HOLMES Chapel student Tom Kell is the Chronicle's eyes and ears at the World Cup in Germany. The 20-year-old reports back on his first week at the world's biggest sporting competition.
I ARRIVED in Frankfurt on Friday to find the riverfront packed with German supporters. There was certainly a huge number of England fans creating a great atmosphere and I found litres upon litres of beer on sale to boot.
Watched Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 in an 8,000 capacity grandstand. The atmosphere throughout the match was unbelievable and was made even more interesting by the large vocal English contingent.
Went to a small village campsite where hundreds of England fans had set up their tents and managed to have a chat with a few of them. They were all in great spirits.
There seemed to be potential for tension between the supporters on Friday night but there was no trouble. After a long day, there were still hundreds of English fans getting off the trains at every station.
The atmosphere was mainly friendly again on Saturday with my campsite dominated by the English with some Brazilians and Aussies alongside us. All fans shared a lot of friendly banter.
Went along to the riverfront again before England's game where I found a litre of beer for a very creditable five euros along with 10,000 English fans. There was an unbelievable atmosphere and definitely more noise than the Germans created the day before. Spoke to a few Costa Ricans, obviously still gutted after their opening day defeat to the hosts.
The atmosphere lifted even more as the game kicked off. It was a superb first half with Steve Gerrard impressing and we deserved the lead, but only just! Fans went mental when David Beck-ham's free kick took a deflection and went in.
It was stupidly hot for the game and it seemed to show out on the pitch in the second half. I felt for the players.
I was relieved to get the result but was hoping for a little more as I believe we are yet to stamp our authority on the tournament. Getting three points was the most important thing though and it looks good for us after Sweden's draw with Trinidad & Tobago.
Watched an exciting Argentina victory against the Ivory Coast in a friendly Frankfurt city centre but there were apparently problems with riot police elsewhere in the city.
Really looking forward to tomorrow's game against Trinidad & Tobago. If we win that, we're through to the next round, so can't complain!
Are you from South Cheshire and off to the World Cup Finals? The Chronicle would welcome pictures of local supporters following England's fortunes in Germany, and publish comments as Sven's boys go for glory.
E-mail crewe.sport@cheshirenews.co.uk
