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.