Germany in Soccer Fever

For the last few weeks until this past Sunday, Germany has been in soccer fever. The European Soccer Championships, which occur every four years, have been taking place in Austria since the middle of June. There were not a lot of expectations for the German national team, but a lot of hope that perhaps they could build upon the performance in the World Championships in 2006, were they finished third.

The German national team built upon these hopes, won in the group matches, played an outstanding game against Portugal in the quarter finals and won, beat Turkey in the semi-finals qualifying for the Championship round on Sunday against Spain. Spain had not won a European championship since 1964, whereas Germany had already won three times. Spain was the favorite going in, since they had not lost any games (Germany lost against Croatia in the group matches), and the Spanish team had scored more goals than another other team. Germany played a good game, had several scoring opportunities they were not able to capitalize on, or the results may have been different. They lost 1 - 0, but that in itself is an accomplishment against a team that played extremely well together and made very few mistakes. While everyone is disappointed that Germany lost, they can still be proud that the German team gave 110% until the last minute.

The team spirit not only affected the adults, but also the children. Many of the children, like Annabella, painted their faces in the national colors to support the team.