There’s no better way to make the most of the winter break. Jürgen Eimer spent a month in Australia at the Asian Cup and had a lot to report: The stadiums with picnic areas, the Australian Open and the conversations he had with fans from Palestine, which were very thought-provoking. Although the 48-year-old was there from the first game until the final, he said: “The football wasn’t the only focus of the trip.”
Jürgen has been a member of the Germany national team Fan Club, powered by Coca-Cola, since the beginning. His first major tournament was the 1990 World Cup in Italy. The fan from Frankfurt has been at the majority of the big tournaments since then, whilst also attending the Africa Cup of Nations and travelling to Scotland in order to watch a few games.
In Australia, Jürgen was astonished at how little attention the Asian Cup received away from the stadiums. “The Australian Open came first, followed by the cricket and then the Asian Cup,” recalled Jürgen. But there were “hundreds of Germany shirts” for sale. “I think that we’ve become the new Brazil there,” said Jürgen.
“I hadn’t seen that before”
You couldn’t even buy merchandise at the Iraq vs Palestine match. There were 350 Palestinian fans at the match. Jürgen and his wife Sarah were delighted to meet some of them. “It was nice to meet normal football supporters from Gaza and be able to talk just about football with them,” explained Jürgen. The league system in Palestine is anything but normal, the risk of danger means that a lot of matches are called-off or rearranged and home grounds don’t really exist.
Jürgen wasn’t too enthused by the stadiums used to host Asian Cup matches; they were outdated or unspectacular. The ground in Newcastle, where the third-place play-off was held, sticks in the mind: “In the stadium there were grass verges, which people were having picnics on, with their back to the pitch. I hadn’t seen that before” Jürgen and Sarah spent a week in Sydney after the final. “However, I preferred Melbourne, the city impressed me,” explained Jürgen. This was in no small part down to the fact that he also caught some of the Australian open and visited AC/DC Lane. Jürgen and Sarah have been back in Germany since Sunday in order to catch FSV Frankfurt’s first game of 2015.
There’s no better way to make the most of the winter break. Jürgen Eimer spent a month in Australia at the Asian Cup and had a lot to report: The stadiums with picnic areas, the Australian Open and the conversations he had with fans from Palestine, which were very thought-provoking. Although the 48-year-old was there from the first game until the final, he said: “The football wasn’t the only focus of the trip.”
Jürgen has been a member of the Germany national team Fan Club, powered by Coca-Cola, since the beginning. His first major tournament was the 1990 World Cup in Italy. The fan from Frankfurt has been at the majority of the big tournaments since then, whilst also attending the Africa Cup of Nations and travelling to Scotland in order to watch a few games.
In Australia, Jürgen was astonished at how little attention the Asian Cup received away from the stadiums. “The Australian Open came first, followed by the cricket and then the Asian Cup,” recalled Jürgen. But there were “hundreds of Germany shirts” for sale. “I think that we’ve become the new Brazil there,” said Jürgen.
“I hadn’t seen that before”
You couldn’t even buy merchandise at the Iraq vs Palestine match. There were 350 Palestinian fans at the match. Jürgen and his wife Sarah were delighted to meet some of them. “It was nice to meet normal football supporters from Gaza and be able to talk just about football with them,” explained Jürgen. The league system in Palestine is anything but normal, the risk of danger means that a lot of matches are called-off or rearranged and home grounds don’t really exist.
Jürgen wasn’t too enthused by the stadiums used to host Asian Cup matches; they were outdated or unspectacular. The ground in Newcastle, where the third-place play-off was held, sticks in the mind: “In the stadium there were grass verges, which people were having picnics on, with their back to the pitch. I hadn’t seen that before” Jürgen and Sarah spent a week in Sydney after the final. “However, I preferred Melbourne, the city impressed me,” explained Jürgen. This was in no small part down to the fact that he also caught some of the Australian open and visited AC/DC Lane. Jürgen and Sarah have been back in Germany since Sunday in order to catch FSV Frankfurt’s first game of 2015.
