Czech fans sing. And then they get drunk, and then they sing some more. Only louder.

Czech for "The Glorious Republic of Czechslovakia" is "Cesc", which is pronounced CHESS-SEA. This makes them sound a lot like fans of a Premiership club, but without the Mourinho-like smugness.

I know this because I saw a lot of Czech fans at the Hamburg stadium. I was there to catch the atmosphere and maybe a ticket to the Czech-Italy game. Due to Ghana's superb athletic play, the Czechs find themselves having to win in order to realistic get through to the second round. Italy can't afford lose either, if they are serious about getting their hands on the World Cup for a fourth time. (Did I mention? Last time Italy won, they were captained by a certain Dino Zoff.)

Of the two sides, the Czech supporters were louder and seemed more confident, although the Italians did have the best banner ("The sky is blue and white. God is an Italian. Forza Italia").

Many people who don't have a ticket came to the stadium. I sort of expected that for the Brazil-Croatia game because Ivete Sangalo was performing, and anyway, Brazillians want to go to where all the other Brazillians are. But there must have been a few hundred milling around, some of whom were looking for spare tickets.

The strategy of waiting until the game begins to buy your tickets is slightly flawed, I think. This is because everyone else might feel the same way. I thought I heard tickets being sold fo EUR120 three hours before the game (but I could have been wrong), which is a very good price for a game like this. But, ten minutes to game time, I was told that the price for a ticket was no less than EUR250.

It's a question of supply and demand. If everyone waits till the last minute to buy, there is more supply than demand in the beginning. This then should be the time to buy, because later on, it's very hard to persuade low prices when there are so many people clamouring for tickets around you.

In the end, I opted to watch it on television in a crowded sports bar right next to the stadium. Both Italy and the Czechs had chances, but Italy's defence looked more convincing. I said it before the tournament began, and I'll say it again, Fabio Cannavaro is the best central defender in the world at the moment. Of course, now that I've said this, he'll muck up and put the ball in his own net or something, but it's what I believe.

Italy had a 1-0 lead at half time, and in the other game, Ghana was leading 2-1. Not good for the Czechs. They poured forwards in the second half, and left themselves exposed at the back. True to form, the Italians defended well and counter-attacked with great effect. A superb through ball to the back-in-favour Pippo Inzaghi, a little shimmy past the Czechian keeper, Cech, and it was game over.

Now, the Italian fans broke into song. Now they danced and waved their flags.

When I was back in Hamburg, I saw the Czech fans. Some were slumped in their chairs. Others were staggering drunk, singing to the very end.

Labels: germany, world cup