In honor of the opening quarterfinal today in Berlin, here's a pictoral tour of the city taken over the last few days from my city bus tour ("Stadtrundfahrt") Wednesday and the museum-hopping jaunt I took Thursday.

Here's the month-old "Haupbahnhof" (central train station) that I wrote about Thursday, when I compared it to something out of "Minority Report" or "I-Robot." I'll get some photos of the inside tomorrow when I leave for Frankfurt.

Here's the River Spree, which flows 400 kilometers from the Czech border through Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin, Germany. It flows right through Berlin, giving it a small series of canals, part of which creates an small island in the middle of the city upon which the federal government has build five museums.

Adjacent to "Museum Island" is the "Berliner Dom" (Berlin cathedral), which was rebuilt in the second half of the 20th century after being severely damaged during World War II. It has been rebuilt much smaller than its original form, and remains much less impressive than Germany's most famous cathedral in Cologne.

(click more for 13 more photos)

... is the song filling the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, less than an hour before Germany and Argentina meet in the marquee matchup of the four quarterfinals over the next 36 hours in Berlin, Hamburg, Gelsenkirchen and Frankfurt.

The German starting lineup is unchanged: Lehmann, Friedrich, Schwinsteiger, Frings, Klose, Ballack, Lahm, Mertesacker, Schneider, Podolski, Metzelder.

The biggest change in the Argentina starting 11 is a surprise. Javier Saviola, who has recharged his career with a fine performance this month, makes way for Carlos Tevez. The lineup in full is: Abbondanzieri, Ayala, Sorin, Coloccini, Heinze, Mascherano, Crespo, Riquelme, Tevez, Maxi and Luis Gonzalez.

When I've had the time I've had some good meals in Germany, but when you're on the run from city to city as I've been in the last couple of day -- from Leipzig for Mexico-Argentina to Nuremberg for Netherlands-Portugal to Kaiserslautern for Italy-Australia -- you tend to eat what ever is in front of you when you're hungry. Which means, in Germany, you're consuming bratwurst, doner kabab (lamb in a middle eastern style), or single-serving pizza. There are Burger Kings and McDonalds (whose menu produces plenty of Pulp Fiction references), but those three options have seemingly pushed other options off the menu.

Pimpong's flop right before halftime really has the US in a bind. Italy might be beating the Czechs, up a goal and a player, but now the US needs to score twice in the final 45 minutes to go through to play Brazil.

So here was what my journey to the stadium looked like this afternoon, in pictures taken by my outdated digital camera.

First, I arrived at Nuremberg from the Mexico-Portugal match in Gelsenkirchen at 2 a.m. after a seven hour journey that included media shuttle and three trains. It was the first silent train station I'd seen in the nearly three weeks I've been here.

I left my hotel and found this German enjoying lunch on this beautiful balcony on my way to the tram.

Took these photos on the tram to the stadium. I enjoyed my ride with a group of four fans, Garrett, Megan, Lisa and Ellen. Megan, who is on the right in the top photo, is from Los Angeles.

The walk to the stadium included a trot around a picturesque lake on the grounds of the former Nazi rallies, which took place annually in Nuremberg. The enormous Kongresshall, where the party held its meetings, can be seen across the lake

American fans were enjoying the sights between the Kongresshall and the Rally Grounds, which are adjacent to the stadium.

Then I ran into these two buggers, who actually turned out to be Austrian. Guess who they hope wins today.

Alright, so you have a little taste of the atmophere. I'm going to try to find the Ghanians banging the drums by the VIP tent on my way to the stadium. Maybe I'll take a little video and post it after the game.

Leave some comments and I'll try to post via blackberry at halftime.

...and it's a doozy. What does Eddie Johnson have to do to get on the field. And hasn't Bobby Convey been the USA's best attacking player through two games? Why is he on the bench?

USA — (4-5-1)
McBride
Lewis Donovan Beasley
Reyna, Dempsey,
Bocanegra, Onyewu, Conrad, Cherundolo,
Keller

Ghana — Kingson, Mensah, Shilla, Essien, Boateng, Appiah, Mohamed, Amoah, Pantsil, Pimpong, Draman.

Please excuse the World War II reference, especially here in a stadium that is adjacent to the "Rally Grounds" where Adolf Hitler held the annual "Reichsparteitag" Nazi rallies from 1923 to 1938. The enormous yet incomplete Kongreßhalle, which was to house the party's congress.

American fans are out in force, walking around a picturesque little lake around which the relics of the past fan out over an area of almost two square miles.

Photos to come.

Argentina or Spain? Which team has usurped pedestrian Brazil as the World Cup favorite?

Which has scored the best goal thus far?

Here's Argentina's classic 24-pass move that led to the second goal in the 6-0 thrashing of Serbia and Montenegro.

Here is Spain's fourth in the 4-0 trashing of the Ukraine, which featured Fernando Torres' volley after Carlos Puyol danced through midfield.

So which is it? Vote by using the "comment" feature.

When De Rossi's elbow met McBride's pride.

