In which YOU get a goal! And YOU get a goal! (But only if you're German.)

It's just after midnight and it looks and sounds a whole lot like New Year's Eve from the fireworks exploding over the city, and the honking, and the cheering, and the whatever else is making booms and Krach out there. Shortly after the Brazil vs. Germany semifinal started, there was an almost-goal by the Germans that brought cheers and the first fireworks from the other neighbors on the block. I thought they were overdoing things a bit because, hello, no goal, but sure enough, two minutes later, goal #1. When the same thing happened again about two minutes before goal #2, I realized that, duh, the internet livestream was probably behind the live TV. The neighbors thus alerted me to the 3rd-7th goals before they happened on my end, and now the city is going nutso. I admittedly only follow football every two years (if I am in Germany, which I have been for the last couple of 2 yearses), and of course I'm all for the Schland (unless they're playing the USA, in which I am also all for the USA)((or Belgium, gotta cheer for les belges, too)), but.. what? It's hard to celebrate getting to the finals when they did so by beating Brazil, so hard, in Brazil, after aaaall the drama and protests and displacements and corruption and money and then the team playing with all that pressure on them to not let down their country (make all that rubbish worth while!) and then also playing for their star player after he was way injured in the last game -- that's rough. All the close-ups of sobbing fans and players sure did make the winning... awkward ...to say the least. (And, hah, looks like the last 30 or so people currently featured on my book of faces newsfeed agree.) Even the German commentator sounded like he started wincing with every new goal after the 4th or 5th.

There were a couple of things that happened at the end of the game that upped the ole spirits, however. One was that I got to see how the Brazilian coach hugged and congratulated all the German players and looked like he meant it, and also the general good-sportsmanship between the other players on both sides. Everyone was gracious. Put a little humanity back in it.
The other great thing was that a female commentator interviewed Jogi Löw after the match. Before this, I don't think I'd seen a single woman involved with the big interviews and commentating in the German broadcasts.

A closer match would have been more morally satisfying, but then again, the guilt will probably be gone by the time Sunday rolls around. And until then, I'm happy to do my part in supporting both Jogis Jungs and local bakers, one tasty pastry at a time.