Ok, here are the positives about the Czech Match (R)

[Slam]

I've probably been to more Nat matches than most fans and this was by far the best presence of US fans I've seen for a match. The US fans took over a portion of the town sqaure in GK and could be heard singing for hours in very large numbers (hundreds). It was loud and matched scenes typical of football playing countries.

Although outnumber by Czechs, there were many thousands of US fans at the match. Had to be more than 10,000 which is impressive for a World Cup in Europe. There were many more fans that didn't have tickets to the match who watched it in the "FanFest" big screen.

Its a bit too bad the team didn't let this group really get its groove on during the match as things were a bit quiet after the 5th minute and more gloomy after the 2nd Goal.

Another note about the Gelsenkirchen venue. It was a logistical nightmare. I thought the Germans would have the transportation issues all worked out but getting to and from the stadium was horrendous. Even France did a better job with its smaller cites.

Its too bad that the team on the field didn't put in a similar effort because that would have been an awesome combination.

Lets get over this and bring the 'A' game to Italy. We can do it!

[juvenile redded]

nicely said.

[meininki]

Another note about the Gelsenkirchen venue. It was a logistical nightmare. I thought the Germans would have the transportation issues all worked out but getting to and from the stadium was horrendous.

I guess it depended on how early you went. We went a little before 3 pm (to watch Japan - Australia on the big screens inside the stadium) and we had no problems whatsoever. Getting back after the game was a little more difficult, but as long as you didn't head to the station right away, you were fine.

Great atmosphere in the town centre though. Everybody seemed to be having a good time and to be celebrating/mourning together.

[Enge]

We took the tram down early, no problems. The guy next to me came by bus, and he said it took three hours to fight through GK.

After the game, they had one tram for 50,000 people. I thought that inexcusable. We walked a couple of stops up, and after about an hour, they seemed to get things running more normally again.

[meininki]

We took the tram down early, no problems. The guy next to me came by bus, and he said it took three hours to fight through GK.

After the game, they had one tram for 50,000 people. I thought that inexcusable. We walked a couple of stops up, and after about an hour, they seemed to get things running more normally again.

They had bussed too, but they didn't take you all the way back to the centre, but just to a different tram station.

[doliveti]

Getting to the stadium by tram was an experience. After the game we were directed to busses that we were told would go to the main station. The bus stopped at fan fest and that was supposed to be it. He told everyone to go to the tram station to get to the main station. Obviously that wouldnt work since all the trams were filled coming from the stadium. We finally talked him in to just driving everyone the rest of the way. Thank god the next game we won't have to deal with any of that as its just a short walk.