Good Morning Cologne..
- 12 Jun 06, 12:33 AM
COLOGNE - Went to the Portugal v Angola match, which wasn't in the same league as last night's Sweden-Trini match (which must make it into the all-time top ten 0-0 matches list ) but was still a good one - and had the major plus point of unearthing one of the gems of this tournament - Stadium announcer Michael.
We went and interviewed Michael earlier in the week ahead of his big day. He's the normal match announcer here in Cologne and has been busy preparing himslef for the World Cup matches. He showed us through his routine - but we were blissfully unaware of the dynamite we were sitting on until we heard him at the stadium tonight. Gaskers spotted it and deserved to rival Figo for Man of the Match for it - Michael's voice and delivery is exactly the same at Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam. You can't seperate the two. I can do no more than urge you to listen out in the England-Sweden match from the stadium...and remember where you heard it first.
I thought Angola were going to sneak a point tonight. In the second-half, Portugal just sat back further and further. It's always interesting to hear the Portuguese fans vent their frustration by whistling their own team - even though they're winning their opening game. I don't think you'd hear British fans do that - but to be fair to the Portuguese, they do start cheering their team again as soon as they begin to get more adventurous.
It was great to see Big Phil Scolari warming up nicely for the tournament. The trademark shouting from the touchline, waving of hands, frustrated signals - all the classics from the 2002 and 2004 vintage were on display again. Like his side, I gave him a 6 out of 10 - a workmanlike start but plenty more to come.
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Great atmosphere by the cologne natives, shouting their carnival-song, as the game got boring:
Da sind wir dabei, das ist prima!
Viva Colonia!
:)
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I think whistling your own team doesnt have any positive effect. Sometimes its better to accept that the other team is just playing better.
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VIVA Angola.
Angola vai ganhar.
We are the best, that was luck for Portugal.
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I was also in the stadium and as a native citizen of Cologne i was very happy when the Crowd sang the carnival songs (Viva Colonia, Kölle Alaaf). Match was in the second half one of the weakest so far. But the atmosphere made it unforgettable.
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The England fans booed Owen Hargreaves when he came on
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I don't know if the Portuguese fans whistled their team. I think it was more the objective (Germans, Japanese, Swedish) football fans who where inititally on neither side. Like me. I think its fair to whistle if you paid 100 € and Portugal stops playing. And we tried to party as much as we could!
By the way the song we sang:
Refrain/German:
Da simmer dabei! Dat is prima! VIVA COLONIA.
Wir lieben das Leben,die Liebe und die Lust
Wir glauben an den lieben Gott und hab'n auch immer Durst.
Refrain/English:
We are with it. This is great. Long live cologne.
We love the life, the love, the lust.
We believe in god and are always thursty.
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As an English resident in Portugal and a follower of the Liga Portuguesa, I can tell you that whistling your team is commonplace here. A more extreme, though not uncommon manifestation of displeasure, is the waving of white hankerchiefs! Porto's coach, Co Adriense, on first witnessing this, threatened that should it happen to him, he would be on the next plane back to Holland. Of course, it did, he stayed (claiming it was the opposition fans waving!)and he went on to win the league championship, so all was forgiven. Such is the fickleness of the Portuguese fans!
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Portuguese fans, were acting hysterical.
Neal Saferstein
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