A sense of irony was at play at the Goethe Zentrum in the city on Thursday night as a group of people wearing white jerseys where cheering for a team wearing black jerseys, playing against a team wearing, well, white jerseys.
It was a day when the German team had to opt for the dark colours. But save for the colour of the dress, the screening could well have been happening in Berlin, going by the kind of support that the German team was getting from here. Among the crowd was German Consul General Joern Rhode, with a German flag painted across his cheek and his wife, Sonia Lapointe.
In the first half, as the nets on both sides remained motionless, the tension was palpable here, even though Germany had already made it to the round of 16.
ADVERTISEMENT
But Mr. Rhode appeared confident of his team.
“As a fan you always hope that your team will win the cup. It is a good team, even though there are challenges in the defence. Also, it is about time they won something. The last time I watched them win was 4 years ago,” he said.
He has a memory of bad luck related to the World Cup, which he cannot brush off from his mind.
ADVERTISEMENT
“In 1999, I asked for a stint in Japan, expecting to catch the 2002 World Cup live and I got it. As luck would have it, eight months before the cup was to start, I was assigned back to Germany. Also, I used to play for a team of expatriates in Japan. Now, this team played for the opening of the Yokohama world cup stadium. So, I missed a chance to play too,” Mr. Rhode said.
In the second half, as Thomas Muller scored the lone goal of the match, the crowd of 150 erupted, chanting and waving the German flag.