I'm Working Redux

A bunch of my US fans photos are currently on the main page of the US Soccer website.

if its moved the direct link to the photo gallery is here

I am working over here...really!!!

Well besides shooting the World Cup I also finally did some work for the San Francisco Chronicle. Their columnist Scott Ostler was over here and I was able to meet up with him and shot one assignment for him. It was about surfing in a river in Munich which was really cool. It was fun to photograph. Check the story here

Sightseeing v. Game-seeing

On the train ride back from Nuremburg to Erfurt, I was talking to this old German guy on the train who told me about his crazy adventures in South America back in the 60’s. We were talking about the games and Germany, and he told me I should see some more of the sights of Germany. I was thinking it might be a good idea. After all I have been all-soccer, all the time the past few weeks and I could use a break and slow down for a few days.

He was like “If you see the Rhine it is forever, if you go to a football game it is only for one day.”

So I thought about it and in my mind I thought it might be time to do some touristin’ once again and take a break from the games and shooting.

But I had scored a ticket to the Ukraine-Switzerland game on Monday in Cologne so I had to go see that game first. I got a room at the hostel in a great location next to the train station and the Dom cathedral. When I got there there was a sign posted for a ticket to the Brazil-Ghana game in Dortumnd the next day, but the ticket cost 300 euros so I decided against it.

Right across the street was a Hilton hotel where the Ukraine national team was staying. I was able to grab a couple of shots of the team as the boarded the bus to go to the stadium.

Then the game. It was great. I had seats the third row near mid-field and sat next to a bunch of Germans. The crowd was definatley mostly Germans. Sometimes they would sing German songs and the whole stadium would come alive. There were more Swiss also than Ukranians and some had some really funny costumes they wore during the game.


You can’t say the Swiss aren’t safe.

It was a preaty tight affair and the game went to penalty kicks. Ukraine missed their first, but the Swiss missed all of the and the Ukranian fans went crazy.

Afterwards they partied outside the stadium and on the way back to Cologne.

When I got back to the hostel, I ended up hanging out in the lounge downstairs. I met some Ukranians staying there, including this one guy who was Ukranian ancestry but lived in Australia. So it was interesting cause he had two teams he was going for in the World Cup. He said he had been planning the trip for six years, since they announced the games were going to be in Germany. It was a cool conversation, but it was about four in the morning so I went to crash.

The next morning I woke up and had to make a decision. To go to Dortmund for the Brazil-Gahna game or head to the Rhine. For one of the first days since the world cup it was a glum day in Germany. Overcast and it started to rain. Definatley not the best day to do some sightseeing.

So as I checked out I saw the sign for the Brazil-Ghana ticket had been added to, and said” Make an Offer” so I offered 100 euros and the guy accepted. It was a face value ticket of 60 euros so not that bad.

After that I made it to the train station to get some coffee and check my email when my friend Joel called. He and his friend and got three tickets for the France-Spain game for 50 euros each. Did I want to go? I thought about it for a second. Sure! So instead of Dortumnd I was heading to Hannover instead.

I had to sell my ticket for the Brazil game, so I walked around the station holding it for awhile until two English guys asked me if I was selling. I ended up selling it for a 150 euros, so after I pay Joel for the France-Spain game tickets I’ll end up going to the game for free!

Well that’s it for now. I guess in the end I made the choice for the day, football over sightseeing. And there aren’t any games on Wednesday or Thursday so I can go see some sights then.

The Mighty Orange Get Squeezed

The next day I took the train down to Nuremburg for the Netherlands-Portugal game. Being from right next door, the town was jammed with Holland fans. But it was not a good day for their fans either. Holland fell behind by one goal and although there were some moment when it looked like they might get back in the game the end result was a loss and glum-looking fans.


At least at the end of the night the Mexican fans, which are still everywhere in Germany were partying it up. There was a Mexican folk band playing tunes outside the train station and they were playing some great music and having a great time.

Germany and Mexico

After spending Friday in Erfurt trying to get some rest, I watched the Saturday Germany v. Sweeden game also in Erfurt. When I have been town I usually end up handing out a restaurant with a little beer garden next door to where I am staying but I wanted to find a bigger crowd and found a beer garden in the old town area that was packed. It was fun, Germany smoked Sweeden and everyone partied. I got a couple of shots of people driving around the ring road after the win, but all in all the partying was rather subdued. The big prize still awaited.

