I Was Born In 1974 When West Germany Won The World Cup

I was born in 1974 when West Germany won the World Cup. The Netherlands were second. Poland were third having edged out Brazil. East Germany also played in that finals and beat their democratic western brethren 1-0 in the group stage.

My first real foray into a World Cup was entrepreneurial. My family drank Ovalitine for breakfast and during the 1982 World Cup, Ovaltine put in World Cup teams photos as collectible stickers in their tins of chocolatey goodness. I wasn't that keen on football so I was selling the stickers off to the boys in school for 10 cents a piece. My friends were ecstatic - a sticker picture of their favourite team was a treasure. I made a good few dollars back then. I remember the blue shirted Azzuri line up and the green clad Honduran team. Tegucigalpa is the capital of Honduras, I learned.

On TV, all we had was the Bundesliga back then. I think were English league matches but I only remember the German ones. I wasn't that keen on the game and we wished the cartoons were on instead. I remember Solid Gold, the show with pop music and dancers.

We played football mostly after school. I wasn't good. I had these thick glasses on and once a ball hit my face, I'd be useful as a chewing gum solving an algebra problem. So I played in defence mostly. I wasn't half bad there I reckon. But mostly the glasses got in the way.

In university, we played midnight football on the volleyball courts next to Hall Six. We played mostly for laughs. Dim lighting, silly antics, the odd dislocated shoulder - we had fun. Half the games ended up with supper somewhere. Then we tried doing our homework after, hopelessly. In Uni, I also decided that I would support Liverpool. This happened as a result of some recognition of the club in my childhood and also because Man U supporters were being thoroughly arrogant pricks. They were justified to some degree but their arrogance needed some tempering. Fan is short for fanatic and sometimes we let our passions get to our heads. I forgive them and wish them every loss in the next BPL season.

In the last World Cup and European Cup, I saw an exciting German squad play football like they weren’t German. They were young, bold and courageous. Kosler, Mueller, Lahm, Schweinsteiger and Ozil are names that now synonymous with the rejuvenated national team. I remember the 4-2 win against Costa Rica in their 2006 World Cup campaign. I was thinking then it was sooner or later that if they kept this kind of play up, glory was just a matter of time. 

This morning I woke at 405am to watch Brazil and Germany decide their fates in the 2014 World Cup. Yesterday, knowing Neymar was out with a back injury, I predicted Brazil would succumb. Who would have guessed their back line would atrociously let in 7 goals by the end of 90 minutes? I was already jumping for joy when Mueller netted goal number 1 and hoped for some exciting football from the Brazilians. It never came till the start of the second half when Neuer was finally tested. He pulled off some great saves to prevent any hope creeping into the Brazilian squad. The icing on the cake/nails on the coffin was/were delivered two more. Oscar netted a literally last minute consolation. Too little way too late. I think Neuer was pissed at having let in one goal though, a man of exacting standards I guess. Brazil can weep, and move on.

So my bet is on Germany to lift the Jules Rimet trophy. I also secretly want Netherlands to win. Ever since I saw this Marco Van Basten goal. Stunning. 

And orange is a nice colour. All warm and Vitamin C.