Felicitaciones por su victoria

Spanish victory sets off frenzied celebration in Madrid across nation. Joyous fans lit flares and waved Spain's red and yellow flag after the victory over Germany in the European Championship final on Sunday.

Fireworks and car horns rang out across the Spanish capital after the final whistle blew. Similar scenes played out in viewing squares across the country - from Seville to Valencia to Murcia.

Sangria and Paella it is! Eviva Espania!

"Die Sonne scheint bei Tag und Nacht, Deutschland ist nur Vize!!!!!"

Quoting the first line of an all time German summer hit that translated means: "Sun is shining day and night, Germany is vice (champion)!"
A bit adjusted because the original says: Eviva Espania ( instead of Germany is vice).
The day before the final Germany's most read newspaper already had this proclaimed as "the hym" to sing the whole night in the after party when they have defeated the Spanish team!!! Yes, you do read right this song was already prerecorded in Germany before the match even started with words in the Germans favor: Spain is vice (champion)!
No further explanation needed..................

CONGRATUALTION TO THE SPANISH EURO 2008 CHAMPIONS

BRATWURST OR PAELLLA

What will be served on the final Euro 2008 Menu as a main dish? Are we gonna drink Beer or Sangria?

The chances are for sure higher for beer lovers, but this Championship brought us already some surprises, so we'll see who will be on top of the menu Sunday night European time.

Both team managers are very confident to be able to succeed, but are also pushing the role as favorites towards the other team.

The Spanish coach Luis Aragones used a very true quote from Gary Lineker (a former English international football striker who scored ten goals in two World Cups for the England national team and is currently a sports broadcaster for the BBC):

"Football is a simple game: 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win."

We'll soon know if Lineker was right again.

.................................The fans are ready

Are there similarities between F1 and Euro Soccer 2008?

Well definitely not in the sport itself as there is quite a difference between “horse” power and “man” power, however I dare say that the fan base or spectators are very similar.
Why do I bring this topic up now you might ask? The Euro soccer is into the quarter finals , pages of reports in the papers and just check the Friday, 20th Straits Times issue and you’ll see what I’m talking about:
“F1 hotels still have lots of room!!”,
“Trackside hotels: Only one out of 11 checked is fully booked”,
“Non-trackside hotels: Some are less than half full for race period”,
“Rates lowered: Expect to pay about $200 to $500 less!!”

Here we go. That’s what I was worried about in my post on April 24 (Exorbitant hotel rates during F1 race).
But back to my initial comparison of F1 fans and soccer fans. Check it out and do some simple calculations. The fan base of both sports are made up of (I would say) about 90%!!! Blue color workers and middle class income fans. Are they able and willing to spend big bucks for a stay in highly overpriced hotels? I don’t think so.
Singapore wants to attract 100,000 visitors for this event, they need masses not only a few millionaires, ‘well to do’ or corporate spectators. You can't rely on these people because are moving around wherever there is a newer or more spectacular venue or wherever companies are inviting them to.

Let me give you an example as what the host countries are doing to provide affordable accommodation for budget fans. In Austria as well as in Switzerland, during this Euro 2008 soccer event, ten thousands of fans DRIVE thousands of kilometers in their cars, camper vans, RV’s and stay on camping grounds or budget hotels to save money. In Vienna the authorities adapted a parking area for camper vans and tents calling it “Fan Camping Vienna” which was more than fully booked.
They also built ‘The Fan Camp Vienna’ which is like a giant youth hostel - 3,000 beds in one space: Affordable accommodation for Euro 2008 fans. It's an adapted exhibition hall only 700m to the Ernst Happel soccer stadium, providing shelter: Euro 38 a night (and 0, 5 liter of beer at the price of EUR 2, 90). A nice sheetrock space! These aren't office cubicles.As I said before we need to build a base of faithful F1 fans here who love to come to Singapore more than just for a “one night stand” and a big chunk of getting there is establishing trust of not being ripped off and being welcome a tourist, a visitor, a friend and not as a “cow you milk to the last drop”.

Austrian Schnapps: A new kid in town

Let me tell you guys, it pays visiting Erich's Wuerstelstand frequently, not only because of the best sausages and bread in town, but there is a always a chance to meet interesting people there.

The night before the German match was such day. First Donny Osmond (in town for his concert) and his family strolled peacefully, because unrecognized around Chinatown and passed Erich's Kiosk as well. However the sharp and observing eyes of Frank N. Furter spotted him and welcomed him in Singapore. We didn't want to distrub his privacy therefore no photos.


