Ganz Deutschland ist Weltmeister

For the sake of convenience, I have neglected to write about the World Cup due to superstition and the fact that I am months behind on updates. Die Mannschaft (Germany's national fußball team nickname) opened the group stage of the World Cup with Portugal. Knowing Homburg was hosting public viewings for all the games, we decided to venture out to watch the game with the locals.

Unfortunately, we got off to a late start and we failed to find the public viewing area because we were rushed to find a television. We ended up at a local cafe off the main street and arrived 25 minutes into the game - fortunately, Deutschland was already up 2-0 at that time. The game ended with a 4-0 thrashing and we were introduced to the celebratory tradition of honking your horn throughout the city. Upon our exit, we found the public viewing square with the droves of people flooding into the streets after the victory - we would attempt to watch the next few games in the public spectrum (and one in Heidelberg).

Panoramic during the World Cup Final

The public viewing in Homburg was located in the market square (Marktplatz), an electrifying atmosphere packed with fans, The entrance was similar to a bar pushing the fire code limit - those waiting to get in could only do so when someone left the square. When Die Mannshaft defeated Brasil 7-1 in the semi-final, there was no doubt we were going to watch the final in downtown Homburg.

We arrived to the square a half-hour before kick-off and we still had to wait for the one-in one-out to gain admittance. The crowd was rowdy before the starting whistle, but soon became subdued by the tense oscillation of the match. When Argentina scored in the 32nd minute, the air left the square, however; the replay showed Gonzalo Higuain was offside and fans rejoiced as if Germany had scored. We continued to watch with hopeful reservations - cheering every offensive possession and holding our breath while defending.

During halftime, everyone resumed their normal respiration while replenishing their palates with copious amounts of beer. We took advantage and relocated to a spot closer to the big screen as the second half was about to start. After the ninety minute whistle, the crowd was an emotional wreck and neither team had scored. Then the first fifteen of extra time had passed and still no score, but there was a refreshing confidence if the game went into penalties - Germany has never lost in penalties.

Fortunately, penalties would never come, in the 113th minute - Mario Götze brilliantly put Die Mannschaft ahead 1-0 turning the crowd into bedlam. The remaining seven minutes seemed as long as the previous 113, but the Argentinian side failed to equalize.

The final minute of the game can be viewed in the video below, had there been better lighting, the amount of beer tossed in the crowd would near the volume of a keg.

Let the celebrations begin...

Live music filled the historic square of Homburg and we moved towards the streets. We expected the winning tradition of honking horns, However, when we arrived, we didn't expect the scene we stumbled upon. There was no police presence, but there was an organization to this chaos and it will always sit among the top sporting experiences for me.