Germany 2006: A Magical Summer

Wow! What just happened? We had lost. Does that mean that all the last three weeks of great hopes, the permanent excitement about becoming champions in the European soccer Championship were gone forever? It was just devastating to see that wonderful dream vanish in a single second. We were so certain to walk out of this gigantic game as winners, yet suddenly we were the biggest losers. It hit us like an unexpected force of nature. At this particular moment a whole nation that had stood together as one for the first time in more than sixty years shrunk to a little pile of dust. I felt so indescribably empty and lost. Is it possible that this strong feeling of failure can just simply exist from losing a soccer game? After a moment of internalizing the enormous shock I realized — No ! There was a much more considerable significance behind all this euphoria and then disappointment than just being the defeated ones.
It all started in the summer of 2006. The European Championship was just around the corner, and since Germany was going to be the host of this spectacular occasion, everybody was enthusiastic about the upcoming weeks. While final preparations were being made and busy bees were trying to correct the last flaws to present Germany in the perfect light to the rest of the world, the atmosphere was full of excitement and everybody was counting the days until the built-up pressure of anticipation was finally going to be released. It was comparable to a child impatiently awaiting Christmas morning.
As the weeks went along, people’s moods seemed to get better and better, the more games the Germans won. It appeared that the team, captained by Michael Ballack and coached by Jürgen Klinsmann was undefeatable the closer they stepped towards the final. Many national teams stayed in Germany during that time such as the Brazilian team, the American team and many more, just to name a few, and everybody got along no matter if a team won such as the Spanish or lost such as the Americans. There were hardly any conflicts between them. It looked as if the world had finally come to peace and everybody, no matter what race or color could live side by side. There was something magical in the air, and everybody seemed to feel it. I’ve never experienced anything like this before, and I doubt that there will be anything in the future that will even come close to that special time, ever again.
The most surprising element was, however, how the Germans developed as a nation in those days. They grew tremendously in strength and pride, a pride they hadn’t been allowed to show for so many years since the war. All of a sudden the fear of being pointed at as “the bad German” was erased. After always being scared of showing national pride to the outside world, this fear just didn’t exist anymore. There were German flags everywhere, on houses, on cars and anywhere the eye could reach, something that would have been unimaginable just a few weeks before. The whole country seemed to submerge in the German colors. It was simply indescribable. People were saying that there was no other place in the world where they would rather be. The atmosphere was magical, and it seemed to be contagious. One could think that people had an extra dose of endorphins for breakfast every morning. It was unquestionably miraculous to see and feel a sense of honest patriotism that wasn’t misinterpreted as nationalism.
There were many articles in the world press everyday, trying to capture this moment of the ongoing celebrations. The whole world seemed to embrace the newly found pride and unity in Germany, and the sense of delight seemed to drag everybody along, which lasted to the end of the tournament – at least, almost to the end.
As with every other day in the past three weeks, the day of the semi-finals finally arrived. The Germans were positively convinced of mastering this match against the Italians, just like all the other games against the Costa Ricans, the Polish, the Ecuadorians, the Swedish, and the Argentineans in the weeks before. People were full of hopes; they were cheering, laughing, singing and celebrating the good times as they’d learned during the last matches. However, this day wouldn’t end as joyfully as the other ones had. More than 65.000 people gathered in Dortmund’s stadium to witness the semi-final Italy versus Germany. The match was exceptionally intense; the smell of sweat was in the air, and people were exhausted after almost two hours of singing, screaming and shaking. The overwhelming battle between the two rivals Germany and Italy would not come to en easy end. After ninety minutes of determined fighting for the victory on both sides, the match went into overtime. Suddenly, it happened! Italy scored the first goal to take the lead in the 118th minute. What a shock! “Oh mein Gott!” The Germans fought like lions and gave everything they had left to even the score, but at the end it was not enough. Italy’s player Grosso delivered the final blow to Germany in the 128th minute. The totally unexpected had happened – Germany was defeated!
And suddenly—It was over! Just like a soap bubble that had burst. It was quiet everywhere, so quiet. No sound was heard, just absolute silence. It was as if the whole country had fallen into a coma. “Ach du meine Güte!” What a catastrophe! The Germans appeared small, so indescribably small. A whole nation shrank to a picture of misery. All the patriotic strength that had been gained in the last weeks was blown away in a single soccer kick. There were crying and devastated people far and wide, and it appeared as if the world was over, and Germany would never get up on its feet ever again. All hope was gone in one single match against Italy, and Germany would walk out as the biggest loser. At this moment, it looked like all the magic and fascination that had developed in this summer were gone for good and were never to return.
Soon after this momentous experience was over, I realized that this was much more than a game we’d lost. History had been made in the summer of 2006 in Germany. The whole nation grew to be much stronger, and for the first time in over half a century of being ashamed of its heritage, there was a sense of pride, patriotism and unity all over the country. It was as if Germany had finally woken from a long, dark, and never-ending slumber. This particular moment in time was priceless and absolutely unforgettable. It was just simply magical.