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Published: June 29th 2006
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Guten Morgen Munich! We woke up to a very warm and steamy morning! Our room faced the morning sun and we both had to get up early because it was so uncomfortable to sleep-in! We went downstairs to have our included breakfast. The breakfast room was filled with soccer fans - Aussies, Brazillians, Germans mainly.
After breakfast we took the train to the Munich Fanfest where Nat & Adam were to pick up their FFA tickets. Even so early there were heaps of people there drinking beer. It was like a theme park for adults! Beer, soccer field on a hill, big tv screens, pretzels and sausages being sold. Todd, Nat & Adam got a beer each while I got a Sprite. Haha! I have been 99% alcohol-free this whole holiday! 😊
We took our drinks and sat up on the hill with some other fans. It was one of the only places with some shade. It also had a nice view of the Fanfest. We sat on the hill until the Fanshop opened.
When the Fanshop opened everyone ran. Seemed like everyone wanted to part with their money for some World Cup merchandise. It was a huge
marquee with every type of product. Most people were buying Aussie or Brazillian stuff. After 30 mins or so we left the Fanfest and head for the stadium. It was probably a good 4 hours before kick-off.
The train stations were packed! Lots of yellow/gold and green about. It was hard to pick who was supporting Australia or Brazil! Everyone was in high spirits. You can't help it being around the Brazilians. They have their drums and tambourines and are singing everywhere!
Finally arriving at the stadium we were surprised to see so many people there. The gates hadn't even opened to let ticket holders in! There were heaps of people with signs asking for tickets. People were selling their sisters and mothers just for a chance to watch the game!
It was so hot that we tried to find some shade to stand under. Lucky Todd put his sunscreen on! Unfortunately Adam didn't! The stadium gates opened and everyone lined up. There were the usual security checks - no bottles (plastic or glass), knives etc etc. We passed through with no problems and were standing outside the massive Allianz Stadium. There were stands everywhere selling all
types of food and drink. There was also an inflatable McDonalds!
We decided on hot dogs and beers for lunch and then went to our seats. Our seats were high up! We climbed a whole bunch of stairs to get there! We wondered where the elevators were!
Our view was fantastic! A lot of people were already seated drinking beer and eating hot dogs. There were Aussie flags draped on seats and inflatable kangaroos bouncing around. In no time it was kick off!
Even being beaten, the Aussies played extremely well. Nat and I actually missed the first goal (we were in the toilet!). There were a lot more Aussies at this game compared to the Japan game as you will see in my photos. We couldn't even hear the Brazillians screaming for their team because they were so far away. Or was it that we were so loud? Everyone was singing Waltzing Matilda as well as the "Super Tim" and "Stand Up for the Socceroos" chants. The Aussie fans went mad when AC/DC was played.
Getting home after the game was a nightmare! Thousands were going to the train station so we waited around at
the stadium for 30 mins or so thinking it might be easier. We were wrong! For one we ended up walking to another train station down the road, and when we got on the train there they were all full! We let a few trains pass us by on the platform but in the end just got on one. The train we were on had no air-conditioning! Or maybe it did but because there were so many people crammed on you couldn't feel it! There was no chance of falling over when the train halted because all the bodies cushioned any impact. Every time the train stopped at a station the doors were opened to let the air in.
Finally we arrived at our stop and made our way to our hotel. We were all hungry so searched for a pub showing the night's game. Pretty easy in Munich as every pub, restaurant, and cafe had plasmas televising the World Cup. We ended up chosing a Croatian pub/restaurant. It was pretty quiet so were served quickly. Figured this would be the last time the Croatians would let us into their pub 😊 A whole bunch of Croatians came in
Inside the stadium
Bring on the Brazillians! and saw we were from Australia...they sang "Kangaroo, kangaroo, kangarooooo, kangaroo, kangaroo, kangarooooo" to us. Hmm we thought...at least we had scored a goal in the World Cup! (Little did they know we were to kick them out of the World Cup!)
Satisfied we head back to our hotel. It had been a long and tiring day.
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