Host nation Germany has been winning during the ongoing World Cup tournament. I don’t mean today’s 5th consecutive victory, the game against Argentina decided by a shoot-out after a 1-1 overtime tie.

Most people know about Germany’s reputation for organization and orderliness. So it hasn’t been that much of a surprise to see the World Cup soccer tournament hosted by Germany going so well. What has been a surprise is the overall spirit during the games, along with the host nation’s friendly reception for its foreign football friends. Fifa-President Sepp Blatter even told a Berlin newspaper: "This is the best World Cup tournament of all time. Never has an event had such an emotional and global presence." Foreign visitors to Germany have remarked repeatedly how friendly their German hosts have been. In large public viewing areas like at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (upper photo) or at television studios like the ZDF World Cup studio at the Sony Center (lower photo), crowds at times numbering more than 500,000 have watched the live broadcasts of the games. Some foreign fans have been surprised to see Germans wearing the jerseys of other teams in the tournament, rooting for them in the public viewing areas and even in the stadiums.

4000 foreign fans surveyed in the 12 cities where the games have been played gave the host nation high marks for friendliness and security. Every other person surveyed gave the Germans a 10 (on a scale of 0-10) for friendliness, and the average score was 8.8. The average score for foreign visitors having a sense of personal security during the tournament was 9. One very positive aspect has been the favorable impression that English fans have received from Germany. In a special edition the British newspaper "The Guardian" had asked: "What is our problem with Germany?" The answer given by the paper: British people don’t know enough about Germany. In today’s soccer edition, "The Guardian" had a hopeful tone for the future: "Germany’s tabloids may have poked fun at Victoria Beckham, but there is also a sense that this World Cup might just mark a defining point in British-German relations – the moment when the lingering clichés of the Second World War were finally dumped into the dustbin of history."