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While staying in Germany, this American just got an up-close look at real soccer passion | Dan Thompson
Jun. 20—WIESBADEN, Germany — The last time I was in Germany, it was 2006, in the aftermath of that year's World Cup.
I came back to the United States with a commemorative T-shirt and magnet, as well as an intrigue for international soccer and a respect for just how much the Germans — who hosted the event that year — loved their soccer.
One of the subtle ironies about my current trip to Germany is that my family finds itself in Europe again, this time with the World Cup being hosted by the United States, with multiple matches played at Lumen Field — or Seattle Stadium, as it's known on the TV broadcasts.
I am the kind of soccer fan who knows where to park at Plante's Ferry on a Saturday morning and who will jump on bandwagons for teams like Spokane Velocity at the formation of a playoff run. That is how I found myself at ONE Spokane Stadium for two matches last fall, cheering through the chill and the thrill of two penalty shot victories.
My oldest son and I left those contests happy for the local team, and then we got in our car, turned on the heater and made the drive home in relative calm.
I bring this up now because the Germans are proving to me right this very moment — at 1 a.m. early Sunday morning — that Americans are not really ready to win a World Cup, as some pundits are claiming they are following two group stage victories in this year's event. And it doesn't have anything to do with Christian Pulisic's calf or the finishing abilities of Folarin Balogun, both of which I concede are worthy factors on the pitch.
I watched the United States' first World Cup match against Paraguay back in Spokane before we departed; I watched the second from a cafe in Paris, where the bartender agreed to let me watch the game, standing alone at the bar, gazing at the cafe's only television, while another 20 or so patrons focused on their dinner. I cheered fervently but carefully, especially after the United States' second goal that tested my understanding of the offside rule.
But after the United States' 2-0 victory over Australia, I made the walk back to our flat across the street with about the same level of excitement as I had leaving ONE Spokane half a year ago: muted and a little fleeting.
Yet after Germany defeated Côte d'Ivoire with what must have been a memorable goal in stoppage time, 2-1 — something I might have known better had I not just fallen asleep — the response in this Spokane-sized city just west of Frankfurt felt something between what Boston experienced when Paul Revere rode famously through it and what Seattle experienced when the Seahawks won the latest Super Bowl.
I have never heard so many blaring horns after midnight. I have never heard so many backfiring cars, so many fireworks, and so many motorcycles revving and racing through what I had assumed were controlled city streets. Even the police sirens seemed celebratory.
And as I lay in our un-air conditioned flat, unable to fall back asleep, it hit me hard: No matter what the optimistic pundits say, soccer fans in America don't love this sport enough to help the Americans to an improbable World Cup victory.
But if the United States were to do it, their fans had better take a lesson from the Deutschlanders and the Germany soccer team, who were absolutely the right candidates to play a match that started at 10 p.m. local time on a Saturday.
I won't return to Spokane in a few weeks with any World Cup memorabilia, but I will come back knowing at least that.