After that I took the quick train to Leipzig where Mexico was playing Argentina. I made it to the fan festival and watched on the large TV screen from there. Mexico scored an early goal that got everyone hoping for the upset, but Argentina quickly equalized and then it became a tense encounter.

During the second half when the game was really close and tense. There was a German guy standing in front of me, and a bunch of other Mexican fans, wearing a big hat. He wouldn’t take it off and eventually a Mexican guy grabbed it off his head and eventually gave it back to his friend. At one point the guy turned around and said in Spanish, “Guys, its only a game,” which was greeted with silent stares. After a few minutes the German guy ended up wandering off.

Mexico ended up losing on a brilliant goal from Argentina and while the Argentinainan fans partied it up the Mexicans were rather upset, a lot crying.

The train ride back to Erfurt was crazy, It was jammed packed. After having rode several overcrowded trains in the past week I knew the best place to head was the dining car cause at least there I could find a place to sit down. Luckily it was only an hour ride for me. For most people it was a four hour ride back to Frankfurt.

USA v. Gahna

Well there isn’t much to say about this game. The USA had everything lined up for them. All they had to do was win. True, the ref was a joke but it doesn’t really matter if your team only scores one goal in three games. Not much to say at all. It was a bitter disappointment, but I think I had been ready for it since last December when the pairings were announced.

Be glad I didn’t write something actually on the day the game happened. ;)

The past few days

Just a quick update on the past few days. After all the traveling I had done since June 9th, (Erfurt-Dusseldorf-Gelsenkirchen-Dusseldorf-Cologne-Erfurt-Cologne-Gelsenkirchen-Cologne-Frankfurt-Erfurt-Munich-Nuremburg-Erfurt-Kaiserslautern-Landstuhl-Kaiserslautern-Erfurt-Munich-Kaiserslautern-Erfurt) I have found myself getting worn down a bit so I have tried to rest up a little bit, wash clothes, get a bit organized, and then
A tropical downpour hits Erfurt. Very unusual weather, but warm and nice most of the time.

Dae-A-Meen-Guk!! (South Korea!!)

After taking an overnight train back to Erfurt, I slept in late and then made my way to Leipzig which was only an hour away. South Korea was playing France there and I knew the fans would be great, and make some good photographs. I got into town right before the game and made my way over to the Fan Fest. In the center of the square in front of the screen around 700 South Korean fans were sitting together to watch the game on the big screen. I sat in among them and it was a great time. France scored an early goal and the fans were upset.

But they kept chanting and their spirits up and late in the game scored an equalizer. With that the fans were crazy, and after the final whistle partied it up. The Korean fans were great in 2002 partying all night, and they did the same thing here.

All in all a great time.

The Game

What can I say? It was amazing. USA v. Italy. The ups and downs and everything about it. I have never been to a game like that before. I was at the world cup in 2002 when the USA beat Portugal and Mexico, but for me this was the most impressive game the USA has ever played. To be down a man and play 45 minutes like that was amazing.

And the fans. I was really upset with the way the fans were during the Czech game, but they did show up for this game.

For the whole game fans everywhere, were standing up. Not only in the Sam’s Army section but also throughout the USA Fans. The chants and cheers were great.

Earlier in the day I had bought a shirt that said “Goal” on it. It was red and because I didn’t bring my USA jersey with me I had to buy a red shirt. The exact moment I put it on Gahna scored their first goal against the Czech Republic. It was crazy. And I guess it was a harribinger.

I didn’t think the USA was going to lose today. And if we had been a little more lucky the USA could have actually won the game, but a tie is a tie and keeps the team alive. Needless to say I’ll take it.

Born in the USA

After sleeping until around noon I got up and headed down to Kaiserslautern. There was supposed to be a gathering of US fans there on Friday night before the USA’s showdown with Italy on Saturday at a bar in the central part of the city.

Kaiserslautern is a really nice small city . When you walk from the train station they set up a “Fan mile” where fans partied and got together for the games.

At the train station I met up with this lady who was heading to a gathering of US Fans in the city center. We made our way down there and found the place called the Brahaus Market. In the back there was a large area for US fans to hang out and gather.

