Euro2008 Semi-Final: Germany 3 - Turkey 2

The semi-final match between Germany and Turkey on Wednesday night was an exciting game, and afterward the town of Kempten erupted. I knew there would be some excitement regardless of the outcome, since there are so many Turkish people in Germany. With the Turks being the largest minority group in Germany, it is quite a rivalry, and added an extra storyline to the game. Turkey had also been the most dramatic team in the tournament to this point. After almost being knocked out of the tournament during group play, they overcame a 2-0 deficit against Czech Republic last week by scoring three goals in the final 15 minutes to win and advance to the quarterfinals. Then in the quarterfinal, they won in a penalty kick shootout after tying the game in extra time. They nearly pulled off another miraculous comeback against Germany, but their luck eventually had to run out.

This was my last night alone in Kempten, before Laura came back from New York. I didn't want to watch the game by myself in the apartment, but I also didn't know anybody to meet to watch at a bar. I was hoping Kempten would have an outdoor viewing setup, but they didn't have much of one. One of the restaurants in the square downstairs from our apartment did setup a big screen TV outside their restaurant, but nothing huge. I decided to watch the first half in the apartment, and then go downstairs to check it out in the second half. From my apartment, I could hear the cheering for every big play. Turkey actually scored first in the 22nd minute, but then Bastian Schweinsteiger tied it up just minutes later.

At halftime, I decided to walk down to the square and check it out. I ended up watching the second half there, standing behind the tables that were lined up in front of the TV. Part way through the second half, the TV feed went dead, which of course made the Germans rather unhappy. I couldn't figure out why this kept happening, but then later found out that it was due to a big storm that went through Vienna, Austria, taking out some TV equipment. Although the game was being played in Basel, Switzerland, the worldwide TV feed was coming from Vienna, so every country in the world except for Switzerland lost signal. I spoke to some people in the US who never even saw the last 30 minutes of the game. I'm not sure what would have happened if that was also the case in Germany, but luckily after losing signal a few times, we were able to see the last 20 minutes of the game and didn't miss any of the goals.

In the 79th minute, Miroslav Klose scored to give Germany a 2-1 advantage. Only needing to kill 11 minutes and they would advance to the finals, I figured that would be it. But the Turks, as in every game in this tournament, just wouldn't go away, and they equalized it in the 86th minute with a goal of their own. However, in the 90th minute, Philip Lahm, a defender not known for his scoring, put one past the Turkish goalie and the Germans were victorious. With 3 goals in the final 11 minutes, this was one of the more exciting finishes in the tournament, and I couldn't imagine the game not being shown in some places because of the TV signal.

The real reason I wrote an entire entry about this game is because of the reaction in Kempten afterward. I was wondering when this little town would finally wake up. Up to this point, I had never seen more than about 75-100 people in the main town square by our apartment. It's usually just some quiet cafes and restaurants, but a big win like this brought out some emotion from the Kempteners.

I knew that people like to gather near the square after the games to make some noise, having witnessed it in the previous few games we were in town for. But previously, it was just a small group of people, they'd honk horns, blow whistles, beat drums, and cheer. Immediately after the game, I went to see what might happen this time. I figured things would be a little bigger this time - not just because they won a bigger game, but another signal was that for the first time I actually saw a police force getting prepared for it and closing down the streets. It started out with a few hundred people cheering and doing the normal noise making. I walked up to the balcony of the Rathaus to get a look. After about 20 minutes, people started coming in by the hundreds. I guess they were all walking over from the "Big Box," a theater on the other side of town that played the game on a large screen. Soon, there were thousands of people, filling ever bit of the square and the side streets around it. This was the enthusiasm I was looking for, I think every kid in Kempten was here to share the excitement. Since I was by myself and I didn't really have as much to cheer about as the locals, I just kind of walked around, took some pictures, and enjoyed watching the craziness. I love the passion that soccer brings out of people in Europe. It's been a great experience being here for the tournament, and very cool that the country we're living in has made it to the finals. Even cooler is that we'll be in Germany's capital, Berlin, Sunday night when the final game takes place. I'm sure that will be a site to see!

Here are some of the pictures I took while walking around, as well as a video clip of one of the cheers I saw while I was on the Rathaus balcony looking down: