World Cup #3 Sweden vs Paraguay

My week of 'World cupping' was going strong: Monday Australia/Japan, Tuesday Brasil/ Croatia, Wednesday a rest day (I stayed up and watched Germany/Poland, and all the cheering and fireworks in our neighbourhood when Germany scored was incredible!) . The Fan Mile had to be closed, they reached their limit of 500,000 people jammed in there!). 

Today (Thursday) was Sweden/Paraguay at the Olymiastadion again. This time, no last minute tickets became available, so I went with lots of work colleagues. I think after the Brasil match, I was expecting a bit of an anticlimax. How could anything live up to the atmosphere on Tuesday night? The answer was - THIS!! It was completely different. 

Theodore Heuss Platz was completely full of Swedish supporters, singing, drinking and having a great time.. As I travelled to the ground and made my way to the marquee, it was obvious that there was an incredible number of Swedish supporters (very few Paraguayans), and they were louder and more jovial than their Brazilian counterparts. It seemed more 'fun' - almost as if the Brasil game was some sort of 'religious experience' compared to this 'party'. 

The game started frantically, then settled down. At half time I snuck into some super elite lounge and had a few drinks, a feed, and a clean toilet. Headed out again to an interesting second half, with Sweden winning 1:0, although the Paraguayans tried hard and played some interesting attacking football at times. 

I decided that I would forego the public transport and walk home, and even late in the evening there was a sea of happy Blue and Yellow. There will be no need for the Berlin council to water for a month, as the Swedish supporters must have had a wee on every tree in a 5 kilometre radius of the ground.