There is nothing like an important sports tournament to unite a community. The European Soccer Cup was a great example of that. People showed up in places where they normally do not go to be together with other compatriots.

The kick-off round had a German/Polish game in the line-up and was playing in Canada to packed houses everywhere. The Danube Swabian Club Blue Danube in Scarborough was being honoured with the presence of the German Consulate General, including the Consul General himself and a fair amount of his colleagues in office, as well as Polish consular representation.

Score!

The house was packed to full and extreme capacity with community members from both countries, who cheered every hard won goal and when the Germans won this round the Polish people in the hall were very gracious losers.

Toni Baumann: We won!	Catrin Stibbe, German Vice-Consul, and Sybille
Director of the Goethe Institut Toronto Dr. Arpad Sölter and Sybille Forster-Rentmeister

They were of course disappointed, but had to concede the win to Germany. German fans of course were elated, as the pictures demonstrate.

The next round we observed was the game between Germany and Austria, which again was well visited in all venues, but we watched it in the Canadian German Chamber of Industry and Commerce in the offices on University Ave, Toronto.

Ready and refreshed for the game Austria - Germany	The teams enter the field
The National Anthems	Helmut Jandrasits all decked out for the game

Fans and Consular representation, as well as a lot of other "brass" was seen munching on delicious sandwiches and drinking various beers, all generously sponsored by different partners. Even prizes were drawn to heighten the mood of competition.

Overall though the game lacked sparkle. It almost felt like the two parties did not want to hurt each other and thus they parted 1:1. In the audience the situation was not so different. A room full of German and Austrians supposed to compete at opposite ends, well, the cheering sections on both side demonstrated a good sense of humour.

Austrian Consul Dr. Karl Schmidt & Helmut Jandrasits, winner of a Euro2008 cap	Ulli Jeschke wins a stay at the Delta Chelsea Inn

There were other games, other wins, and often it was apparent in the city before we knew who had won simply because the usually loudest fans were suddenly so quiet, like when the Portuguese lost their bid for the finale. The same happened with the Italians when they lost. The city stayed very calm and quiet. There was none of the usual horn honking and endless screaming and traffic jams.

When the Germans had to play the Turkish team we went back to the Danube Swabian Club in Scarborough to witness a sad day, not only did we miss seeing 2 of the goals, because of technical difficulties, but we missed how Germany won. Prior to the game someone commented: No matter which way the game will go, lots of folks in Germany will be cheering anyway, especially in Berlin, and a few other cities I can think of. For this game the hall was not full in that club. It appeared that mostly retired folks and a few independent business people made the trip to the community centre to watch with friends; after all, it was a working day.

We know that Germany made it into the final round and had to play Spain, a country that had not taken the trophy home in decades. They were motivated, and it appeared they had a referee in their corner, or so I was advised by Italian and Spanish observers alike. I must agree, especially since I heard that he called the game off 4 seconds too early. A lot can happen in 4 seconds, as we know, especially when you are in front of the right goal.

A packed Hansa Haus

What can we say? The Hansa Club in Brampton that had been packed with fans of all descriptions, German- Canadians in the majority, of course became a lot quieter after the loss to Spain and it was conceded that the better team won. People went home fairly fast. They watched, ate and had their fill of a good brew, they were well serviced with German hospitality. If Germany would have won the club would have seen a lot of celebrations immediately afterwards. Now the festivities have to wait for another cause, like the upcoming Carabram or the annual picnic or a visit to the newly reopened Museum, to which all are invited.

And by the way, they have at the museum – the same address as the club - a huge selection of books to choose from, in German of course! I took home a dozen and was told that there is a fee for bringing them back. This is great! I can now fill some of the holes I have in my library.

Eventually the upstairs that is now crowded with artefacts will be reorganized and can be viewed and utilized in many different ways. The problem is finding someone who has enough knowhow and drive to make something special of it. Over the last few years there have been many talks with other entities to take over the museum part, but nothing materialized. This historic building needs a lot of work just to keep it standing. To make it fully functional will take a lot of work. So come, one and all to look at some of the stored treasures of our past. May be you can have a cup of coffee with cake on a Sunday afternoon and take away a few books too.