大象传媒

World Cup 2006 Blog

From our reporters in Germany

Wayne who?

martin_richardson.gifAIRE DE SPY, E42, BELGIUM 鈥 While England is going Rooney crazy after it鈥檚 confirmed 鈥渢he big man鈥 will play some part in the tournament, it鈥檚 a different story on the continent.

Check out the video of our first day on the blog.

A stop for lunch at the motorway services just past Charleroi gave me my first opportunity to get my hands on the Bild Zeitung, Germany鈥檚 biggest tabloid paper.

So is the Rooney news splashed all across the headlines?

The answer, a firm no.

Instead we鈥檝e got a full page spread with Franz Beckenbauer urging the German players to "" before Friday鈥檚 opening game against Costa Rica.

The article singles out striker Lukas Podolski and Chelsea defender Robert Huth as examples of players who keep their 鈥渓ips clamped shut鈥 when the national anthem Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit begins blaring over the stadium tannoy.

So we鈥檝e got the first verse printed in full and Beckenbauer insisting, 鈥渟o close to the start of a match, singing the national anthem strengthens self confidence and team spirit.鈥

England gets its first mention in a little side bar where it鈥檚 revealed the Evening Standard has branded German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger 鈥淢r Toilet Brush鈥 on account of his spiky haircut.

鈥淒on鈥檛 worry Schweini,鈥 it says. 鈥淵ou can flush the English away when we beat them in the second round.鈥

Other than that we鈥檝e got a picture of Cristiano Ronaldo鈥檚 girlfriend, the revelation that Jens Lehmann has offered Arsenal team mate Freddie Ljungberg advice if he needs anything while in Germany and an advert on the front page warning fans that nothing spoils a victory party more than a bout of diahorrea 鈥 from 鈥減oorly cleaned beer glasses, fatty chips and the poor state of some public toilet facilities.鈥

So, not a mention of the boy wonder 鈥 maybe they never thought he was unfit in the first place.

In other news, Fletch has been showing off his Spanish to a group of Ecuador fans on their way to Germany, we're going to try and find Andrei Shevchenko in Luxembourg tonight and we still haven't heard from our forgetful Belgian.

An keep your eyes on our Flickr site for the .

Comments  Post your comment

  • 1.
  • At 02:52 PM on 08 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

I'm not too surprised that everyone is not focusing on Rooney - a quick glance through the World Cup injury list (both those who will miss some or all of the tournament) makes you realize that a lot of teams are hurting right now. Considering that there are always first round shocks and that the benefits of finishing first in the group are big THESE other injuries are key. Edmilson, Cisse, Ballack and Gattuso among others could be significant. Which one do you guys think has the biggest impact? You can vote here:

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  • 2.
  • At 03:19 PM on 08 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

National anthem sometimes works well to be inspired before doing something for own country and that is why, Mr. Beckenbauer advised to the German players to sing and feel the national anthem and win the world cup for Germany. Rooney鈥檚 come back may be positive or negative as he has a lack of match practice before going to the largest sporting event in the world. It would not be expected to be a victim of Diarrhea for the less cleaned bear gasses.

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  • 3.
  • At 05:31 PM on 08 Jun 2006,
  • zargorn wrote:

Well, I hope they printed the third verse of the anthem. Singing the first got us into trouble 1954 already ;-).

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  • 4.
  • At 05:31 PM on 08 Jun 2006,
  • zargorn wrote:

Well, I hope they printed the third verse of the anthem. Singing the first got us into trouble 1954 already ;-).

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  • 5.
  • At 07:19 PM on 08 Jun 2006,
  • Faris wrote:

The Germans are desperate. They'll do anything they think will inspire them, since their football is all dull and drab.

And oh don't worry, come second round, or quarter final, after Rooney dazzles them, he'll be in the headlines.

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  • 6.
  • At 08:01 PM on 08 Jun 2006,
  • sidony wrote:

im a lesbian but rooney is so fit i love him

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  • 7.
  • At 11:13 AM on 09 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

So ROoney isn't featured in the German papers, quite frankly do we care? More importantly I don't see too much gossip about our biggest rivals in the tabloids over here and I wouldnt read it if there was! Come on ENGLAND!!!

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  • 8.
  • At 12:21 AM on 27 Jun 2006,
  • Emiliano Galizia wrote:

HPOLA son una manga de boludos y sepanlo yankees de mierda!! :P cha chau

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HPOLA son unos capos y sepanlo yankees de mierda!! :P cha chau

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