Week 10: Football (but not Football)

Yes, that's what I said.  Week 10's highlight was a football match, but not a football match.  As in European football, not American football. Ten points to Gryffindor if you could figure that one out on your own.

My family has followed the German national soccer team for various reasons ever since I was young.  I watched them through several World Cups, getting thwarted by Spain and Italy before finally winning in the 2014 World Cup, the first time in 14 years that they had.  So, when my brother texted me at the beginning of the semester and told me that the German national team would be playing in a friendly against England's national team in Dortmund, Germany (just 2-ish hours away from Bonn by train), yes, you could say I was interested. My brother felt the same; in fact, he planned his entire visit around the game.

What we didn't realize when we booked the tickets was that the game was also the retirement match of Lukas Podolski, one of the greats of the team. You see, growing up, we had watched most of the same players compete four years after four years, and they were our heroes of sorts. Most of those greats had since retired, however, and we now just happened to be at the match where another great was playing his last international match. The atmosphere was incredible. Neither team scored until well into the second half, when Lukas Podolski knocked in an incredible goal! My brother and I looked at each other and couldn't believe it - what a way to end your soccer career! Up against a rival national team, with you scoring the game-winning and only goal! The stadium broke out into chants of "Lukas Podolski" that were untameable.  At the end of the match, Podolski was recognized in a ceremony that went on for at least 30 minutes, because the fans were so energetic and didn't want him to leave (not to mention, he didn't seem to want to leave either).  All in all, it was one of the best moments of the trip, to see a childhood great's last soccer match, see him score the game-winning goal, in Germany, against England, with my brother....wow.