Due to the success of the German soccer team, the cities in Germany have turned into big party areas again (like in 2006 when the world cup took place in Germany). The biggest one is in Berlin where there are up to 350.000 Menschen (people) when a match is broadcast over giant screens. The Atmosphäre (atmosphere) is incredible and the high victory over Argentina eliminated all doubts about the quality of the German team.

The whole country is celebrating while the Mannschaft (team) itself is already concentrating on the semi final on Wednesday. As you could feel at the last press conference, trainer Joachim Löw is totally focused on Spain.

In Löws opinion there hasn´t been an opponent like Spain until now…Trotz (despite) England and Argentina. Löw says: “Spain hasn´t just one Messi, but they have a lot of Messis”. The Spanish team who defeated Germany in the Endspiel (final match) in 2008 (European Championship) is a real unity and they don´t make Fehler (mistakes) on their own, he says. Even midfield star Bastian Schweinsteiger says: “For me, Spain is the best team in the world.”

Thomas Müller will be missing in the next match due to yellow cards, so everybody is guessing who will be replacing him. When Löw is asked about this Thema (topic), he just answers “whoever will be playing…I have a good feeling”.

Vor (before) the match against Argentina there have been some rude statements in the Presse (press). But this time, Löw and Schweinsteiger act a little more calm by showing the biggest respect to Spain. There are no feelings of Rache (revenge) and at the same time they seem to be very selbstbewusst (self confident) and entspannt (relaxed).

As you can imagine the trainer himself as well as the players are asked endless questions about their victories, their feelings and even personal things. But all of the answers are pretty ähnlich (similar): “We don´t care what people write about us…we´re just thinking about how to defeat Spain”.

But between the lines there has been one statement of Bastian Schweinsteiger: “I have been to Berlin after two tournaments to celebrate with our fans. But something has been missing. I hope this time it will be different. If every one of us gives everything, we could beat the best teams in the world.” So as you can see, a second or third place doesn´t seem to be enough for him. And you can bet that all people in Germany think the same way!

So hopefully the German “Sommermärchen*” will come true and
everybody sings “54 – 74 – 90 – 2010″…

Go Germany go!!!

* “Deutschland: Ein Sommermärchen” has been a documentary about the German soccer team, filmed by the famous filmmaker Sönke Wortmann. It mainly shows the extraordinary atmosphere during the world cup in 2006 that took place in Germany.