Euro 2008: Day 2

Austria vs Croatia

0 - 1

Germany vs Poland
2 - 0

Stupidly, my friends and I scheduled an overnight trip to Budapest today, so I won't be able to watch the first batch of games of the group I'm most looking forward to seeing. I'm super excited to go to Budapest, but it's unfortunate that the trip had to overlap with these games, because I'm starting to form a major crush on Croatia, and would love to see them play Austria, especially after seeing about a million of their fans last night. But anyway, there's nothing I can do, and maybe it's a blessing in disguise because I would probably invariably end up feeling bad for whoever loses that game. As for Germany vs Poland, Polish pierogies are heavenly, but I'm rooting for Germany all the way.

I'm not sure what time I'll be back in Vienna tomorrow, but it will probably be late enough that I'll miss those games, as well. So look for an update on Group C after the fact. In the meantime I'm going to fill the empty space of my absence with a picture of a bar down the street from my dorm:


Last week it was called "Charlie P's Irish Pub" and was painted Celtic green and gold. I think Vienna might be finally starting to get into it.

Update: Okay, it seems I severely underestimated the extent to which Europe is obsessed with this tournament. Not only were the games playing in Budapest, but I actually got to see more of them than of the Group A games. I don't have any pictures this time, unless you guys want to see the millions of pictures I took of the Chain Bridge (warning: no actual chains involved), which I'm sure you don't, but I do have comments anyway:

We managed to get a table at a cute little Hungarian restaurant right in front of a big, sharp HD TV in time for the first game. My veal stew was delicious, but unfortunately the game wasn't quite as satisfying. By the time we got there, it was already about 30 minutes in and Croatia was up 1-0. I was pretty equally delighted and dismayed by this (Croatia is, after all, my crush team), until I actually saw the goal. It was a penalty kick as the result of what appeared to be a pretty weak call on a trip in the penalty box, and to make matters worse, it involved what appear to be the only non-cute Croats on the entire team (one flopped around grossly to draw the penalty, and the other actually took the shot). Seriously, they are almost painfully cute. Even their coach is a doll. Of course, the Austrians proved to hold their own in the cuteness department as well, which was a nice realization. Particularly eye-catching was one Martin Harnik, who looks a bit like a weasel, but a cute one. (The internet is not providing me with acceptable pictures of these people, otherwise I'd be posting them here.) Croatia definitely wins out in the jersey design competition, though, hands down. Even if the Croatia jerseys weren't the coolest thing since sliced bread, the numbers on the back of the Austrian jerseys are all pixelated and make it look like your TV's resolution is bad, even when it's not. I'm not a fan. Anyway, I was forced to pay attention to things like this because the game itself wasn't the most compelling. It looked, to my untrained eye, very sloppy, with abundances of imprecise passing and major misses of the net by both teams. Still, Austria put on a lot of pressure, especially in the final minutes, and got some good close chances, and I couldn't help but feel pissed off on their behalf that they had to end up losing the game--on their own soil, no less--on such a crappy goal. By the way, there was absolutely no sign of my brother's Doppelgänger, which was another disappointment.

Luckily, the Germans put on a good show and helped wash away that bad football taste. By the time the game started, Hannah, Alice, and I were checked into our hostel and watching on the communal TV there. It was great, because instead of the Hungarian broadcast we had earlier, we were somehow getting a German TV station. And, unlike the broadcasts of the games at the fan mile in Vienna, it was in actual, understandable German and not Austrian. After Germany scored their first goal, however, we realized we were the only people in the room who cared, and decided to go in search of a sports bar for a better atmosphere. We came to a bar stuffed with Germany fans just as the second half was starting, and found a tiny table in the corner. We kind of had to twist around and crane our necks to see the big screen, but it worked out okay. At the very least, it was great to be able to celebrate Germany's second goal in the proper fashion, instead of just politely cheering. The game was delightful. The two goals were both scored by Lukas Podolski, a half-Pole (drama!) who I've decided reminds me of Derek Roy. He's small-ish (the Euro Cup website tells me he's 182 cm, or about 5'11", so he's not really Roy-sized, but he is considerably smaller than most of the other German players), feisty, and was consistently roughed-up and manhandled all night. That just has Roy written all over it. His two goals were the result of some really fantastic workman-like dismantling of the Polish defense, which in the first case ended with two Germans against just the Polish goalie, who had no chance as Podolski easily knocked it in. Also, if you squint just right, he kind of looks like Roy-Z.

I wonder if Bedazzlers exist in Germany.

On the other hand, he also seems like a sweetheart, and I'm sorry, Derek, you know I love you, but of all the words I would use to describe you, "sweetheart" is not one of them. Podolski admitted to having "mixed feelings" on scoring twice against the country he was born in, and he didn't celebrate either goal. At the end of the match he even traded jerseys with the Polish player Lewandowski, which was adorable.

Approval.

Anyway, I'm glad I didn't miss these games, and look forward to Thursday when Group B plays again. The fan mile should be jumping!