June 2002 - Nr. 6
Canada vs. Germany in Kitchener
by Herwig Wandschneider
CPSL (Canadian Professional Soccer League) All Stars
vs
German Bundesliga TSV 1860 München
What a terrific idea to have a German Bundesliga Team and an All Star Canadian Team play an international friendschip exhibition soccer game in Kitchener! Thus celebrating the First Canadian-German Festival as well as the 35th Anniversary of Kitchener Minor Soccer. Bringing it to reality took spirit and support from many sponsors. This idea of Dr. Ulrich Hochschild’s, German Consul General in Toronto, was rewarded with attendance of 2,800 Canadian and German soccer fans of all ages. Dr. Hochschild also participated in the opening ceremonies.
It was the first trip of this Bundesliga team to North America and can be considered a rare privilege to have this First Division team play here in Kitchener.
Soccer fans were spirited and enthusiastic, which faded just a bit when Germany scored 2 goals in short order at the beginning of the game. It was clearly not a game of equal teams considering the end-result of Germany 6, Canada no score. On a man for man basis, though, the result might have been a bit closer, had the Canadian players more experience playing together as a team. That team experience was certainly reflected in the way TSV 1860 München defended and charged in a coordinated approach, where each team member knew just what to do and where to be under what circumstances. (And by the way, the German team beat Milwaukee’s Rampage 7:0 in a game the weekend before).
Admirable individual ball handling nonetheless on both sides. High Energy sprints and excellent techniques made the game a joy to watch. The weather cooperated, at least it did not rain, and it was pleasantly cold for the players. But I could have imagined a more convenient venue for this crowd on such an international friendship exhibition game. On site parking facilities needed to be subsidized with industrial lots on the other side of Homer Watson challenging jaywalking skills. Hopefully, future international matches will find more appropriate facilities in the Region for games of this stature.
