched up the flag and can be seen below wearing as a cape.



For the USA v. England game we spotted a restaurant with tents a screens set up for the game down by the river. We figured all the venues would be filling up early for the big game (this was not the case), so we found ourselves in control of the outdoor venue for about an hour. Soon however the game came on and to our surprise we found ourselves in the middle of one of the few Pro-England bars in Freiburg. We soon found out that the owner's wife was from Manchester, but all the well it was an enjoyable game. England came into the match as the favorite, but USA was able to scrap away with a draw. A draw gives each team 1 point in group play and a win gives the winner 3. So going into the second round we are now tied for second with England. The other two teams in our group are escaping me at the moment, but they shouldn't be nearly as strong as England.



At the end of the game some of the guys ended up talking to a group of locals at the venue. They informed us that there was a huge Techno DJ Block Party down the street hosted by one of the local radio stations and we were invited. So we followed Leona down the river as she rode her bike ahead. After about a 10 minute walk we could soon hear the bass reverberating off the buildings around us... we had made it.

(Side note: Patrick Dingess got hungry at the end of the game and meet a nice family from Boston that took him to a restaurant... I have been told that he had salmon and soup.)

/ />

After about an hour of European beats and ready to head back, we found a Taxi and headed home to Vauban.
However, when we arrived to the dorm complex, it became apparent that our neighbors were indeed making a party in the storage room under one of the buildings (The storage room is typically used for bikes and such, but some girl had cleaned it out). Anyways, were forced to partake in the festivities.

It was a long, fun and adventurous night but nothing compared to what we would witness Sunday evening.