FIFA World Cup 2010

Football, or soccer, whatever you choose to call it in your part of the world, has swept over us like a giant waving flag and left us all reeling and feeling a bit restless. All of this adrenaline and excitement one day and the next, no more soccer. What do we do now? Where can we exert all of these left-over emotions? Though I wouldn't consider myself a sports fan per say, soccer has turned me into a walking symbol of national pride for a country where my parents have, but I have never even lived and this has caused me to ask WARUM? I thought I'd be a casual observer of this game set on the world stage, but instead, before the first half even ended, I became one of those hardcore fans of Germany shouting at people who blocked my view of the TV screen in public places, saying "Los geht's Deutschland" to strangers on the street and highfiving other strangers sporting German memorabilia. Luckily, my good sense drew the line at going topless and painting the German flag on my chest - though I secretly praised these courageous women for showing their very feminine support of the game.

Why is soccer so popular? And why did it unleash such pride in me?
Well, I still don't know the full answer to this question, but one reason is that Germany was able to show their colours in a public setting. When I was in Vienna a few months ago I met a German girl from Bavaria who told me that she didn't feel comfortable saying she was proud to be German; it would be like saying you supported what happened in the Second World War. I thought this was both sad and ridiculous, and this feeling of being ashamed to be German really stayed with me while watching Germany's run during the World Cup. It actually brought tears to my eyes to see Germans show their pride in such a public way. So to all those Germans out there, congratulations and keep showing off that German pride!!!

So, I'll leave you with some photos of the Germany team. Yes goalies can actually fly. FIFA 2014 here we come!!!