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World Cup 2006 Blog

From our reporters in Germany

Sun of David

tom_geoghegan.gifbild_203.jpgNUREMBERG - German tabloid has provoked a war with its old British sparring partner The Sun, after it poked fun at David Beckham's family.

If you missed it, here's from the red-top corner.

But while Wapping may be rallying to the support of the Beckhams, there's less sympathy among some locals in Nuremberg.

Stefen Koch, pictured, said: "Yes, I read it and I thought it was funny. Maybe it wasn't fun for the Beckhams but Bild is a good newspaper, although it sometimes goes too far."

Comments  Post your comment

  • 1.
  • At 10:24 PM on 13 Jun 2006,
  • Martin Stock wrote:

There is also a very busy and award winning blog site, which lists carefully all journalistic errors and fiction of the Bild tabloid.

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  • 2.
  • At 11:01 PM on 13 Jun 2006,
  • Helios wrote:

The Sun writing about superficial journalism and decency is just plain ridiculous. The Sun published pictures of the German chancellor's exposed behind with the tagline 'Bumdestag'. Sun, just stfu.

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  • 3.
  • At 11:12 PM on 13 Jun 2006,
  • phil goold wrote:

well just after waking up after watching france and brazil play i come to the conclusion that the only team we have to fear is argentina.spain play tomorrow and again it is a side with players who are just getting over the edge and will probably be their last world cup.

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  • 4.
  • At 11:13 PM on 13 Jun 2006,
  • phil goold wrote:

well just after waking up after watching france and brazil play i come to the conclusion that the only team we have to fear is argentina.spain play tomorrow and again it is a side with players who are just getting over the edge and will probably be their last world cup.

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  • 5.
  • At 11:16 PM on 13 Jun 2006,
  • Schweini 7 wrote:

The fellows at the Sun can dish it out, but can't take it. As for their going on about the 'gorgeous' Cheryl Tweedy and Posh Spice - they are having a laugh aren't they?

Nobody knows the German players' wives and partners for one simple reason - they aren't hangers-on like their English counterparts.

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  • 6.
  • At 12:02 AM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • zargorn wrote:

Wouldn't surprise me if Bild and Sun cooked that one up together :-).

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  • 7.
  • At 12:48 AM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • Manjit wrote:

No the Sun prefers to attack it's own players i.e Owen Hargreaves, so much for a so-called nationalistic paper.

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  • 8.
  • At 01:03 AM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • Dan Smith wrote:

The Sun has done far worse.

Maybe the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ would like to dig up a few headlines from Euro 96?

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  • 9.
  • At 02:04 AM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

As for Brazil VS Croatia, All of Miami was listening to the game on their car radio and then the restaurants had the TV on. When Brazil won, the restaurant I was frequenting offered free milkshakes.

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  • 10.
  • At 02:09 AM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • Faris wrote:

Blimey, Jo's cute. I'd date her any day. She's a typical English beauty. What would the Germans know about that.

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  • 11.
  • At 02:47 AM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • Ray RL wrote:

''No the Sun prefers to attack it's own players i.e Owen Hargreaves, so much for a so-called nationalistic paper.''

Hargreaves is the ideal victim as he plays in Germany. Bashing Hargreaves is their way of being anti-German without stirring up international confrontation. ;)

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You should also take a look at a row going on closer to home - Flag of St George -with upset apparently being caused by England fans waving their flags in Wales.

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  • 13.
  • At 10:29 AM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • Andrew Clarke wrote:

I was more concerned about the German paper's comments about British women in general. Sweeping statements and stereotypes used by sections of the German press when considering other nationalities can't be described as something new - It is a blessing that there isnt a team from Israel present at this years world cup finals, who knows what sort of stereotypical comments Bild newspaper would make about their culture?

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  • 14.
  • At 11:06 AM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • Matthew Whittall wrote:

The Bild Zeitung, like the Sun, prints mostly rubbish. It is, after all, a tabloid. In this case they have gone too far and many of their comments were out out of order even by tabloid standards. However, the german word "Zwerg" (Dwarf) is not actually offensive when referring to kids. I even refer to my own daughters as "die kleine Zwerge" from time to time.

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  • 15.
  • At 11:08 AM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

But The Sun does all it with some class:

"While the England players’ wives and girlfriends include stunners like Posh Spice, Coleen McLoughlin and Cheryl Tweedy, can anyone name a partner of the German footie stars?"

You can never overuse the word: "stunners".

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  • 16.
  • At 11:10 AM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • Greavesey wrote:

"sweeping statements and stereotypes"

no, the british press never do that... however I still wouldnt be surprised if Bild turned out to be part of Murdoch's Empire too!

