It turned out that Paul the Octopus was right. Photo (cc) flickr user craig Quimby

So the Deutschland dream is over. Buried in a wave of tiki-taka. Yeah, Spain was much superior to Germany and totally deserved their win, but how boring is it to watch them play? Pass, pass, pass. Then pass, pass, pass again. And again, for 73 minutes until they broke German hearts with a goal ‘made in Barcelona.’

It got ugly here in Berlin once the final whistle blew. Schland der Tränen. Everyone annoyed and crestfallen. Frustration at not getting hold of the ball, being unable to do anything worthwhile with it when they did, and the dawning of reality; things too good to be true usually are.

During the World Cup, even the rolls have football fever. Photo courtesy Snooker in Berlin

Well, I can finally admit it. I’m a changed person. The move to Germany has made me a “soccer” fan. Yes, Fußball has me. Last Friday night as the UK goalie scored a goal for the USA I giggled madly. Sunday night as the German National Team whooped Australia (come on, would you expect any less?) I had a grin on my face. Yes, I’m hooked.

I had a little gathering on the occasion of Germany’s first match game. Look closely at the colors of the food (pictured below). Black, red, gold! The colors of the German flag. Yes we went crazy! Blueberries and Buletten (basically a meatball) were representing black (well, they really weren’t black… in fact, I got some comments that they were lovely), strawberries and bell peppers were red, and apricots, pineapple and more peppers represented the gold/yellow.

Last week you met Der Irische Berliner, one of this year’s Young Germany World Cup Bloggers.  This week we’ve got someone else to introduce to you: Fazal Adnan.

Fazal Adnan, newest member of the Young Germany World Cup blogging team

Fazal is a 27-year-old biotechnology student from Peshawar, Pakistan.  This past March he received a DAAD scholarship to complete his Ph.D. in Germany at the Graduate School of Life Sciences in Giessen starting in June.  As he settles into German student life, he’ll be blogging about his impressions of life in Germany and the 2010 World Cup on Young Germany.

This Saturday, 22^nd May, Bayern Munich will be playing in the Champions League final against Inter Milan. Yes, you read right: on a Saturday! It’s unusual, what with Wednesday tending to be the day for European football – but the marketing whizzes from UEFA will no doubt have noticed that Saturday is far better for viewing figures. And we all know that bad TV ratings are a sure way to destroy a good competition.

My bags were packed, boots polished, jerseys neatly folded. One by one the national team managers announced their squads for the World Cup last week. One by one they reeled off the names, the stars, the personalities; most of whom will be travelling to South Africa for the great party which kicks off in 22 days’ time.

I couldn’t wait to join them. Like an excited puppy on Puppies’ Day, I waited for my name to be called out. I’d been waiting four years for this moment. Since watching the great Zidane walk, head-bowed, past the trophy down the tunnel of Olympiastadion during that fateful final in Berlin, I couldn’t wait to appear on the same stage. “Oh Zizou! I wanna be like Zou too!”