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Down and Almost Out
When the draw was announced, we all knew the US got the short end of the stick. Not only did we get an extremely hard group considering how close we were to a # 1 seed a few days earlier, we also were drawn to play in two of the smallest host cities in Germany. Gelsenkirchen was one of those cities. Although it
The train ride to Gelsenkirchen was a fun affair with all the US fans on the train in high spirits beating drums and singing songs of support. The ride was not long and soon we were in the main station in Gelsenkirchen. The Yanks Abroad group had done a great job preparing for this World Cup setting up pre gaming places in all the cities for the US games. All the US fans would be heading to the Hibernia Brauhaus which was located a block or two away from the train station exit.
Another thing happened at this game I never thought possible...For the first time at a US game, I found myself unable to sing. I wanted to, my brain was telling me to..but I couldn't get the words out. I felt numb. All the expectations, looking forward to this day and then this... The US played liked shit, with no passion, no heart. The stale performance by the team truly resonated with the fans. By the end of the game, none us could really sing...we were all shell shocked by the 90 minutes that just transpired.
We left the station heading back knowing that it would be a tough task to now qualify for the next round needing a result against Italy. Somehow I felt like I had been to this World Cup before. The blase results against sub-par opponents in the build up....the horrible start giving up a goal in the first 5 minutes....losing to a European opponent on European soil...the in-fighting among the players and coaches. Deja Vu anyone? It felt like France 98, all over again.
Ed Kirwan
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Gelsenkirchen, Germany - Knowing the U.S. would be playing the Czech's today, Rob thought he would be funny and wear his Borussia Dortmund #9, Jan Koller jersey 
was home to Schalke 04, one of the biggest clubs in Germany, and it boasted one of the finest stadiums in all of Europe, accomadations were tough to find in the city itself and the ones you could find, were on the pricey side. This forced many US fans to find lodgings in surrounding cities in the industrius Ruhr Valley. We were no different and since Dusseldorf was a short train ride away, we decided to stay where we landed. The drawback to all of this of course, was that the US fans were now all scatterred throughout the region and we really couldn't meet up the night before the game for a little early pre-gaming.
main train station to meet up with Bodo, who would be joining us on the trip to Gelsenkirchen to earn his first cap watching the US with the NJB.
Walking down the alley to the bar, we could hear the chants and songs of the US fans. Once we reached the Brahaus, it was packed to the gills with US fans singing and dancing. I had never seen so many US fans like this at a World Cup game ever. There wasn't even a Czech in site. There were so many Americans, it seemed impossible that we would be outnumbered and outsung at the Arena. We met up with the whole ESC crew there...we met up Monty, Evan, Rishi, Andrew,Thom and the rest of US Supporters you would expect to find in Germany. We drank steins of the home-made brew. We broke out the 20 x 30 ft flag singing the Anthem, God Bless America and America the Beautiful. Who would have known that this would end up being the highlight of the day.
Eventually we all rounded up and headed back into the train station to head to Arena auf Schalke. What a mess. There were so many people waiting for the trains it was like a scene from an India train station. People pushing and shoving forward....I actually was pushed into one train while the rest of the gang got stuck waiting for the next train. The trip was not a long one to the stadium but it seemed much longer and we all needed a change of attire we were so drenched with sweat...it was a hot day, the train was packed, it was stuffy....the train stopped at each one of its stops even though there was no chance for more passengers to enter the cars. I don't know how Schalke fans deal with that on a daily basis.
Once we go to the stadium grounds, we started to see all the Czech fans. We ran into Ives Garlacep and did a quick interview since we were some of his NJ consituents and readers. We finally made our way into the stadium and to our seats where we found ourselves locked up in the "Away" supporters section of the stadium and there were glass walls surrounding our whole section so we couldn't get out. Trying to keep the General Admission theme, we picked our spot all the way in the back of the section so if people wanted to sit, they could move to seats in the front and not give us a hard time. It worked out pretty well and we were able to get most of the core US Supporters to join us in the back.
The excitment builded as the game got closer. The stands began to fill up. There may have been more Czech fans, they may have been louder.......I couldn't hear it (before the 5th minute at least) Again, I had never seen so many US fans at a World Cup game and I had never seen so many US fans singing and chanting along with us. We unfurled the big US flag, we belted out the anthem as loud as we could...and it was all downhill after that.
The game started and within 5 minutes the Czechs had scored. Bobby Convey forgot he was playing defense, Gooch didn't mark Koller close enough and Keller didn't come out to get the cross. Bang. 0-1. The US had one fleeting chance to tie the score but Claudio's long range shot glanced off the post and the US never really threatened again. Any thoughts of tying the game ended shortly thereafter when Tomas Rosicky unleashed one from about 20 yards out. Bang. 0-2. If there were any US fans still cheering, they stopped after the 76th minute when Rosicky added another to make it 0-3.
dribbling balls to the goalie or blasting balls high, wide left or right. He would miss 98 out of 100 times. This game had the two exceptions. This fucking guy looked like the greatest soccer player alive against us. I still can not believe how well he played in this game. We ran into Dortmund fans later in our trip and they said the exact same thing! Needless to say, he did nothing the rest of the tournament.
Upon leaving, we hung out around the stadium grounds letting the train traffic die down a bit before we headed out. As we were kicking the ball around, Stefan Effenberg walked past us with his little entourage. For those of you who don't know Stefan Effenberg, is a German international who spent a majority of his career at FC Bayern and spent his last year playing at VfL Wolfsburg. He played liked shit and didnt really care being more interested in cashing checks then scoring goals. Bodo took the opportunity to...eh hem, say a few nice things to him in German. That would end up being one of the few other highlights of the day.
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