120 fans had accompanied the German team to Australia in a tour group – around a quarter of them are still in Sydney. They firmly believed in the success of the DFB team and stocked up on tickets early on.
Site visit at the ferry terminal in Sydney. What are German football fans doing on the other side of the world – even though the DFB team was eliminated after the first round? “I bought tickets up to the final”, reports Dajana Clemens and shrugs her shoulders.
The 31-year-old even quickly organized the trip to Adelaide when she thought the German footballers would “only” come second. However, there was no round of 16 for Germany – neither in Melbourne nor in Adelaide. “Then I dropped the travel plans.”
Hardly missed a game even when travelling
A handful of women have just come from whale watching. The Australian winter is at its best. 19 degrees, bright sunshine, within sight of the world-famous opera house. And the whales obviously enjoyed the good weather and offered the tour group, who had gone out by boat, a lot for their money. Other fans used the time for sightseeing in the city.
The German exit was “a big disappointment”, reports Clemens. But it had to go on somehow. And even without German football, they followed the World Cup very closely. “We saw almost all the games,” says Jörg Riehemann. At the hotel in Melbourne where they watched Colombia vs. Jamaica instead of the German game, a member of staff connected their laptop to the big TV in the meeting room so they could watch the rest of the games. Otherwise we went to pubs and fan festivals.
DFB also accompanied the fans in the media
The tour group originally consisted of 120 people. The tour was organized by a member of the national team fan club, Central Germany section. The German Football Association sent employees to look after the fans around the games. Content was also produced for the association’s social media department.
When the end of the German team was certain, the DFB withdrew its staff. And three quarters of the fans have now left. Clemens, Riehemann and Co. pulled through hard.
Fixed with the German semi-finals expected
Irene Jäschke had a special plan in mind. The 44-year-old wanted to watch the three German group games, then travel around Australia a bit and then be back in Sydney in time for the (German) semifinals. She saw the three group games, traveled far inland to Mount Uluru and then returned to the semi-finals.
It would have been so nice if Germany had played the semifinals against Australia or England.
“It would have been so nice if Germany had played the semifinals against Australia or England,” says the Swabian, smiling into the sun. But as it was, she saw the thrilling duel between the hosts and England and witnessed first-hand how the “Matildas” dream of the title was shattered.
“Who would have been the alternative to MVT?”
Why did the German dream burst? Just as the German football officials have still not officially completed their analysis, the fans are still puzzled. “The defense was definitely worse than at the European Championship,” says Jäschke. “And I don’t understand why Svenja Huth had to play at the back. We would have needed her more up front.” Clemens is annoyed: “In the front everything was concentrated on Poppi. In England Lattwein or Magull also shot at it.”
The fans find it wrong that the decision was made at the DFB before the analysis to continue with national coach Voss-Tecklenburg. “The analysis will probably go on until nobody asks anymore,” jokes Riehemann. “Nothing will change. And just going on like this is the wrong way.”
The analysis will probably last until no one asks any more questions. Nothing is going to change. And just going on like this is the wrong path.
Nevertheless, the fans welcome the fact that MVT will continue after the World Cup. “What would have been an alternative?” asks Jäschke. “I also think there is a good match between the coaching staff and the team.” And Clemens adds: “The EM was so successful. Everyone deserves a chance to make up for mistakes.”
Women’s soccer is becoming increasingly popular
Clemens is an enthusiastic fan of VfL Wolfsburg and was also present at the final of the Champions League in Eindhoven in spring, which the “wolves” lost 2:3 against Barcelona. Jäschke quarrels that her place of residence Leinfelden-Echterdingen is equally far away from the Bundesliga locations Hoffenheim and Munich. Riehemann usually goes to the men of Prussia Münster – but likes to watch the women’s national team.
But they all have in common that the successful European Championships last year, when national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s players only lost to England in extra time in the final, made them want more. In addition, of course, the special destination attracted. So why not combine the beautiful with the beautiful?
And so the quarreling is kept within narrow limits. You make the best of it. “I really wanted to go to New Zealand,” says Riehemann happily. “I was in Auckland and watched Sweden vs Japan.” He also fulfilled his dream of watching the sets of the Lord of the Rings saga in “Hobbiton”.
Germans get infected by the “Matildas” hype
The Germans want to watch the game for third place, which takes place in Brisbane, at the Fanfest in Sydney. And they keep their fingers crossed for Australia once again. “The hype was contagious. With every game you saw more jerseys in the city, the mood got better and better,” says Clemens, who also bought a jersey herself.
“The Australians are also just extremely friendly – and that comes across as honest,” emphasizes Jäschke. Only one problem could not be solved by the end of the trip, says Riehemann: “Some speak a special dialect…”
There are no real preferences in the final between Spain and England on Sunday (12 noon, in the live ticker and in the audio live stream on sportschau.de). “It’s just great to be part of a World Cup final,” says Clemens. And there is still a bit of time for discovery tours until departure for Germany at the beginning of next week. In any case, these German fans will have fond memories of their trip to Australia, despite the sporting failure of the German team.