Finale whoa´-ohhhhh

“You are for Germany, yes?” the crazy Deutschland fan asked us as the game against Argentina went into penalty kicks. We told him that we were, and he responded, “good, then we link our arms together.” So there we stood, three Americans, arms around passionate German Fussball fans, jumping for joy as Argentina missed kicks and Germany made theirs. When the clinching goal was made, the nearly one-million fans at the fan mile went crazy as they screamed, hugged, threw their pilsners in the air, and rejoiced at advancing to the semi-finals.

Luckily at UCLA I’m used to waiting a long time for sporting events – hours at the Rose Bowl, and full days at Pauley Pavillion – so the fan mile experience wasn’t quite as tiring for me, as we left at 1:30 for a 5:00 start. After another thorough pat down, we were in the fan mile, which even 3 hours before the game was already full. After stopping for beer and the biggest sandwich I’ve ever seen – gyros stuffed in Turkish bread – and a stop at the porta-potties that cost us 50 Euro cents to use (although it did include use of a gemutlich makeshift washbasin and towels). As I was standing waiting for my friends to finish, a woman came up to me trying to give me her coins in order to use the bathroom. “Nicht fur mich” I told her, as she laughed embarrassedly for mistaking me for the bathroom attendant.

We grabbed pretty good seats that were only maybe 200 meters from the Brandenberg Gate (trust me, compared to the length of the fan mile, this is really close up). We ended up sitting behind an African drumming circle which was really cool for the first few minutes, but became a bit much after a couple of hours of incessant beats.

Finally the game was underway, and we had a pretty good view that included all of the Germans with their flags of various sizes waving in the air underneath the big screen. In the course of the afternoon we learned the German chants – my favorite of which are “Finale…whoa-ohh…Finale…Whoa---ohh-ohhh,” and “Schiess ein Tor…schiess ein tooo-oooo-ooor…Schiess ein Tor,” which means “score a goal,” but sounds much cooler auf Deutsch.

Following the game we eschewed the great public transportation system in Berlin and decided to walk back. Still light out, and quite warm despite overcast skies, we walked the length of the famous Unter den Linden boulevard, while a cacophony of honks from cars driving by – with both Germans and their flags hanging out of windows – filled the air and cheers of “Deutschland!” and “Finale!” were the greeting of choice for anyone dressed in “Schwarz” “Rot” or “Gelb.”

I’ve included some photos from the day, and also uploaded a video from Germany’s game tying goal. It’s shaky at the beginning since I’m jumping up and down, but after that you can see the celebrations going on at fan mile.


The washing center that almost made up for a 50 cent pee break.


Look at the size of my friends’ sandwiches


The view’s pretty good when the flags aren’t waving


More flags


Crowded celebration


The celebration continues on Unter den Linden.


German fans celebrate

Click above for a video of German fans celebrating the game tying goal against Argentina