The atmosphere was fun and I don’t know how many times I bumped into Red Sox fans while I was there. The fans started chanting and after drinking more. During the half time of the Mexico-Angola game a bunch of fans dressed up in USA garb made their way out of the bar and the center of the town where there was a dj playing music for people. The USA fans joined a bunch of Italian fans there partying and it was all good spirited. Then the dj put on “Born in the USA” which made the American fans go wild. It was great and a good way to psyche up for the game.

I was going to take the train back to Erfurt that night and then back down to Kaiserslautern the next day but I misread the schedule and missed the last train out for the night. I was stuck. At first I didn’t know what to do, but then at the train station there was an info book and they had listings of hotels in Kaiserslautern. I called every one and they were all full.

Not sure what to do then, I looked at the next page and there were more listings for hotels around Kaiserslautern. In a town called Landstuhl there was a hotel that was preaty cheap and only 15 minutes away on the local train. So I made a reservation and took the train over.

When I got there it was really dark. The hotel person told me to walk up the hill and I would see the hotel. I started up but wasn’t sure I was going the right way. Then I saw a bar completely in red light and playing country music. I went in to ask for directions and it was interesting, only a few women sat inside and besides that the bar was empty. I asked one for directions and she was nice and after a little walk more up at the hill I found the hotel.

As I was checking in I had to ask the hotel person:

“Is this a military town?”

“Yes,” he said. The town actually had the largest US Military hospital outside the USA. It was the hotel where soldiers injured in Iraq were transferred before heading back to the States.

So I asked my next question: “ I went in a bar down the street that was in red light and was playing country music. Is it.—“

The hotel person cut me off, “Yes, you are thinking the right way.”

With that confirmed I got my room which was nice and turned on the TV. It was Armed Forces Network. It was cool to hear TV in English again for once.

I ended up thinking that Kaiserslautern was about the best place that the US could play a game in Germany.

England v. Trinadad & Tobago

Joel and Shelly left early in the morning and I slept in a bit before heading up to Nuremburg. That day England was going to play Trinadad & Tobago. When I got there the fans were roaring and ready to go. Tickets were going for 450 Euros each outside the stadium. Needless to say with 100,000 English fans in the country traveling the tickets were even selling at that price.

Needless to say I wasn’t one of the buyers ☺

The town was taken over by the English, but the T&T fans were heard loud and clear as well. Carrying drums and playing irresistible Caribbean rhythms, they could start a party up at any moment on any street corner.

I decided to take another way to crowded subway ride to the stadium to get a feel for the ride and also because the USA was to play there next week. Its kind of weird cause the stadium is right next to the Nazi assembly grounds where they would have their huge 200,000 people rallies back in the 1930’s. it was interesting for sure.

After figuring there was not financially feesable way into the stadium I went to the Fan Festival with a ton of other fans to watch the match on a large screen.

It was a lot of fun there. Thousands and thousands of fans were jammed in together. The actual viewing area was full with a fence around it. However there was a sitting area outside where you could eat on picnic tables. All the English fans had ended up using the tables to stand on so they could see the television over the fences.

The fans stood up there all game (between runs for more beer) until late in the game when the English finally scored a few goals against T&T and won the game. With the win, England was also going to advance to the second round.

The team’s fans went crazy, singing and cheering and waving flags for hours. Many head back to downtown Nuremburg to celebrate in the bars there. I went back down also but I decided to walk instead of take another crowded train ride. On the walk back I ended up talking with this German guy Uve. He had tickets to the game and was just starting his holiday. After partying in Nuremburg he was heading to Berlin to enjoy the rest of the holiday.

One the walk we saw a couple of motorcycles and he told me about a Harley Davidson meeting he went to in South Dakota some years back. It sounded like a fun time for sure.

So after sending my photographs in I checked out the party scene for a bit and then caught a late, late train back to Erfurt.

Munich

My friend Joel had an extra ticket for the Saudi Arabia – Tunisia game in Munich so I decided to make it down there for the game. I arrived in the early afternoon and I was to meet them at the stadium. I dropped off my bag at the Munich train station and then from there made it to the stadium.

The ride was crazy. When I got to the platform for the subway to the game, a couple of hundred Tunisian fans were cheering and yelling like crazy. It was wild. Many of the fans were swigging half-liter bottles of beer and it seemed like they were in an alcohol-induced frenzy.

