Socceroo Al’s lucky break proves just the ticket

TODAY, I’m quite sure, I’ll have to flirt with World Cup ticket touts, but yesterday I got lucky. Well, at least an Australian called Al did. Let me explain.

The 8am train from Frankfurt to Kaiserslautern was thronged with boisterous Aussies and embarrassed looking Japanese fans. As they blasted (the Australian) AC DC’s Highway to Hell from a ghetto blaster, other passengers smiled politely, averted their eyes and tried to read their early newspapers, though empathising, I suspect, with the song’s sentiment.

I began asking around for tickets immediately, somewhat surprised at the massive number of fans who made the trip from so far away. I eventually procured the aforementioned Al’s ticket as he had failed to return to the hotel after leaving a city centre bar with a German girl the previous evening. His friends looked like they had been drinking since their team qualified for the World Cup and crudely goaded and taunted the reserved Japan supporters. After explaining my quest to see all 32 teams on a budget of 150 they agreed to give me the pass at face value, 100, a hefty chunk of my daily allowance, but I was extremely satisfied to secure it so early in the day.