Keller, Bocanegra, Pope, Onyewu, Cherundolo, Mastroeni, Dempsey, Reyna, Convey, Donovan, McBride

Moments after "Born in the USA" rang out over the tannoy to a big cheer, the USA came out. The lineup looks 4-5-1 again, with not a sign of Eddie Johnson or John O"Brien. Carlos Bocanegra and Clint Dempsey are the big additions entrusted with turning the momentum around, in the place of Eddie Lewis and DaMarcus Beasley.

...I was wrong. Group C looked like the Group of Death, yet Argentina and Holland have proved to be too strong. Ghana's win over the Czechs not only shows how poor the Americans were on Monday, it shows that Group E is the Group of Death. You can't have a GOD in which two teams hog the 18 points. Real GODs however, go 3-3-3-3 after two rounds... which is what Group E will look like in two hours if the United States can find a miracle here in Fritz-Walter-Stadion on the Miracle of Bern hero's 81st birthday. Who will be the American Fritz?

We're here in Kaiserslautern, waiting for the US-Italy kickoff. Many members of the American media are watching the match together, trying to figure out which result would be best for the U.S. chances — a Ghana win or a draw. I figured the less points the better for the Czechs, so I decided on a Ghana win. But one of the guys changed by mind. The draw is the best result, because then, perhaps, Ghana won't be playing for anything.

Although we saw how much help that was against Poland four years ago.

Obviously, nothing matters unless the US somehow finds a way to get six points out of the next two games.

... but everyone's favorite, Ivory Coast, couldn't manage to stay alive in the Group of Death. Come next week, they probably be the best team not to make the second round. As Bruce Arena knows, it's the (un)luck of the draw sometimes.

Ok, so I've finished reading just about everything there is to read about the US loss to the Czechs in Gelsenkirchen. Here's the best piece of writing about that match.

Nation grinds to a halt

Lionel Messi comes on with 15 minutes to go and makes one goal and scores another in his first glimpse of World Cup play. At 18 (he turns 19 next week), Messi is now Argentina's youngest goalscorer in World Cup competition, breaking the mark set by Francisco Varallo in 1930 (he was 20 years and 164 days).

No wonder Diego Maradona was going crazy in the stands.

In case you don't know him. Here's a little bit of Messi in action.

... Messi is on the field no more than four minutes and he's already got his first assist, beating the Serbian defender to the byline and sending a low center for Hernan Crespo to redirect home for Argentina's fourth goal.

And, a few minutes later, Tevez beats two Serbian defenders — one he nutmegged — to score the fifth.

Serbia and Montenegro now has allowed FIVE TIMES the amount of goals today as it did in 10 qualifying matches.

Up 3-0 in the second half against a demoralized Serbian and Montenegro team, Argentina coach Jose Pekereman has just put Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi in the game. We've got Messi's first 15 minutes of World Cup play to enjoy here... let's see if anything happens.

I'm here in the media center in Hannover working on some US stuff, readying myself for the Mexico match and checking out the Argentina-Serbia match.

First of all, the Mexicans are at it again. They are everywhere. Surely the best supported team in this tournament through the first week.

Secondly, Argentina look like magic. And with Tevez and Messi on the bench, as well. If they keep combining like this, they'll be favorites in no time. It'll be interesting to gauge Brazil's performance against Australia on Sunday. What a game that'll be. Right now, it looks like the favorites are Brazil, Spain and Argentina.

Tickets have been really hard to come by during the first week of the tournament. You can tell that futile applications to FIFA and long fruitless hours spent on the Internet have deflated the locals into believing they just can't get into a game. Whereas tickets were always available in Portugal and organizers were literally handing extra tickets out to children at the stadium in Korea, I've been surprised to have seen virtually no tickets for sale at the four matches I've already attended.

Day 12
Woke up in: Cologne
Worked in: Hamburg
Went to bed in: Hamburg
Traveling can either bring out the similiarities or differences in our culture with others.
A lot of that depends on your perspective, I guess.
A Californian I recently interviewed couldn't find a similarity between home and Germany, while I've been struck with how much the German countryside I see speeding past my train windows reminds me of New England, where I grew up.

Day 11
Woke up in: Cologne
Worked in: Gelsenkirchen
Went to bed in: Cologne
He had red hair, his freckles had freckles, his skin was sunburned pinkish and John Adams - the United States' soccer fan, "not the president" - had blood on his white U.S. jersey.
He looked like they, loyal travelers abroad from Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Long Beach, all felt as they limped back to hotels in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Essen.

That's why they're the Czechs, huh? Not a dominating performance, in fact, you can tell they're really beat up in this heat against an athletic team like the us. But that first half was typical class and style.

By the way, I'm now huge in Colombia after doing an on-air halftime radio interview in English with Radio Carocol, a national Colombian radio company.

Apparently it went out not just all over Colombia, but in Spain, Miami and Tampa.

Mucho gusto, Colombians all over the world.

Alright, who out there is excited? First, I vitually fly here from Cologne in the back of a VW on the autobahn. Second, the fantastic Timmy Cahill gives us one of the highlights of the tournament so far. Now we're just moments from kickoff here in AusArena.

One of my German friends remarked the other day in Munich, "We've waited so long for this, and now it's here."

