I also was going to post this yesterday, but I didnt make it. By now there's a bit of an overlap with what I already posted on the FIFA thread, but thats only the fragment about the England supporters.
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I never realised how many Germans there were in this town - tourists, expats, both? - until last night, when Germany spectacularly beat Argentina in the quarter finals.
My colleague Cs and I watched on Vorosmarty Square, downtown, where they now put up a big screen too. The square and little green around the statue were sprinkled with onlookers, sat down on the pavement or in the grass. Cs and I supported Argentina - she because she always does, and I, because, well - they played Germany ;-).
We were in a distinct minority though; lots of Germans! Girls with the red, brown and gold painted on their cheeks, boys brandishing a huge plastic blow-up glove with the German flag. Even a Hungarian guy next to us supporting Germany. It felt kind of defiantly subversive to cheer when Argentina shot at goal, in a pleasantly jostling kind of way.
They won, of course (as someone once famously said, football is a game in which two times 11 players match up against each other and Germany always wins - or something like that). And the rest of the evening, as we walked up to Oktogon and I then continued up the korut to CCC and later down again, small groups of celebrating Germans would pass by cheering down the street, a car drove down the boulevard, waving German flags out the window and hooting, another group cheering at the car and singing some victory song. Who'd have known?
In case of Germans of course, as a true Dutchman, I have to grind my teeth, its my patriotic duty. But truthfully, I like the way a World Cup juxtaposes groups of people celebrating down the street, today this group, tomorrow that. The whole bonding thing of it, too. We walked into cafe E., I said hello to a regular, his friend starts to josh with me a bit about how bad Holland played. It's fun.
Today, it was the English' turn. England-Portugal!
We went to see it in Szimpla Kert. We were supposed to go with a group, but somehow it didnt work out so it was just Cs and I again. She's real fanatic. The place was packed already when we arrived so I had to sit behind her and - her supporting Portugal, with a passion - she was literally shaking in tension. Seriously! Literally! I had to lean over to ask if she was OK.
She was on her own though, this time. I was with the English, who had packed the place. There's no footie supporters like the English. When I stepped in the Hungarian guy at the door was already grinning at me in warning, shaking his head towards where the sound came from.
They set the place reverberating, cheering for every English pass, booing at the opponent's every dive, ever again starting up some chant ("I'm English till I die!"). Improvising songs as they went along - and they'd take anything to go on ("It's just the ten of us, it's just the ten of us" once Rooney was sent off with a red card). Picking up on whatever was sung in the stadium too. And all the meantime delivering this rapid-fire witty and err, florid running commentary at everything that happened, with a flair and raw wit that no Dutchman or Hungarian could ever equal. Felt like you were in the stadium!
Love the English. They lost, of course. It'll be boring without them now. But perhaps there will be more Germans driving down the boulevards hooting and waving flags after the next round ;-).
(And no, dont tell any Dutchman that I wrote that and even added a smiley
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