HEIDELBERG - We've had two heroes on our blog journey today, Herr Schacher, whose magic fingers helped get Svan up and running this morning, and Sib who suggested we head to the Hockenheim Grand Prix circuit to test out the repair.
Quickly confirming that this was en route, we hit the road and headed south from Frankfurt.
NUREMBERG - Sven-Goran Eriksson's closing press conferences of his reign as England manager have been among the most intriguing and entertaining during his time in charge.
From presenting a Sir Geoffrey Boycott-style dead bat to most inquiries for the last five years, Sven has suddenly opened up. A little bit of controversy here. A little bit of humour there.
BERLIN - I was commentating on the game for Five Live last night.
And though the samba beat was throbbing under the Brandenburg Gate into the early hours - the mood among the Brazilian fans suggested they felt short-changed by the World Champions.
LONDON - If you are on the lookout for England tickets - before you buy.
DORTMUND – The Polish are out in force ahead of tonight’s game. Coming out of the Hauptbahnhof (central station) were plenty of fellas in their Poland kit – but also a fair few female fans in tiny tops and mini skirts. All in team colours of course - sadly I didn’t manage to get a photo before they disappeared into the crowd.
I was also startled by what some of the Croatian ladies were wearing (or not) yesterday in Frankfurt as they faced .
IBC, MUNICH – The fun thing about watching games at the International Broadcast Centre is hearing cheers echo around the building when a goal’s been scored.
Even though the IBC is broadcasting to millions of people around the world, any football fan knows it’s virtually impossible to contain yourself when your team scores.
In his latest guest post, photographer Ross Kinnaird reveals how he tries to liven up stock media conferences with a more creative approach.
I’ve been attending quite a few press conferences and training sessions in the build-up to the next England match tomorrow (Thursday) and this image is just one of many I’ve been having some fun with – capturing static head shots can be quite soul-numbing for a sports photographer after a few days so I always like to experiment!
It took me four or five attempts to get this effect, using a 70 - 200 mm lens, shot at a 15th of a second F8 (no flash allowed at the conference). My biggest challenge was to get the camera to swivel on a central and static point. Any lateral movements blur the whole image.
A GARAGE FORECOURT, DREIEICH-OFFENTHAL - Magic mechanic Schacher has installed the new immobiliser part in Svan and we are on the move again.
We are heading south, stopping for the night near Hockenheim, where Ricco will do his best , driving Svan around the .
ON A BUS BOUND FOR NUREMBERG - Wayne Rooney is definitely playing. He looks in fantastic shape and it's great to see him with the England number nine shirt on again.
Sadly, it is only on the dvd currently keeping us entertained on the three-hour drive from Baden-Baden to Nuremberg, a morale-boosting repeat showing of England's 3-2 win against Argentina in Geneva.
A replay perhaps, but proof again that no matter where you look, there is no escaping Rooney.
BERLIN - Tomorrow marks part one of an exclusive interview with Ian Wright for the World Cup Daily. He was honest and forthright and I hope you enjoy watching the results (the video will be available from tomorrow).
And take a bow Messrs. Cobley, Zasikowski, Wilkinson, Newbold, Dobbie and Barnes for your questions. Ian was impressed with you all. I’m more than happy to take your suggestions for which pundit you would like to quiz next…the results of which should be seen on the Daily next week.
BERLIN MAIN STATION - I'm crossing the border today, travelling to Poland, from where I will watch their match against Germany in Dortmund tonight. We're heading for . I know it's the birthplace of Polish striker , and famous for its male choirs so hopefully the fans will be in full voice this evening.
Does anyone out there know much about Poznan? Let me know if you do. Also I was at the Brazil game last night - can anybody in Brazil tell us what your media made of it??
DREIEICH-OFFENTHAL - OK, so the part has arrived.
There was real tension in Svan this morning when I called the garage to find out whether it had turned up.
BERLIN - It seems like we’ve been broadcasting on a 91Èȱ¬ Football channel. Well, OK, it was actually 91Èȱ¬ One but three live games plus a highlights show on Tuesday make eight hours in total. Add in the interactive World Cup Extra, and it’s probably some kind of record.
The vagaries of the 91Èȱ¬/ITV split give ITV three live games on Thursday, while we showed all three on Tuesday.
Incidentally, that’s one more than we had in the whole of the 1998-9 season...
DREIEICH-OFFENTHAL - On Wednesday morning we find out when Svan will be fixed.
Basically, we are praying that a part has arrived from Italy to the garage near our campsite.
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