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German fans erupt in celebration
BERLIN (Reuters) -- Millions of Germans let out a collective roar of relief audible across the country on Saturday after Oliver Neuville scored the winner against Paraguay two minutes from time to secure a World Cup quarter-final place. The deafening cheer that erupted from living rooms, pubs and public screenings around the nation shortly after 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) put an end to the nerve-wracking match for fans of the triple World Cup champions who feared an upset was brewing. Even Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder put his re-election campaign on hold to watch the game and said: "I feel the victory was deserved based on the way the team played the whole match." Klaus Schieffer, a 55-year-old baker, watched with 3,000 other delirious fans on a giant screen in the centre of Berlin. "This is just insane. I didn't think we would pull this one off," said Schieffer, who jumped into the arms of celebrating strangers after the goal. "We weren't better. The match was even. I thought it would end up with penalty kicks and you never know how that will end." Big celebrations were also seen in Frankfurt, the country's financial capital, and Munich, where hundreds of people joined a procession of honking cars parading through the town centre. An estimated television audience of 25 million households tuned into the game, which began at 8:30 a.m. (0630 GMT), in a country of 82 million. The market share was nearly 80 percent. Streets in Berlin on a warm summer morning were virtually empty, the central Tiergarden park devoid of the usual flocks of early-morning joggers and even the tourist stops such as the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate were abandoned. The eerie silence that descended upon the idle capital city was occasionally broken by cheers, groans or gasps after near-misses from open windows of apartment buildings and pubs or the large gathering at Potsdamer Platz square in Berlin. "Our goal was great, but the rest of the game was lousy," said Robert General, 38, whose face was painted in Germany's red, gold and black colours. Like many watching in Berlin, he had been up all night at a disco and stood for the full match. "We won't get much further if we keep playing like that," he added. BEER FOR BREAKFAST Other fans turned to beer, the national beverage, instead of orange juice for breakfast to keep up their enthusiasm and avoid dehydration or a dry throat during the early morning workout. "Business has been great this morning," said Kai-Uwe Faust, 23, selling ice-cold bottles of beer from an ice cream stand. "No one wants ice cream today. Everyone wants beer." Many of the fans were draped in Germany flags. They spent 90 minutes singing and cheering at the top of their lungs -- and praying for the goal that came late and unexpectedly. "We were lucky to win," said Erik Fuhr-Meissner, a 16-year-old student. "It was a dull match until the goal and either team could have won," said Conny Wieland, a 21-year-old nurse. Chancellor Schroeder weighed in with his own analysis. "We started cautiously and didn't produce enough pressure," said Schroeder before delivering a campaign speech in Leipzig. "Germany were clearly the better team during the final 20 minutes of the second half. The goal was set up beautifully." Schroeder, a former amateur league striker who has been known to remove his jacket to take penalties at photo opportunities, added: "I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the quarter-finals." Germany play Mexico or the United States in the last eight. Schroeder, who faces an uphill battle to win re-election on September 22, is hoping Germany keep winning. No incumbent German chancellor has lost an election in a year when the national team has won a world or European title. Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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