Random Rants: World Cup Blog

It's party time in Cologne as England, Sweden match approaches.

Brazil fans are ever-present in Germany and the chances are they're dancing the Samba. Here they celebrate their nation's advancement in Cologne. -- Photos by Chris Courtney --

By Chris Courtney
SoccerTimes

COLOGNE (Monday, June 19, 2006) -- There's only a day to go before England and Sweden's final first-round match and it's party time in this Mardi Gras town along the Rhine river. Tuesday night's game will pretty much determine who wins Group B and who finishes second -- there's an unlikely chance Sweden could be eliminated -- and a possible second-round match-up with host Germany.

Over 200,000 fans from both countries are expected to pack into both Cologne's Rhein Energie Stadion and into the city's downtown area in what could be the biggest party of the World Cup thus far. There, they are joining thousands of fans from around the world to celebrate the festival that is the World Cup. In fact, so many visitors are expected that the city of Cologne just erected an extra FanFest area on the far side of the Rhine to accommodate them.

England's Barmy Army headed north and west after their midweek victory over Trinidad & Tobago, while an estimated 100,000 Swedish fans have been migrating over from Berlin since their win over Paraguay. Cars and campers bearing England's red cross of St George are everywhere, while Sweden's yellow cross on their blue flag appears on shirts, is painted on faces and hung from windows. A full 27 hours before the match is scheduled to start, the city's pubs and squares are already full with fans singing and dancing in the streets.

After the first two matches in the balmy weather, both teams must be happy to see the cooler and sometimes rainy weather in Cologne: just how they like it for soccer.

Sweden fans arrive in Colgne, preparing for the match against England.

For England, however, Sweden carries a mystery since it the English have not beaten the Swedes in 38 years. Snapping this streak could go a long way to making the England team (and its fans) believe they can do something special this summer. They are hoping their Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson can help it break this hex once and for all. Sweden, at most, only needs one more point to move to the second round, but it would also prefer to avoid playing host Germany in the second round.

Both teams have not yet played up to their potential so far, seeming to play down to the level of their opponents. For all of the talent in its lineup, the England side seems to be less than the sum of its parts. The exception is the strong central defensive play from John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, who hang out like schoolyard bullies, waiting to beat up a striker, then take both the ball and his lunch money.

Another bright spot for the English has been the inspired play of Joe Cole, whose strong left-side play has created more space on the right for David Beckham to fire in his pinpoint crosses. This might sound very positive except that England has not shown the killer instinct to put its much weaker opponents away. Unless it digs deep and stays aggressive up and down the field, England will be lucky to win a point against the Swedes.

Sweden, for its part, seems confident it can get a result against the up-to-now half-hearted English. "I would like to win the game but, at the same time, we know that one point is enough," Sweden coach Lars Lagerback remarked. "I think you have to control your game all the time when you play matches like this."

Brazil fans (standing) and English fans (seated right) see who can sing the loudest.

Despite only scoring one goal so far in the competition, Lagerback does not seem concerned, "We created a lot of chances," he stated "I think if we do the same in the next game, we ought to score at least two or three goals with this number of chances. We will try to vary our attacking game."

Lagerbeck and Sweden will be without Juventus striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is out with a groin injury. Instead, Henrik Larsson's likely strike partner will be Marcus Allback of Heerenveen in the Dutch first division. Sweden fans on the streets of Cologne seem to think their team can win, but predict a close match. Most say their team will win 1-0 or 2-1. England fans also think their side will come out on top, but predict a higher scoring match, either 2-1 or 3-1 in favor of their team.

In the meantime, fans continue to pour into the city, filling the pubs and cafes to await the big game tomorrow night. Cologne is getting ready for a decent match while already having a great party. Chicago native Rod Massoud has no match tickets, but he came to soak up the experience. "I've been here for two days and the atmosphere is great," he said. "The World Cup is a month-long party where you can meet people from all over the world. How can you miss this?"

The official motto for the 2006 World Cup is "A Time to Make Friends," but a few of our German hosts seem to think it is: "A Time to Gouge." Hotel rooms in all cities are difficult to find, but any available rooms are being offered at astronomical prices. For example, a well-known fleabag hotel near Cologne's main train station normally offers rooms for around $50 per night, but this week its prices are up to $300 per night for the same room.

In Cologne, France fans invaded this pub to watch their nation face South Korea in Leipzig.

In order to save money, a number of fans are camping during their soccer pilgrimage to Germany. One group from Ohio used an online booking service to reserve a campground in Gelsenkirchen for the USA-Czech Republic match. Upon arrival, they were dismayed to find out that they were paying $30 per night for a tent spot, while others in the same campground were paying only $6. Since they had prepaid online, they had little recourse.

There are however a number of hotel chains which are raising their prices only slightly, lest they turn off their visitors for good. "We could charge more, but all we would do is give our country a bad image and make them never want to return" said Susan Hirtreiter, manager of a Frankfurt hotel which is not changing its prices during the World Cup.

Chris Courtney is SoccerTimes European correspondent and lives in Brussels. He is in Germany covering the World Cup.