Austracized

Last night's venue for the Germany v Austria game was "Zeitgeist @ The Jolly Gardener" in the Vauxhall area. We arrived about 45 minutes before kick-off to find the place absolutely rammed with Germans already. There were two fairly large bar areas, with a screen each, and both were heaving. This led to a great atmosphere but poor visiblity!..

The two German bars we've visited, The Jolly Gardener and Octoberfest, have been two of the best venues for me, with exuberant and friendly fans.

Once again the chant that sounded suspiciously like a reference to Hitler came up. As before, we asked a friendly nearby German for the translation and were told it meant "one more fits" - ie "we want one more goal". This agrees with what the last friendly German we asked told us so we'll let it drop now...

When Germany finally scored, through a Ballack free-kick, the crowd went suitably mad:

The bar is referred to in some places as an Austrian/German bar and there were indeed a small number of brave Austrians in there. One girl stood in the middle of the German crowd shouting "Os-ter-reich!" repeatedly and yet somehow survived. Another group waved an Austrian flag, again avoiding repercussions.

The German team was disappointing. With some more clinical finishing they would have won by more, although Austria might have grabbed a goal too. On this form Germany shouldn't win the tournament, but of course you can never write them off...