The craziness continued as the fans pushed, literally, their way onto the train. One German guy didn’t much like the pushing and pushed back but was eventually pulled off the train by all the other fans wanting to enter. I ended up squished into one corned against one of the doors. One guy got on the chair where an asian lady was sitting almost standing on her, to help lead cheers for the fans on the train. A German guy next to her got upset about it but she was able to swith with a lady who stood up the rest of the way.

The fans continued to chant as the train got even more crowded until about twenty-five minutes later we finally arrived at the stadium stop and fresh air.

When I got off there was older American guy who I asked what he thought. His reaction: “Those guys are lucky they athe Germans are patient. In Philadelphia (where he was from) those guys would have been messed up.”

So at the stadium I met up with Joel and Shelly once again. We had great seats, in American football terms about the 50-yard line, ten rows up. On my ticket I was Ray Hudson, the former coach of the Miami Fusion and DC United. So that was a lot of fun.

The game was actually a lot of fun. Tunisia scored a goal in the first half and the fans went crazy. One guy actually lit a flare, which I have no idea how he got into the stadium. After that the police actually ended up surrounding the Tunisian fans in case something else happened.

At the beginning of the second half a Tunisian fan ran out on the field and was eventually tackled by police. After that the fans who were wild and crazy in the first half actually quieted down a lot in the second.

In the second Saudi Arabia scored two surprise goals. They were supposed to be one of the worst teams in the tournament, but they had a chance to win before Tunisia pulled a late equalizer to give both teams a chance to advance.

After the game I was surprised how muted the reaction of the Tunisian fans was when Joel pointed out that they were probably were hung over from all the drinking they had done earlier in the day. It actually made a lot of sense.

Instead of squeezing onto a train, we took a taxi back to Cologne, and checked into a hotel there and then went to find a place to watch the Germany-Poland game.

There was a beer garden about ten minutes from the hotel so we walked over there and it was great. There had to be four-five thousand Germans watching the game, hanging on every moment.

Finally with time about to expire the Germans put a goal past Poland assuring them a place in the second round. The fans went wild and crazy singing up a storm for a half hour afterwards.

We partied for a while there but eventually made our way back to the hotel and met up with Ray Hudson who is working for Gol Television out of Munich. We grabbed dinner at 1 am in the morning and commiserated about the USA-Czech game. Ray kept talking about how good Gahna was as a team even though they lost 2-0 to Italy. Little did I know at the time how prophetic he was.

After that it was time to crash.

Travel Day

Today I made it back from Cologne to Erfurt. On the way I transferred in Frankfurt and was able to get some photographs of Zack Phillips, a.k.a. Mr. Soccer Head who shaved the head of this Canadian fan into a soccer ball like his own. It was a lot of fun and attracted a lot of attention from people outside the main train station. In Frankfurt. I spent a couple of hours there as well first trying to get tickets for the Togo-South Korea game. The tickets were going for around 200 Euros each so I decided that that was too much for me and I ended up watching the match and the France-Switzerland match at a friendly Irish bar right outside of the Frankfurt train station. And then it was back to Erfurt.

America F*@K Yeah!

Well now I know why I have felt an uneasy sense of forboding ever since the World Cup began. The USA’s 0-3 annihilation to the Czech Republic confirmed all of my worst fears about what to expect. On and off the field the Americans were an embarrassment.

First I’ll regress back to the few days before June 12th. The cup started last Friday and I made my way up to Gelsenkirchen for the match against Ecuador and Poland. I actually got tickets for the game on the way from two Brits who had extra tickets. They sold them to me for face value. The atmosphere was actually tentative on the Poland and the Ecuador side for both fans. You could sense neither side was confident with their team’s chances. The lack of cheering made for some rather staid pictures before the game. I actually didn’t make it in either cause they wanted me to check my camera’s in so I decided instead to just resell the ticket for 10 euros extra then I bought it and watch the game from a bar near the train station.

