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German Soccer Officials Score High
June 18, 2005
Germany's World Cup test run is just days old and the praise so
far has been resounding: everything well-organized and punctual, no
hooligan problems and some high scoring games. Now if only more tickets
would sell.
As their team was getting dismantled on the field, Greek fans in the
stands at Leipzig's stadium Thursday evening were slowly, but surely
gaining the upper hand in the party duel against their Brazilian rivals.
The much-hyped Syrtaki vs. Samba matchup was more evident in the stands
than on the pitch, where the European Champions lost 0-3 to a far
superior Brazil side. More than 44,000 fans, including Greeks and
Brazilians from all over Germany, filled the Leipzig stadium with song,
chants, and samba for most of the night. Outside, more than 15,000
partied on the street.
"The international soccer family has been welcomed here," said Sepp
Blatter, president of the world soccer association FIFA. "You can feel
the emotion."
The Brazil-Greece matchup has so far provided the best atmosphere of the
tournament. But organizers and security officials are just as happy
about fans watching the other three games. There have been no arrests so
far, and not a whisper of hooligan activity -- either inside or outside
the stadium.
"There have no incidents worth mentioning," said a spokesperson at the
state police agency responsible for sporting event security.
Granted, many of the countries known for hooliganism -- England and the
Netherlands, for example -- are not competing in the tournament. But the
opportunity offered by the Confederations Cup to fine-tune Germany's
security concept will help police officials by the time the World Cup
rolls around next year.
Germany's well-earned reputation for good organization has been on full
display so far. Frankfurt's refurbished stadium, which played host to
the opening Germany match against Australia on Wednesday, was a building
site the day before kickoff. But everything was in place by the time the
referee blew the start whistle.
"German thoroughness," was Blatter's explanation.
Things haven't been as thorough with ticket sales -- at least so far.
Tournament favorites Argentina played in front of only 25,000 spectators
against Tunisia in Cologne on Wednesday. Only 24,000 spectators watched
Japan against Mexico in Hanover a day later. Around 540,000 of a total
620,000 tickets have been sold, a figure below the 600,000 organizers
had hoped to sell by now.
But as the matches continue to win in importance, the number of
spectators will grow, say officials. One semi-final match is already
sold out. But fans can still get seats for the final.
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