Online Diary: A Canadian in Germany

Kris Fernandes is a writer and advertising director for Canada's premier soccer magazine, InsideSOCCER. He has worked within the Canadian soccer community for five years in various areas including the community affairs coordinator position of the Toronto Lynx Soccer Club and founded a free soccer program for underprivileged youth in Toronto.

June 27: France was taking on Spain in a second-round match tonight in Hanover and the winner would go on to face Brazil in the quarter-finals. I decided to give FIFA another shot by taking the media shuttle and this time it actually arrived on time! I picked up my ticket and with time on my hands, I wandered around the stadium for an hour or so before the match and spoke with fans.

I cannot tell you how many Spaniards were there tonight but it was like most of the French had forgotten about the match. The Spanish danced around the stunning stadium and were extremely loud with chants of Espana! Espana! Espana! Some of fans dressed up as matadors and treated the rare French supporter passing by like a bull as they ran their red muletas, the capes used in actual bullfights, over them.

The atmosphere inside the stadium was absolutely electric. I was still amazed at the number of Spaniards in the crowd compared to the French. I guess the Spanish are more hardcore. I mentioned last week that the French are loud during the playing of their national anthem. In comparison, the Spanish fans made them look like mimes but lost some of my respect when they whistled and jeered the French anthem. Out of every game I have been to so far I have never seen fans as boisterous as the Spanish. They did not stop singing and chanting for one single minute through this match and when they scored the first goal it was unbelievable how loud they got.

But what counted was on the field and France played like it was 1998 when they won the title at home and their supporters rewarded their efforts. I wish I took French class more seriously as a youngster so I could understand what they were chanting. When France ended up winning the match, all the fans poured onto the streets and paraded for hours while drinking wine and one group of guys even brought a live rooster tied to a leash with them! As I filmed with my camcorder, four French girls came out of nowhere and flashed me with their painted breasts while their boyfriends watched and laughed while asking me, "They are fantastique in France, yes?"

When I decided to walk back to the train station at 6 a.m., I heard some rustling high up in a tree. It turned out to be two American fans trying to cut the rope that held a Hanover World Cup flag! I guess everyone wants a piece of the World Cup to take back home. What a night, it just never ends over here!