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  • 17.
  • At 11:52 AM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • Graham wrote:

Dear all
i was in Stuttgart last night watching the big screen Brazil Croatia game. What a fantastic atmosphere !!! we had Brazil, Croatian, Swiss and French fans all partying and having a good time watching the fussball. What a fantastic opportunity to feel the REAL VIB.
I have been working out here on and off for a few years now, the general opinion amounst fellow ex-pats is that we are extremely worried about the holigan aspect of football especially if England fans are involved. It is particully worrying when newspapers report about such utter rubbish. It can only fuel tension between fans of countries who are reading these articles. Can we contentrate on the football as, it is not often that we get this opportunity to have this tournament so close to home. We have a real chance to show the world that English fans dont go around causing trouble at every football game

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  • 18.
  • At 12:45 PM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

Where the heck did you find this Stefen Koch kid? Being German I don't think, Bild is a good newspaper. It's a tabloid and at least half of the crap they write is either wrong or offensive. Thanks to #1 for posting the link, where they show exactly how much crap is in that paper. But let's face it, the Sun and Bild are playing in the same league... the lowest one. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy us hosting the World Cup. Tomorrow England will play close to where I live (No, I didn't get any tickets :-( ), so I might drive over to the big screen TV next to the stadium. I hope England plays better than last time, i.e. forward, not sideward... ;-)

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  • 19.
  • At 01:29 PM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • Rahul wrote:

Andrew, you can not be serious when you criticse the German media for being stereotyped!! Why are the British so blind to their own ways?! As an Indian living in Britain, I must say that no one uses stereotyping as widely as the British (both people and the media) - the only difference being that when the British do it, it's "just havin a laugh" while if anyone else does it, they become bigoted, racist etc etc..

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  • 20.
  • At 02:12 PM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • brux wrote:

I would have expected the SUN to retaliate with some punchy line about huns etc.. What happened to English humour? Are the Germans outdoing the Brits even on this now?

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  • 21.
  • At 02:23 PM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • Andrew Clarke wrote:

Rahul, the article being discussed is that of the German newspaper Bild, and as an English person with two sisters I found the article offensive. I did not comment on the British media but I do agree that a lot of tabloids print complete and utter rubbish. I came accross the 'Bild' article in this mornings 'Metro' on my daily morning commute.

'I must say that no one uses stereotyping as much as the British' is complete and utter rubbish and is a stereotype in itself. Perhaps as an Indian living in Britain you might notice stereotypes being used but having previously lived in France and Spain I can advise you that it is simply not the case.

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  • 22.
  • At 02:42 PM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • Schweini 7 wrote:

I agree with Matthew Whittall on the use of the term 'Zwerg' - it is often used in a similar way to how the British use the word 'kid' to describe a child.

Of course, taken literally, a kid is a young goat.

As for what Andrew Clarke said about what Bild might have had to say if Israel were playing - the answer to this is absolutely nothing. While the Beckhams and over-tanned English footballers' wives would always be a ripe target, any criticism of Israel - even jokingly - would always be seen as a bad thing. Furthermore, Springer-Verlag, Bild's publishers, have very close links with Israel. Its founder, the late Axel Springer, could well be described as Germany's Murdoch, both through his politics and appetite for press scandal.

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  • 23.
  • At 03:20 PM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • Rahul wrote:

Andrew, I have not lived in France or Spain so will take your word when you say that they stereotype even more than the British. As to your point that me saying that the no one stereotypes as much as the British is complete and utter rubbish, well, you are entitled to your views. I speak of what my experience has been, and while this is a gross generalisation, I do believe that many British are very quick at pointing fingers but not so responsive when it comes to introspection. I do not mean to disparage or accuse - I have also met a lot of very well travelled, knowledgeable people in my time here. What I do get annoyed with is papers like the Sun writing trash themselves and then getting holier-than-thou when someone else beats them in the race to sink to new depths. Does not make what the Bild printed acceptable, but I wonder if we would be having this debate if the Sun or similar papers had printed remarks about Michael Ballack's family? Probably not...

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  • 24.
  • At 04:42 PM on 14 Jun 2006,
  • Kamal wrote:

'the only team we have to fear is argentina'. The way England were playing against Paraguay they should be fearing Trinidad & Tobago!

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  • 25.
  • At 12:44 AM on 15 Jun 2006,
  • Michael Jenkins wrote:

Andrew Clarke, you really are a wally! Can you seriously argue against a joke journalistic piece,which in German eyes is quite harmless but is taken to extreme lengths by our own bigoted tabloids (looking for a fight), who themselves regularly take the opportunity to degrade German women (hairy armpits and so on) just for being Germans and in the same breath allow yourself to fall into the same trap. You generalise and stereotype the Germans yourself in your first comment by accusing them of being anti-semitic, quite a serious and much more vicious accusation than any you have accused the Bild of. Your comments are extremely offensive, disparaging and wholly unappreciative of German national sentiments or history since the BRD.

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  • 26.
  • At 09:58 AM on 15 Jun 2006,
  • Peter wrote:

Tom, I met you in Frankfurt on Saturday and you took some photos of my son down by the river. I have looked all over the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ web site but can not find any sign of them.
Have you got a site were you show all your photos as my son keeps pestering me to find them.
His name was George and he had his red England top on, an England cap and a George flag in his hand.
cheers

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  • 27.
  • At 12:37 PM on 15 Jun 2006,
  • Stephen O'Kane wrote:

I think micheal jenkins make a good point, why do we waste time and effort (and paper) on such rubbish, see my blog entry below;

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