After hoping all year we finally got the call we had been waiting for with a week to go to the big day...."You wouldn't fancy some England-Paraguay tickets would you?" What a question! So away we went, courtesy of our good friends at ESPN, to England's first group game in Frankfurt. Somehow we managed to get last minute flights and a hotel slap bang in the centre of Frankfurt with remarkably little stress.
Arriving on Friday night we sampled what it was like to be on tour with England. So to the pressing issues...would there be trouble, were the hooligans able to get through? Thankfully no, the banter was good natured and fans mixed easily without any real problems. The German fans were in good voice as they were celebrating their opening group win against Costa Rica and the atmosphere was buzzing even in the sleepy parts of the financial district during the evening. England away is now a different affair to the troublesome times that have preceded previous major tournaments and we can only hope that this continues throughout the tournament.
On the day of the game we followed the hordes of ticket-less England fans down to the banks of the Main river where the huge screens and countless beer stalls were located. After sampling more of the local special brew we headed off to the stadium. The heat was relentless and it was inevitable that this would take a toll on the speed of the game. Inside the impressive Walstadion we were greeted with a sea of Red and White. It appeared 90% full of England fans with their Flags of St George ringed around the whole ground... so much for only 3000 tickets supposedly going to England supporters! Clearly the Black Market had been busy and it's a credit to England fans, both in and out of the ground, so starved of real success, that their support is unrelenting.
The game itself passed by without much happening... apart from the odd goal to England that gave us an all important 3 points despite an uninspiring performance. There's plenty of room for improvement and England surely must if they are to proceed to the latter stages.
But the most important thing was to say we were there... a World Cup in Germany! It doesn't get much better than this... of course unless we manage to blag some tickets for the next round!
Matt Casey (International Account Manager) and Jason Hayford (International Account Director), Initiative London
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