WORLD CUP FEVER

Berlin is ready for the world cup! I am getting the heat of the football madness right at the ground zero of World Cup. Many street side decorations got the shape of a ball. Even the phone booths got one ball on the rooftop. And of course the famous TV tower (up) has been painted in the shape of a ball. Some cars are carrying flags of different world cup participant countries. The world cup supplements of many magazines and newspapers have swarmed the newspaper stands. And creativity has never had a more influential subject than football. Regular shops are selling football shaped candies, football shaped corn flakes and what not?

Shops will be kept open till 10 at night during the world cup for the tourists. Special brothels are ready to entertain some of the international guests. The public transport authority has issued special whole day tickets for the world cup fans. Shops will remain open till the late hours during the world cup. And suddenly (quite contrary to their habit) some Germans are trying to speak in English to foreigners. The city has put on a friendliness campaign like Berlinizer to lend a helping hand to the visiting tourists speaking their language.

Germany is expecting visit of millions of football fans during world cup. The June 9-July 9 tournament in 12 cities is expected to inject $12 billion in the dull economy. Some 50,000 jobs are expected to be created to help staff hotels, shops and venues hosting the games. But Germany has also many things to worry. Security is the top priority for the Germans. Recent attacks against the foreigners by right-wing radicals were much publicized. Every now and then it is reminded that 'Germany loves colors'. I hope this also remains after the world cup.

And the Germans have just gone crazy. They are trying to statistically prove that whenever Germany hosts world cup they wins. But they seem to ignore the fact that one number does not form a statistics trend(Germany has previously hosted the cup in 1974 and won). You can get the tune of their confidence in this poem:

Germany will win, there's no denying -
Everyone agrees, or else they're lying!

But the national team is yet to prove their fans confidence in the field. Although they had some wins in recent matches, they have drawn with Japan, a team low in WC ranking. But the fans expect that Germany will succeed for the fourth time in clinching the title. And the next 33 days, it will be a crazy ride for many.

After all who can escape the world cup madness?

Some useful world cup links:

* FIFA Worldcup official site.
* Complete match schedule.
* Fantasy world cup.
* World cup downloads.
* Joga Bonito - World's longest soccer video.
* World cup predictions.
* The World Cup Blog.
* We all speak football.