Friday, June 15, 2012

Mario Gomez is German. Seriously!?! (Manly Face #3)

So, I've made it to Ireland. And I really should be sitting in a garden sketching birds and fabulous sculpture.  Instead, I find myself posting a sketch of yet another soccer player (for Ayala's June Guys Challenge) and explaining how I became a fan of the German national soccer team (at least for one night).  But first, here's the inspiration photo I used for my sketch of German striker Mario Gomez (it's from Photobucket):
As predicted, I have spent every night in Ireland in a pub watching Euro 2012 unfold (for the uninformed, that's a soccer tournament which takes place every four years; teams compete by country, and the winner is crowned "Champion of Europe").  On Wednesday, Henry and I headed over to Sinnott's Bar. We arrived early enough to watch Portugal beat Denmark, which made me very happy. I have a soft spot for the Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal in general because there are so many Portuguese immigrants where I live (Half Moon Bay being a fishing town and all).  Netherlands v. Germany was due up next, and the pub started filling up with fans dressed in either orange or white jerseys.  The Dutch fans located in one part of the pub draped orange bunting around their section.  By the time the match began, the pub was packed (this photo was taken during the Portugal game when there was still plenty of room to move):
Henry and I smiled as the fans surrounding us belted out their national anthems (the Dutch out sang the Germans, by the way). The lights dimmed, and the match began with constant cheering from both sides. It was an awesome place to watch the match!  German striker Mario Gomez scored two goals, and I asked my son "Is Mario Gomez really German?" He said, "Yes." "Seriously?!?" "Yes, seriously." It turns out he was born in Germany, to a German mother and Spanish father. I think he's gorgeous, by the way (much better looking in real life than in my sketch).  Two girls from Hamburg asked if they could join us, and we got to talking.  One worked for Twitter. She had worked in San Francisco for a couple of years and has now been posted in Dublin.  We met another German fan who was from Ecuador but grew up in Spain, had worked in Dallas, Texas for five years and now Dublin since 1999. I love how soccer makes the world smaller and unites people from all over the globe. Given that we found ourselves in a pocket of German supporters and that a German victory would help Portugal advance, we decided to cheer on Germany. We didn't actuall join in the chants of "Deutsche - land," but we were mighty tempted!  And we did high five those around use every time the Germans put one in the back of the net.
More stories (and sketches) from Ireland coming soon!  What have you been up to this week?

12 comments:

Alison said...

We watched the Spain v Italy game in a Spanish bar , with a table of Italians in it...the atmosphere was electric, with lots of good banter back and forth! Glad you've arrived safely
Alison xx

scrappyjacky said...

Looks and sounds like a great place to watch the matches,Rinda. We watched England last night....they weren't exactly inspiring....but at least they won!!

The Mann Fam said...

How exciting! I'm not a sports fan of any sport, much to My Boy's chagrin, but this sounds like it would be great fun to be watching the game in such a setting. I think it would almost be better than being in the stands at the game. Have a great time!

nancy y said...

Sounds fun! Last weekend at Dia de Portugal they were watching soccer on a big screen! My husband is Portuguese/German!

Melissa said...

It definitely sounds like y'al are having lots of excitement this summer!

Beverly said...

Sounds like a perfect way to spend a night in Ireland, bonding with the locals as it was :) Hope ya'll have a most glorious visit!

Carola Bartz said...

The Dutch may outsing the Germans, but they still lost the game...
Okay, of course I'm biased, a fan of the German Nationalelf. I wish we could fully watch it here in the States, but we have no TV at the moment after our move, so I get my updates on the internet. I'm glad you're having such a great time in Ireland and hope it will stay like this!

Amy said...

We get limited coverage over here ... it sounds like you are in the right place for prime viewing though!

Ginger said...

We get some coverage here, hubby has been watching a bit. It sounds like so much fun, being there and sharing in the excitement!

I think your portrait has a definite likeness :)

Cheryl said...

Wow sounds like you are having a fab time I watched the England match the other night but as Jacky says it wasnt fantastic but we won xx

Karen said...

I've spent the whole weekend in church meetings. They've actually been fascinating and worthwhile, but certainly nothing as exciting as you are doing! What fun!

Sian said...

This chimed with me today - becasue it reminds me of our game we play to decide which side we are going to support. We pick a famous person from each country and decide who we like better - and with TTO in charge we get combinations like Jean Claude Van Damme versus Jason Statham. Jason won out and we supported England..