World Cup : Spain v Tunisia 19 June 2006

Check out that two mamat singapore at the left hand corner of the photo. Jenol is in yellow and MH is next to him Photo : Courtesy of BBC.co.uk


World Cup 2006
Stuttgart, Germany
Monday, 19 June 2006
Spain 3 - Tunisia 1

This posting is out of sequence. I meant to do the write-up of Paris first but that will take time. It is such a lifelong dream of every football fan to go to the World Cup. My hubby and friends had been talking of going to the World Cup for yonks! First France 1998, then Japan/Korea 2002 and finally Germany 2006. With Jenol already planning a trip to Europe this year and with us being so close to Germany, it seems a crime not to try and go to the World Cup.

The trip took a long time to plan with us registering on fifaworldcup. com for their ticket ballots. Tickets to the matches are hard to come by - only 33% are opened to the public for purchase. With millions going for only thousands of tickets, finally landing a Spain v Tunisia Group Match tickets was like winning the lottery. I remembered MH (my hubby) getting a call from Jenol in the middle of Kensington Park and him whooping for joy. Alamak ingat dapat tiket for the final, rupanye group match je... jadik lah...

So it was another early morning start for both of them on Monday, 19 June to fly in to Stuttgart. I have prepared a big file of their 9-day jaunt to Germany and Amsterdam. They were excitedly packing their bags with football shirts, cup noodles, sleeping bag, chilli sauce for Jenol and even two Singaporean flags (courtesy of Jenol's RC member friend). It won't be a luxury trip in Germany - I've booked them into Fan Camps which are the cheapest accommodation at 12 euros per night.

I received excited phone calls every step of the way, from landing at Stuttgart airport, to train station, to their campsite at Fan Camp Stuttgart and finally to the Stadium. MH was excitedly telling me how they are at the Spanish fan's end, just behind the goalpost and they had hung up their Singaporean flags. Lots of people though it was Tunisia flag and must think "Ini mamat Tunisia sudah sesat masuk Spain" and they had loads of photos taken.

In show of solidarity, I did watched the match to see whether I could spot them on TV. Just as they were playing Spain's national anthem, they did some fan shots and yes, I can make out the Singapore flag with Jenol in his bright yellow Brazil tshirt. Hooray!! and when they did a replay of Tunisia's goal, the Singapore flag was seen at the back.

Spain was lagging behind 1-0 to Tunisia at the first half. Second half was a different story with an opportunistic kick from team captain, Raul, a goal from young Torres (Man U & Chelsea are already arguing about him) and a penalty shoot from Torres. All the goals (including Tunisia's) were at MH and Jenol's goal end so it must have been pretty sweet.