What did Materazzi say to Zizou?

Just invent the lines yourself with the Zidane Video Subtitle Generator!








Hilarious! At least by now I can laugh about it again! I was quite upset that this great World Cup ended in such a way, I'm not sure the best or even the fairest team won, but it's over now and that's the way it is.

World Cup Update

Those Argentinians sure know how to party! I had a great time in the city centre of Hamburg today. It was flooded with hundred of Argentinians, singing and dancing very cheerfully and peacefully. The day was beautiful and very sunny, it couldn't have been better. I think those guys had a great time. Check out the pictures, Hamburg was certainly white and blue today!















Interestingly, just when I was going home it turned out they were picking up the Argentinian team from the Park Hyatt Hotel, which happens to be the place I had my LBS admissions interview at. This time though, no admission for me, it was all sealed off by police :-). I knew the match would be spectacular, simply because Argentina and Cote d'Ivoire are two great teams with very active fans but I couldn't get any tickets. My sister and her husband were there, but not everybody gets lucky. At least I had a very good time watching the Argentinian fans today.















To be honest, I felt a bit sorry for the Cote d'Ivoriens, they were certainly in the minority today. I was hoping they would win the match today, simply because they were the underdogs, but it couldn't be. Now, the big question is, will they beat the Netherlands next week and still make it to the next round?















The inauguration match Germany - Costa Rica on Friday was also quite something, people were celebrating as if it was the final. It was interesting to see how many German flags were on display. Is Germany finally becoming a "normal country"?

Countdown to the World Cup!

Things are certainly brightening up here! Only 3 more weeks to go till I stop working, summer has finally arrived, and the Football World Cup is starting tomorrow! It's incredible to see it on the ground. I am following the preparations very vividly since my hotel in Munich is one of the hotels selected by FIFA officials for their stays (yes, players would be even better... but it's a nice start!). Yesterday morning for breakfast I was seated between representatives from Uganda, Tahiti, India, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar... you name it! Great atmosphere in the hotel lobby and lounges, different from the usual mix of pale consultants and business travelers!


But things are getting better. As you might have heard, it was impossible to get tickets for the championship (30 million orders for only 3 million tickets!), but lots of events are planned to keep those who are left out happy. My company has invited 60 of us to watch the Germany-Costa Rica match live on a big screen in this nice venue at the Hamburg harbour (champagne and canapes included), and on Saturday Argentina is playing Ivory Coast in my home town Hamburg, how great is that? I don't have tickets but there are tons of public places with huge screens, and I'm sure the African and South American population of Hamburg will ensure a great party.

So this blog might be redirected a little bit, over the next weeks it might be more of a World Cup and summer and holiday blog rather than an MBA blog! Now I need to rush down to the taxi to bring me to the airport, back home finally!