The after party... July 12, 2006
Never before has there been such a party – lasting 31 days in 12 or more cities. Indeed, throughout the whole of the majority of Germany. In Kaiserlautern alone there were 5 matches staged at its stadium on the hill, each attended by a capacity 41,000. In the city there were 3 giant screens (plus supporting cast of big small screens) doubling/trebling the city’s population of 100,000. Indeed so many came to catch a whiff of Italy v USA that the streets in almost every direction were jammed with people. The city had turned itself over entirely to the World Cup for a month, and for a month the entire city and more turned out to embrace the football fever. Many had and will never have again a detailed interest in football. Still, this could be their World Cup too. Germany’s instruction to its cities and its people was clear and demanding and not just an affectation : IT’S TIME TO MAKE FRIENDS. Of course the war was within living memory; culturally Germany was still paying a price for upsetting the whole of the 20th century… and recently there were signs that its economy, the envy of the World, was being surpassed by still larger nations and those with greater imaginations. This could be the time, like no other, for Germany to feel good about itself and to be at the hub of a new world positivity. The partying would be important. The German’s ability as hosts – their welcoming smile, their police putting aside momentary intervention and irritation for the sake of the bigger picture (the party) would be all important. The efficiency (German trademarked) could kick in the morning after in the amazing clean-up operation, in the getting everything ready again for more partying and football-related fever-pitching.
The World Cup would not be here again for several generations (Germany had only just seized it from the Africans). Football’s unique language could not be spoken in quite the same way, across so much of Germany, for decades to come.
Germany had the chance to stage the World Cup – and they did not miss their goal. On the pitch they were less than brilliant. But they were SO enthusiastic. And the underdog. Which added to the fun. Helped prize open the door. Germans, as other fans, were only too keen to adorn themselves in the apparel of other nations, sometimes at a whim. In advance of or on the back of a result. Suddenly Germans were Ghanaians (Ghana excelling). Or Trinidadians – suddenly Germans understood the idea of supporting the underdog, even a no-hoper. And of course, where there is double-speak and Shakespearian dressing-up as another, there comes irony… and humour. Of course the Germans always had it, it just did not come first to mind. TV crews would rush to interview ‘typical’ fans from a certain country, when actually they were Germans, having a ball, being good hosts, simply making friends.
What does world domination football really mean? Brazil are that dominating force. Whereas on the economic front, and on most fronts, Brazil is division 2, 3, 4 or unclassified, in football they fire the imagination and bring respect to their flag and to their name. Their style is well-documented : a mixture of grace and power and cunning and daring. Football resembling ‘ good fun’ and of a certain beauty. A beauty admired by ordinary people. A beauty appealing to the most intellectual. As though the highest knowledge and feeling could be expressed at our lowest points : at our feet.
Foot-ball, the only truly world ‘game’, centered around a ball the shape of the World, simply has the power to connect, to communicate across all 500 languages/barriers. Where even there is no language. Its problems and its tactics and its regional politics can be complicated (and interesting), but more often than not it’s easy to understand and hard to ignore.
And World Cup format offers a slightly complicated group system, followed by a supremely simple knock-out stage – replete with penalties of needed. Seasoned football fans hate the penalties for deciding matches. Onlookers love them. So simple, so dramatic.
The World Cup is easiest understood looking backwards. “Oh yes, of course, they were the best” and “this is where it obviously went wrong for…” (the rest). Granted, some had bad luck. Others were caught out, shown up. Some were frazzled… the game invented in England “to warm and tire lusty peasants on cold winters afternoons” is played, at World Cup level, always in the summertime and/or the heat. Every World Cup has been a hot one, save for that in 1966 – an English summer. On tv this World Cup heat looks great. Colours are rich , clothes colourful or scant – people look tanned, the World looks healthy. At pitch level players are wilting (at the end of a long domestic season) despite their will to win. Despite their riches. Indeed, it is doubtful that how much they get paid really comes into it. There is still in the World Cup Finals theatre, before the biggest audiences ever known to man, an enobling quality.
