USA v. Czech Republic; Gelsenkirchen, part 3

It seems like we took a lot of the same shots, but honestly, we had no idea how these photos would turn out so we were being safe. It was not a good day for the American side. They came out cold and allowed a quick Czech goal that kind of set a dominating tone for the rest of the match. The Czechs fired 2 more past Kasey Keller and the game was over. Czech Republic were a fantastic team that year, but even they didn't make it out of the group stages in 2006.

Making the event even worse were a couple of Czech teenagers in front of us mocking the United States the entire time. One of them had a leg cast on; I don't know why, but I'll always remember that. We faced a lot of mockery as Americans on our trip; both because of how our team is viewed around the world (without passion) and because of our country's political standing at the time.






A typical scene at the train station after (or before) a match. US supporters were still enthusiastic despite the loss. It was a party just to be there, though losing felt like death.

A side trip to Amsterdam was next.

USA v. Czech Republic; Gelsenkirchen, part 2

Of course, we got to the stadium early. It was a loud, rousing atmosphere. Here are the teams lining up for the national anthems. To be honest, hearing the US anthem was emotional.

We saw this guy dressed up as Captain America at every single game. Cheesy, yes, but it made us feel safe. (No, it didn't.)



Thumbs.

USA v. Czech Republic; Gelsenkirchen, part 1

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Match 1, June 12, 2006. USA v. Czech Republic (Result: 3-0 loss)

Lineups:
USA: Keller, Mastroeni, Cherundolo, Lewis, Reyna, Convey, Beasley, McBride, Donovan, Onyewu, Pope (subs: O'Brien, Wolff, Johnson)

Czech Republic: Cech, Grygera, Galasek, Jankulovski, Poborsky, Koller, Rosicky, Nedved, Plasil, Ujfalusi, Rozehal (subs: Lokvenc, Stajner, Polak)
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We had heard about some extreme security measures going on during the World Cup; specifically what you could and couldn't bring into the stadiums. Not one to question Germans with guns, I left the camera back at the hotel for the first match. We bought a disposable and did the best we could. After seeing the security and what they would allow, however, we did bring our good camera to the rest of the matches.
Gelsenkirchen featured a state-of-the-art stadium and soccer complex, home to club side Schalke 04.


But first we took in the festivities of Fan Fest (not everybody walked with canes!).