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In Germany and many other European countries, these past weeks have been spent in a state of emergency, with all social activities focused on one thing: Soccer! Find out why the American Embassy is giving out travel warnings after the jump.

Ever since the Euro 2008 started at the beginning of June, there is no escaping it. Germans love soccer, and only soccer. That might seem strange to Americans used to baseball, basketball, football, tennis, ice hockey, and about twenty other more or less popular sports. Over here, soccer beats them all. Just to get an idea, TV ratings for the tournament’s games are at about 80 percent, numbers that amaze even the organizers. It can’t get much higher than that!

Host countries Austria and Switzerland have shown good hospitality in leaving the top spots to the others. They have not made it past the group round, but considering that many were surprised they even had professional soccer teams, this is quite an achievement in itself. Actually, Austria has never even qualified for a european championship until they hosted it themselves.

More surprisingly, some of the odds-on favourites like the Netherlands, Italy, or France, have also been kicked out already. This just goes to show that in soccer, you never know what will happen. Now, four teams remain in the game.

The Last Four

Germany: grand soccer nation, in which Michael Ballack’s goal and Thorsten Frings’ broken rib have been the foremost topic of conversation ever since the Euro started. Well, admittedly, ever since the German team got back to their usual (meaning competitive and fast) shape after some rather messy group games. This leads right to their next opponent.

Turkey has never won a Euro cup, which means they’re even more hungry for it. This team has been the scare of the big ones at this tournament, and with their notorious ability to turn a seemingly lost game around at the last minute playing Turkey promises to be a passionate game. Even though they are plagued by a loss of players due to injuries and suspenion, they’re not to be underestimated.

Russia: yeah I didn’t know they played in the Euro tournament either. It seems to be one of this year’s relevations that those countries that are only on European soil with a little part of their total area have become real competitors to those European nations traditionally at the top. The Russian team beat one of the set favourites Netherlands with their running skills and fast passes.

This leads to our last semi-finalist, Spain. They won their last European championship title in 1964, and are ready to go for it again. Some fans are reportedly going as far as vowing to shave their heads, should their “selección“ indeed win. And speaking of fans, the Spanish team guarantees for avid female supporters – something to look forward to camera turns showing the crowd at the stadiums.

The Twelfth Man

This is how the fans are called, and it shows how important the support and atmosphere are in this game. Just think back to the world cup in 2006, hosted by Germany, in which the German team rode on a wave of euphoria right to the semi-finals, in which they lost to the later champion Italy.

Literally everyone will be watching the Germany-Turkey game tonight. In addition to cafés, bars, and your best friend’s living room, there are huge screens set up publicly, which are expected to draw crowds of up to half a million (in case of the Berlin fan area in front of the Brandenburg Gate). But tonite’s game isn’t just special for German fans, but also for the large Turkish minority living in the country. Both groups will enthusiastically support their team.

The fans are also known to engage in spontaneus mass celebrations when their team wins, leading to blocked roads full of people waving flags, screaming, and singing. Soccer is probably the only instance in which Germans blatantly express national pride and where flag waving is considered appropriate.

Caution Recommended

This leads the American embassy to caution tourists to „avoid the areas of demonstrations (=celebrations) if possible, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of any demonstrations.“ They even encourage Americans in Germany to register with the American embassy, something usually done in case of emerging civil war or other instances of disaster.

Tapmag recommends having a good German beer while watching the game, and not provoking the fans of either team with sassy commentaries afterwards. While we make no assertion on your safety, this should guarantee for a good time. And remember the old soccer saying:

it’s not over ’til it’s over.

Semi-finals
Germany-Turkey, tonight, Wednesday, June 25, at 8.45 pm CET
Russia-Spain, Thursday, June 26, at 8.45 pm CET

PS: in case you want to register with the US Embassy, head to travelregistration.state.gov/