Then there was this "new" guy at Erich's with a back bag full of samples. Daniel is here to stay for a few years to market the best Austrian Schnapps products. Lucky the few who were able to taste them all. Deeb & Co uses the best fruits for Schnapps production and no chemicals are added. Some of the delicious and very tasty samples we consumed were: Raspberry, Plum, Apricot, Beer, Rowan Berry, a single Malt Whisky and a clear Banana Schnapps.
And "Yes" we were still able to watch the soccer match later this night!!!!

If I got you interested you can check it out at their website (which has to be updated though): Best Of Schnapps
Daniel told us that email orders are available. We'll keep you posted on our blog when there are new developments.

Miracles hardly happen

CONGRATULATIONS Germany for your win against Austria. However after some years I am a little proud of the Austrian team again, because the fought, ran and were committed to give all they had. It is just not good enough to win against millionaire super star Michael Ballack and his team mates.

Ready for the big match

Singapore, Monday, June 16th 20:45h : 6 hours before kick off, Erich is all dressed up and ready for the big match.

The Cordoba T-Shirt displayed behind him. A real Austria fan!

The Heat Is On!

If you had asked the soccer fans before the start of the Euro 2008 it would have been a no-brainer to predict a German win over Austria. However that one bad result against Croatia changed a lot.
Reading German news papers shows a sign of nervousness within the team. Older players are accusing younger ones having been complacent, hanging around the pool and having fun the day after their defeat, and so on.
But reading the German "BILD" as well as the new Austrian newspaper "Oesterreich" makes me vomit. These 2 are a perfect match! I am sick of this kind of verbal abuses. Bild and Oesterreich are writing about the upcoming match as if we are going into a war!
And to me it proves again that the level of soccer is one of the lowest in sports, where no responsible parents should actually send young kids to watch. They only can learn vulgarities and brutal behaviour (from Hooligans) there. Sorry guys!
Please mind it is just sport, it should be entertaining, a fun afternoon or evening!!
IT IS NOT A WAR between countries or teams!!!
I can't think of any other sport where fans behave like these soccer fans! It is embarrassing that even many educated fans fall into this trap.
Let's hope the best and the highly paid players use their brains and concentrate on soccer and nothing but soccer to entertain us and may the best team (that day and match) win!
And let us shake hands after the match, sip a beer together, after all we are civilized neighbours, aren't we?
Check out the following funny video clip (in German only) and don't hesitate laugh about it:

Watch this old clip about Cordoba (in German only)

There is still hope!

Optimistic Austria fans before the match against Poland.

An injury-time penalty by Ivica Vastic earned Austria a dramatic 1-1 draw with Poland. Austria came out firing, should have been 3-0 up inside 20 minutes after Poland's ramshackle defence was repeatedly split wide open for Austrian players to run through, but couldn't convert one of these excellent opportunities. As wise people say: Goals you can't score you will receive!

In the other match of that day Croatia beat pre-tournament favorite Germany 2-1 to reach the quarterfinals at soccer's European Championship for the first time since its tournament debut in 1996.

So we are back to the crucial, brotherly rivalry Austria : Germany on Monday where both teams need to win to stay in the tournament.

Swiss-Turkey: The Gods are crying

Midnight and 2:30 in the morning that's the Euro broadcast time for us living in Singapore. So we do not really experience a Euro fever here. Only really die-hard soccer fans will stay up and watch the matches or they take leave next day.

All European F1 fans should praise and thank Bernie Ecclestone for having asked Singapore to start our race at night for you guys to enjoy it at a convenient time in the afternoon.

But back to soccer: The gods have opened the sky to mourn another loss of one of the host nations team. I don't want to be pessimistic but most probably tomorrow the other host nation Austria will follow suit against Poland. However as people say the ball is round..... so we hope for the best!

Immer wieder, immer wieder, immer wieder Oesterreich!!!

Euro 2008: The race is on

Millions of soccer fans are hogging their TV sets the next few weeks to find out if their favorites will be crowned Euro Soccer Champion 2008. Hopefully for their spouses there is a second TV set in their home......

Unfortunately the play times don't fit into our Singapore timezone at all.

To take the wind out of your sails: We know Austrians soccer sucks, but there are so many other great teams to watch an to cheer for, so it's fine with us. Soccer is not our cup of tea and the pool to pick a good soccer team is just not big enough. However we've got world class sportsmen and women in other sports where some nations only can dream of. So let's put it that way "God is just"
Anyway we want to wish all participating teams good luck! (and a better referee as we had last night! ....just kidding)