WC2006: Der Nuremberg Volksfestplatz ist Scheisse

MAXIMILIAN BAR, NUREMBERG (11:30pm local time) -- We made the unfortunate decision to go watch Sweden and England at the Fan Fest. I knew which S-Bahn stop we needed, and figured there would be signs to direct us the rest of the way.

I figured wrong.

We found the stadium, and the old Nazi parade grounds next to the stadium, but no Fan Fest. Circumnavigating the lake a bit, we stumbled across an outdoor beer garden with a big screen and watched most of the first half, including Joe Cole's absolute bomb of a goal, there.

Determind to find the goddamn Fan Fest, we set out again at halftime. Right as we were ready to take the train back into the center of town, finally, a sign. A good ten or fifteen minutes of brisk walking and another security pat-down later, we crossed the threshold of the "viewing area" just in time to miss Sweden's equalizer.

From what I could tell, the viewing area - in a parking lot adjacent to another building of historical importance - could hold 25,000 people. For the Germany-Ecuador match earlier in the day, and maybe for the overflow of the US-Ghana match on Thursday, that might be appropriate. Now, however, there were no more than 300 people watching the late match, and it was pretty pathetic. Most of the vendors had shut down their tents, and our one round of Bitburger almost swore us off the brew completely, it was so bad. It also managed to trigger my allergies, which is never fun.

The one saving grace was a group of a dozen or so Swedes, who kept cheering through, and were rewarded with a well-deserved point from the match and a date in the round of 16 with Germany. They also prevented England from picking up a couple of points they wouldn't have deserved had Steven Gerrard's go-ahead goal held up. And a word to Wayne Rooney: When the guy who comes in for you clears a ball off the line and scores a goal, don't bitch about coming off too soon.

But if you take anything from this diatribe, let it be that the Nuremberg Fan Fest sucks.