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World Cup 2006 Blog

From our reporters in Germany

England fans flood into Germany

claire_heald66.gifGELSENKIRCHEN - The Germans call it β€œa phenomenon”.

They’re left scratching their heads at how so many English people make it here for the match one day but are gone the next.

Incidentally, out of 5,800 people arrested in the tournament so far, guess how many have been English?

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On the road again

MartinA SERVICE STATION, NORTH OF HAMBURG – Svan’s fixed! Yippee!

Well, it’s only a patch up job on our busted rear end but it looks good enough to keep us going for the rest of the tournament – touch wood – and more importantly to get us to Gelsenkirchen for .

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Ray Winstone's England verdict

paul_fletcher.gif HAMBURG - , actor, West Ham fan and all-round top bloke, has been in Germany since the World Cup started.

In fact, earlier in the tournament one of our bloggers bumped into him in Frankfurt.

The actor has been keeping a close eye on England and was privileged enough to watch them train on Thursday. We caught up with Ray to find out what he made of England’s prospects.

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"Argentina shaking in front of hands of God"

sam_wilson.gifBERLIN - The German newspapers have invoked Jurgen Klinsmann's call for passion in today's quarter-final with Argentina.

promises "a German tango", saying stereotypes will be over-turned as the home team's "fire and intensity trumps the Latin Americans' controlled game".

"Close to Heaven," is the paper's headline and it's a feeling shared by many supporters.

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Skinner and Baddiel judge our 3 Lions karaoke

glen_levy.gifBERLIN - Picture the scene: you’re on a work night out as it’s a rare chance to catch up with colleagues outside of the hectic office environment. After all, this is the brief period of rest before one of the most hectic weeks in your four-year work cycle. The bar is of an Irish nature, everyone is relaxed and there’s even the prospect of karaoke with the ominous machine looming large in the corner.

Three of your colleagues – for argument’s sake, let’s call them Alex, Chris and Noel – make the brave decision to β€œsing” for the benefit of the rest of the room. Their weapon of choice? Popular England terrace anthem Three Lions. Easy. Everyone knows the words to that one. The music starts and the β€˜It’s Coming ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ’ refrain strikes up. The entire room sings along, briefly believing that 40 years of hurt might just be coming to an end.

And guess who walks in?

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Once more unto the breach dear Sven

phil_mcnulty.gifGELSENKIRCHEN - Ray Winstone will apparently be seen on video reciting and maybe even some to motivate England’s players before the World Cup quarter-final against Portugal.

Judging by what we saw of Gary Neville in his meeting with the media on Thursday, he could not be any more motivated to meet Portugal.

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Just one man's story

LONDON - Yesterday I asked 29-year-old Antje to blog about her thoughts on German patriotism, which by many accounts has been given unprecedented licence of expression by this World Cup.

Today I pass on the thoughts of someone from the older generation, who left Germany in 1939 and now lives in Costa Rica. I felt Alfred - a regular reader of this blog and now aged 75 - had an interesting story that deserved to be told.

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Germany or Argentina?

paul_fletcher.gif A PARK IN HAMBURG - Svan is in the garage hopefully being fixed and I am sat on a patch of grass in some park near the stadium wondering who I want to win in the match between Germany and Argentina.

We have tickets for Italy's match with Ukraine in Hamburg later this evening, but lets be honest that is not really the game that has the host nation gripped.

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Joy and despair in Hamburg

MartinHAMBURG – The incident between Svan and a gate post, leaving us spending the night on a Fiat garage forecourt, brought me crashing down to earth after what I thought was my biggest achievement of the trip.

I managed to purchase a World Cup ticket via Fifa’s website.

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