The world cup is everywhere here – the official logo ubiquitous, and t-shirts of both fifa-sanctioned and rather dubious origin for sale in shops and stalls.
The jerseys are expensive as ever – despite having an obvious hole in my wardrobe at the “Brazilian Visitors Jersey”-space, the 65 euro price kept me away. After all, it’s the yellow/green-combination everybody knows and loves – the blue/white is just a mandatory necessity.
And there’s no getting away from the stars, former and current. Ballack is, as the midfield dynamo, the most prominent – but by no means the only one on the streets. And good old Jürgen Klinsmann (or Klinsi, as he’s affectionately called) is back in the limelight as the coach.
So yes, let the games commence, the host country seems to be well-prepared.