Chattanooga Football Club team captain Russell Courtney says he always roots for the underdog, so he couldn’t help but feel a certain satisfaction watching Spain “dominate” Germany in the World Cup semifinals Wednesday.
And he did so in a room full of die-hard Germany fans.
The win sends Spain to its first-ever World Cup final match on Sunday in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the team will face the Netherlands.
“Germany has won before. They’ve been there, done that,” said Mr. Courtney, a 28-year-old defender for the local soccer team, after watching the game at Big River Grille. “I loved screaming for the Spanish team when the Germans were all behind me. They were not happy.”
But some German fans admitted that the best team of the day won.
“Spain played better,” said Hendrik Fiedler, who moved from Germany this week to work in logistics for Volkswagen Group of America in Chattanooga. “That’s life. (Both teams) played at a high level.”
The game’s only goal — a header from Carles Puyol in the 73nd minute — elicited groans and sighs from the couple of dozen German natives who helped fill Big River Grille.
The local German population got a little boost in recent years after Volkswagen chose Chattanooga’s Enterprise South industrial park as the location for its only U.S. automotive plant.
Between 150 and 200 Germans moved to Chattanooga to work at the Volkswagen plant, said Guenther Scherelis, local communications manager for VW.
About 14 teenagers from Wolfsburg, Germany, were also at Big River on Wednesday, watching the game and playing pool with local kids. They were part of an exchange program through the Boy Scouts of America and Volkswagen Group, which is title sponsor for Chattanooga’s amateur soccer team, Chattanooga Football Club.
Many German fans were hoping their team would redeem itself after a 1-0 loss to Spain two years ago in the Euro 2008 final match.
Wednesday’s match was “not the revenge today, unfortunately,” said Gordon Stoj, a German native who moved to Chattanooga in January to work for Volkswagen.
The large turnout and the vocal fans at Big River made for a tense and exciting match, said Matt Strumpk, medical sales representative.
“This, by far, was the best game I’ve seen here (at Big River), as far as grunts and groans go,” he said.
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