I also wanted to get back in time to get ready for the next day when American fans were arriving. I had made contact with some American’s traveling together in a tour group arrainged by this guy out of Kansas City, Pat Ryan. A bunch of them were going to dress up in Elvis jumpsuits and I thought it would be a good photo op. They got there at 7:15 in the morning and I followed them from Dusseldorf airport to Cologne Germany where they were staying. They were a good bunch of guys having a good time, but they definitely were not a hardcore group of USA fans, who I kept meeting over and over again.

I actually can not tell you how many USA fans I met that were actually had never been to a game before or very few that were at the World Cup. It was shocking in more ways than one, but I’ll write more about that later.

After the Elvis fans made it to Cologne and checked into their hotel I said goodbye and went to check my email. It ended up getting really hot and I ended up lost but eventually found my was to an internet terminal. While there my friend Joel called up. I met him at the 2002 World Cup and he is hardcore. The first day there he actually ended up breaking his ankle. For another week he hobbled around on it before the pain got the better of him and he had to return to the USA. It was either that or lose the ankle.

This time for the first part of the cup he brought his dad, Shelly, who is 65 and just recently retired to his first World Cup ever to get a taste of the event.

I ended up hanging out with them most of the next few days. Joel let me crash on the floor of his hotel in Cologne for the night before and after the game, which was great because it was a lot closer to the action then my place in Erfurt.

Cologne was a good location for the games. A lot of fans were located there or passing through, including a huge contingent of Brazilian fans because the city was the home base location for the Brazilian national team during the World Cup.
On Sunday the Portugal-Angola game was played in Cologne and Joel was able to score some tickets face value from some English fans (you can not believe how many English fans there are here in Germany, Its insane how many there are, and a lot of them have tickets to matches, just not English matches).

I went there with Joel and Shelly, and it was Shelly’s first World Cup game. He was a World Cup virgin. It actually ended up being a great game. Portugal came out storming and got an early goal against Angola, but they recovered and held Portugal scoreless the rest of the game. An entirely respectable showing, which is not what I can say about the USA unfortunately.

When we got back it was about midnight and Joel and I thought it would be fun to go out and Shelly, even though 65 was up for the romp around town.

So we walked around and found the only party going on down near the fan fest. There were Brazilian and Portugese and English fans and then the same Elvis group that I had photographed a day earlier.

Appearently wearing an Elvis suit is a huge chick magnet in Germany cause the Elvis guys were doing really well with the local ladies. Who would have thunk?

But although this was all fun and games I still felt this kind on unease going on. I couldn’t place it but not that its happened I know what it was:

The USA was going to get killed in the first game.

The feeling had troubled me ever since the cup had started and pretty much everything that happened on game day confirmed that.

After waking up around 11 am I said goodbye to Joel and Shelly and made my way back to the Elvises. They were supposed to play a soccer game against some other fans. However the partying of the last night left them sluggish and the ended up just heading for the train to Gelsenkirchen and the game.

The train ride was packed with Americans. I met a good group of fans from around D.C. and then another group from Connecticut. There were some Americans who just graduated from college and had spent several months traveling around South America and Europe that had painted themselves red, white and blue so that was fun.

I wish I could say things got better in Gelsenkirchen, but unfortunately they didn’t. Getting off the train the USA fans were everywhere and someone pointed us at the gathering of US Fans outside the stadium. The energy was definitely pounding but unfortunately it let me with a sour taste.
Some of the chants were done by some old school New York Cities fans which were fun “We know you hate us, but we love your women!” but there was a group of fans that were taking it way too far, including my favorite: “We’re Americans. F**k you!”

Not only were they arrogant and obxonious they were completely clueless.

When I got to the stadium they would boo the Czech Republic team when they came on the field and before the game.

I was in the “Sam’s Army” section were the fans were supposed to stand and chant the whole game. In fact besides the New York and some DC guys there were about 100-150 fans standing up and cheering, even less than there were in Korea.

Sure there were five thousand or ten thousand fans, but they were useless.

At the beginning of the game I stayed near the New York guys to help with the cheers. It was O.K. But once we went down that quick goal I knew we were in trouble.

Before the goal, the USA Fans had been loud, and cheering and shouting. One early goal and they shut up.

I was looking around in the fans eyes and you could see shock and resignation: “This isn’t supposed to happen? Were supposed to win.”

You don’t want to know how many fans I talked to that said we were going to clobber the Czech Republic. Maybe the USA team thought we were as well cause once the goal happened it was like they didn’t know what to do. The rest of the game the team played like they didn’t even know what to do.

I went down to a section in “Sam’s Army” and tried to lead the chants from down there but no one got up and no one chanted, except for the occasional “USA”

When the second goal happened it was even worse. The fans were stunned.

I wish I could say it got better in the second half. But you all know what happened. And to be honest I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

I knew this was coming and I was waiting for it to happen and it did.

So now its over.

I could go into dozens of analysises of what went right and what went wrong but what’s the point? The only thing the USA could do now is win two games and get a little luck to advance. If it happens it would be a great story. If it doesn’t then I’ll still get a story, just not the one I and a lot of other hardcore fans wanted.

Back to Work

I said goodbye to Allison on Tuesday as she flew back and I took the train to Germany. For the next few weeks I will be located in the town of Erfurt in Germany. It is centrally located and I got an apartment for a really inexpensive price during the World Cup.

When I got to the city after finding my apartment building, which took awhile, I got there. I didn’t actually know which number to buzz so I ended up just buzzing one of them and talking to someone in German. They buzzed me in and it was an elderly couple. After a couple of minutes of not understanding each other at all, the old man made the motion of me sleeping and I said “Yah” and he told me to follow him and brought me up the flights of stairs to the building owner’s apartment. He didn’t speak any English either but knew why I was there and showed me my apartment. It was a studio with a kitchen on the fifth floor of the building. Its great! With a huge studio room and a large bathroom and kitchen I was more than happy to have this place! It’s actually nicer than any apartment I had in LA and way nicer as well.

Erfurt is a really nice city. Its quite walkable and with a beautiful old town. The more I explore the more cool things I find. There are cathedrals, nice squares, and a nice walk along the river that flows through the town. I think it will be a nice place to base myself out of.

So the past day I have spent basically getting ready for the World Cup. Even in Erfurt signs for the World Cup is everywhere. Banners and items were for sale on every corner. I can’t wait for the World Cup to begin!

Paris in the Spring

From Brussels, we decided to go to Paris. I wasn’t planning to go to the city, but with Allison why not check out the city of romance?

So we took the train from Brussels to Paris, which was quick and arrived on Saturday evening.

When I was applying to colleges I wanted to go to American University of Paris. I got into the school, but unfortunately it offered no financial assistance at all so there was no way I could go to school there. So I went to the American University in Washington D.C. instead ;)

At American I took a French class my first semester. I really tried to learn the language but I had a lot of trouble with the pronunciation. After not doing very well in the class and on the midterm, my teach cornered me one day and told me she was not going to pass me if I continued to take the class. So the next day I dropped it.

She was probably right; I would have mutilated her beautiful language.

Paris was great. Very cosmopolitan. It actually reminded me a bit of New York in terms of the diversity and the size.

I decided to splurge here, and Allison and I stayed in some really nice hotels here. For two days at a Renaissance and one at a Sofatel hotel. They were nice and it was definitely a difference from backpacking.

We ended up being complete tourists in Paris. On Sunday we went to the Louve. I had earlier picked up a copy of the DiVinci Code to read on the train and bus while traveling so I wanted to check it out. It was free day on Sunday as well so the museum was packed. It’s also huge with tons of art, and I really enjoyed it. The ancient Greek and Egyptian sculptures were great and the Mona Lisa is really small but had huge crowds trying to see it. A lot of people tried to take a photograph of it even though there were signs everywhere, and the guards were constantly yelling at people taking pictures.

From there we walked up the Champs de Elyse to the Arc de Trumphe, which was really cool to see. From there we went to the Eiffel Tower. It was a lot of fun to be there at sunset, and walk up to get a great view of the city.

All in all a very touristy day but whose kidding who? We were definitely tourist.

The next day we took it easier, finding the Asian area of the city and getting some surprisingly good Vietnamese and Chinese food. And there was a bottle of Sriracha on every table direct from Rosemead, CA!

We also checked out the Notre Dame and walked along the Seine. We bought some baguettes and Brie and Pâté and a bottle of wine and went back to the Eiffel Tower to watch the sun set and the light display on the tower at sunset.




But like all vacations it was time to end. I really enjoyed everything about it but the time had come for the real matter at hand: THE WORLD CUP!!!