30 days of memories By ROB LONGLEY -- Toronto Sun Sat, July 8, 2006

BERLIN -- The Deutsche Bahn, Germany's wonderfully efficient train system, has been both the pulse and provider to the World Cup.

On its station platforms, for 24 hours a day in many cases, the eye-catching colour and ear-splitting noise from the fans of the 32 participating nations was on display.

From a home base of Frankfurt, most of the 12 Cup venues could be reached in four hours or less, a delivery system that opened the doors to one of sport's greatest events.

So after 30 days and 17 live matches -- with tomorrow's big one yet to come -- here are some snapshots from an enlightening immersion into the beautiful game:

In with the old

This was supposed to be a tournament where the youngsters would take over -- Wayne Rooney of England, Lionel Messi of Argentina and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal.

Ronaldo had his moments -- some of them notorious -- but 30-somethings Zinedine Zidane of France and Louis Figo of Portugal upstaged the youngsters.

Shootouts

Like those who criticize the hockey version, penalty kicks probably are not the best way to settle a score. They are, however, undeniably exciting.

It is remarkable how well body language can predict a result.

When Germany defeated the Netherlands in its quarter-final, the host squad exuded such confidence that you couldn't see the team losing. The next day, England looked the opposite when approaching its ill-fated attempt against Portugal, scoring just once in four tries.

That's a stretcher

Early on we found an amusing game to play every time a player was carted off because of "injury." Start the stopwatch as soon as the stretcher is put down. Stop it when the player miraculously recovers and returns to the field. Average time: 15 seconds.

Off the deep end

The insufferable diving has indeed been a sore point in the tournament and a blight on the pleasure of watching it. It didn't help that FIFA head honcho Sepp Blatter came out of the closet this week and admitted that he did it as a player and that it always has been a part of the game.

Diving and faking, the two big knocks North Americans have on soccer, were a big story and a growing problem considering the refs are ill-equipped to deal with it.

Big bust

Brazil in general but specifically, Ronaldhino. FIFA's player of the year didn't score and as skilled as he is with the ball on his foot, didn't do the job.

England bulldog Rooney got a nation excited when he returned to the lineup but he didn't score either. Instead, his hot-headedness and some gamesmanship by Cristiano Ronaldo got him ejected at the worst possible time, in the second half of the quarter-final.

Ronaldo 1

Brazilian star Ronaldo was chided by the media for being overweight and uninspired. Still, with his three goals he became the leading scorer in World Cup history.

Ronaldo 2

Portugal's Ronaldo made many headlines, some good, some bad. His gamesmanship went beyond annoying. His talent is eye-catching. As a result, he will be a great story for Cups to come.

Fandemonium

It is the fans, especially those who traveled thousands of miles, who help make the show.

Tiny Trinidad and Tobago made up for its size and stature in the soccer world and was joyous just to be here.

The Englanders came en masse, helped by the fact that they are a short commute away and three of their games were on weekends. Other than a handful of thugs, they were having fun and did a remarkable job of getting enough tickets to make each England game look like a home contest.

And kudos to the Mexicans, including the loud, whistle-blowing senor on the train ride to a game against Portugal, dispensing free tequila to anyone willing. (Pass, thanks).

Live from ...

- The city itself was among the most bland of the 12 venues, but Westfalenpark in Dortmund is a classic venue for any sport. Home to Borussia Dortmund of the Bundesliga, fans feel like they are leaning over the field. Germany suffered its first loss there in 15 games, losing to Italy.

- Fritz-Walter Stadium, perched on the top of a mini-mountain in Kaiserslautern, is steeped in history and character. Watching the Italy-U.S. game (a gripping battle) and Italy-Australia (round of 16 thriller) were two highlights.

- Olympic Stadium in Berlin is the most vast of the venues and a walk through history just to get to your seat.

The ruins from some of the 1936 Olympic Games venues are still standing throughout the massive park.

Press row

Unlike North American sports, where there is no cheering in the press box (except for Ed Kilgour at Buffalo Bills games), at the World Cup "journalists" have no shame. There were the Portuguese "reporters" at the semi-final against France, who actually whistled derisively along at the refs with their fans.

There were the Japanese, who spent more time taking pictures with their cameras than taking notes.

There was the England photographer who was ready to take down a Portuguese reporter who refused to stand during the playing of God Save The Queen.

Surprise, surprise

So much for the thought that the Cup would be a walk for favoured Brazil. And when Argentina (the pick from this corner) went out as well, suddenly there was no South American representative in the semi-finals for the first time since 1982.

Pure fun

It would be remiss after a month here not to have a word or two about beer in the land it purportedly was invented and protected by something known as the Purity Law. A German statute decrees that brewers are forbidden from injecting chemicals into the product. Makes the beer more enjoyable the day of and the morning after, the locals tell us.

Now if they could only find a cure for bad refs, bogus injuries and blatant dives ...

rob.longley@tor.sunpub.com