Team Arrivals Spark World Cup Excitement

By the end of Monday, 23 of the 32 World Cup teams will have arrived at their training bases in Germany. Squads arriving in on Monday include Brazil, England, Ivory Coast, Paraguay and Tunisia. The attention paid to these arrivals has been nothing short of phenomenal.

Frenzied fans line the streets near the hotels where the teams are staying to get a glimpse of the players. Many of these fans have traveled a long ways themselves to be here, but just as many are Germans who are determined to welcome the world with open arms and to make their adopted guests feel right at home.

It is really very cool to see mobs of people surrounding the Portugal team bus and to hear the cheers as Mexico rolled into the country. Today, Brazil was met by a throng of people that included 150 journalists eager to describe the tournament holders every move. Impressive displays of enthusiasm even if the South Koreans think they did it better in 2002.

The streets here in Berlin are starting to come to life with the colors of the various World Cup teams and the sounds of the many languages that are represented at this year’s tournament.

Throughout the city there are plazas with large screen televisions where tens of thousands will gather to take in the games, enjoy some beverages in the temporary beer gardens, and celebrate a wonderful global gathering.

There has been a lot of talk the past few months about all that could go wrong with the World Cup this year. But now that we are a mere four days away the focus is on the positive aspects of the tournament. The celebration is just about to begin. I can hardly wait.

Here is Brazil’s arrival.