Hosts with the most By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun Mon, July 3, 2006

FRANKFURT, Germany -- This is not a country the world wanted to get too caught up with nationalistic fervour ever again.

And yet, that's been a genuine joy of what's happening here with Germany 2006.

It's OK. It's cool. It's soccer. It's fun. And it's time.

Germany is welcoming the world with great joy and doing a great job. And if winning the World Cup is part of the package, good on 'em.

Certainly with Germany eliminating Argentina and with France sending Brazil home, the Nationalmannshaft have become the favourites now. But even if Jurgen Klinsmann's team doesn't win a fourth World Cup Sunday in Berlin, Germany will emerge from this hosting a clear winner.

Soccer is more than a game

In soccer, more than any other sport, it's always more than a game. There are always overtones involving history and culture. It's just the way it is. You can make a case that even styles of play tend to reflect history and national personality.

Here they'll tell you it was football and Germany winning the World Cup in 1954, just nine years after the second World War, that was the beginning of the huge economic swing.

When Franz Beckenbauer's organizing committee chose a logo featuring three smiling faces and a slogan 'A Time To Make Friends', it was a very visible message that Germany wanted to shed its international image as a stern lot, whether true or not.

Perception has changed as a result of this World Cup if you've been here for any length of time. The German fans have been amazing. And not just cheering for Germany.

The best example I can offer resulted from sitting four hours on a train with a German fan after a game. He'd booked his holidays for the World Cup but couldn't get tickets to any Germany game - only games involving Togo, Angola, Ivory Coast, Tunisia and the like. For each game, he purchased the jersey of the team with the fewest supporters, sat in the seats with them, and cheered for that team.

He told me thousands of other German fans found themselves doing the same thing. He said he was having the experience of a lifetime, creating a nice collection of jerseys with a story and pictures of him with new friends taken at each game.

There's also the 'Say No To Racism' theme to this World Cup, the words sharing the circular tarp at midfield with 'A Time To Make Friends' and the logo. Considering the massive problem the sport has with racism right now, there couldn't be a better time or place.

"We've all known for a long time that this is a great football nation at the heart of Europe, where the World Cup would be a success,'' said FIFA boss Sepp Blatter. "The organization has been great and the stands have been full. But I must admit the number taking part in the fan fests have exceeded all my expectations. Nearly a million in Berlin!''

Fervour is absolutely everywhere

To try to picture what it's like here, think of Edmonton during the Stanley Cup playoffs this year or Calgary two years ago. The same style of flags fly on the same percentage of cars. Except you see it from one end of the country to the other. It's like everyone in the nation owns a German jersey. And when Germany is playing, the streets are empty.

But it hasn't just been about Germany. The other night here when fans from France were parading, waving their flags and honking their horns until 3 a.m. after beating Brazil, the German fans were enjoying the parade.

Oh, let's not get carried away here.

While Germany 2006 beats the bejabbers out of USA '94 and Korea-Japan 2002 for flavour, it's not France '98. To most of us who covered that, it was the favourite assignments of our careers. Frankfurt ain't Paris.

Berlin might come close, but the largest city in the nation doesn't get the stage until after Germany-Italy in Dortmund tomorrow and France-Portugal Wednesday in Munich.

If Germany is in and wins the final, one can imagine the same sort of scene as on the Champs Elysees when France won eight years ago. And that would be wonderful.