Now I understand the feeling.

The USA starting lineup is exactly what we expected (4-5-1) — Keller, Lewis, Onyewu, Pope, Cherundolo, Convey, Reyna, Mastroeni, Beasley, Donovan, McBride.

The Czechs are without Milan Baros go — Cech, Grygera, Rozenhal, Ujlfalusi, Galasek, Jankulovski, Poborsky, Rosicky, Nedved, Koller, Plasil.

The team sheet is out here in Gelsenkirchen and Czech striker Milan Baros is not in the starting 11. Jaroslav Plasil of Monaco is in his place.

... of the ball.

If so, good stuff adidas!

First Phillip Lahm.

Finally Torsten Frings... better known as the guy whose hand kept the US out of the 2002 semis.

... excellent, we're getting some banter on the blog. We're making headway. I appriciate everyone here contributing. Don't shy away from the comments, I won't censor anybody.

I'm here in the media center at the Frankenstadion in Nuremberg for the key Mexico-Iran showdown in Group D. I really think this is going to decide who'll join Portugal in the later rounds.

Interesting to see how Sanchez will play, having just arrived back in Europe after attending his father's funeral. Must be impossible for him to stomach. His father was all set to watch his son step on the field in the World Cup, after having sat on the bench for two.

Anderson et al who are backing Avery John to stay on the field last night in the comments section of the site saw a different tackle than I did. What I saw was a player who lost control and flat out smashed the Swede, even if he got the ball. Even if you get the ball, you can't come through it at high speed and crack the opposing player.

At the best, it was reckless. At worst, it was violent. Certainly it deserved a yellow. Chelsea's Asier Del Horno earned a straight red with a similar situation in the Champions League this season.

Now boys, how is this not a yellow card? He gets the ball almost as soon as he leaves the ground, then follows through basically through Swedish fibulas...

Day 9
Woke up in: Munich
Worked in: Hamburg
Fell asleep: On a train bound for Nuremberg
Postcard: Adrian Romo considers himself a reasonable person, so he understands that while Mexico may be the seeded team in Group D, it might not be the favorite.
"It's a pretty tough group," said the Leon, Mexico native. "We don't know much about Iran and Angola, although I like to play against Portugual because they're a similar team, physically, to Mexico."
That means small, although Mexico -- like Portugal -- are technically superior than most teams they face.
Which is why it's unusual that it, in Ricardo La Volpe, has a coach that tells the Mexican people that how much skill they lack.

Here at the Frankenstadion in Nuremberg, Iran have equalized and Mexico coach Ricardo La Volpe has responded by using all three of his substitutions. He took off both of his first choice forwards in Borgetti and Franco, opting to solidify the midfield. Interesting. Neither team can afford to lose this.

... or at least T&T.

The team some figured were the 32nd team in the tournament, Trinidad and Tobago, guaranteed they won't be finishing last by keeping Zlatan and Henrik and Freddie scoreless in a riveting 0-0 draw, despite being down to 10 men for the vast majority of the second half.

It is results like these that both make the group stages so much fun... and show people that a nil-nil result can be both fun and valuable.

Watching the first half in the stands yesterday in Munich, I really felt that the referee, Horacio Elizondo of Argentina, was a significant part of the action. His style of refereeing, best described as loose lips -- allowing moderate fouls to go -- enabled the Germans to be more physical and ultimately take control of the game.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw that the refereeing thus far has allowed some physical play:

Good morning, and welcome to the 2006 World Cup.

After a week of always overcast and sometimes chilly weather, it's a gorgeous day all over Germany, where sunshine has temperatures from 20 to 28 across the country. (What's that in farenhite? From about 70 to 85? I'll check.)

The fans are entering the stadium and I'm busy at work in the media center, where more than two thousand journalists are hard at work as the 2002 World Cup final plays on the center's various screens as a backdrop.

Day 7
Woke up in: Hamburg
Went to bed in: Munich
Postcard: Shawn Bennani doesn't have tickets, but he didn't seem to care.
He came to Munich from Manhattan for the atmosphere, which was in once-in-a-lifetime form at the world famous Hofbrauhaus, near the Marienplatz in the city center.
Backed by the house Blaskapelle band, the assorted fan groups got throaty on the eve of the tournament -- a night where hope spang eternal:
"Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole... Ticos... Ticos"
"Mex-i-co, ra ra ra."
"Aus-sie, Aus-sie, Aus-sie... Oye Oye Oye."
"Ooooooh... pu-san Ko-re-a!"

Day 6
Awoke in: Hamburg
Went to bed in: Hamburg
Postcard: To the Germans, a goal is actually a "Tor."
Which means that, if the famous Mexican play-by-play artisan Andres Cantor were German, we'd all know him for his famous "Tooooooooor" call.
"Tor" is also the name of a solid book on the history of German football by Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger, who is covering the tournament for Soccernet.com.
While I was waiting to, at long last, complete the setup of my German blackberry, I perused the "sport" section of the bookstore across the Monckebergstrasse.

We're getting close to the host country's debut Friday night in Munich, so I figured I'd check out what the German press were talking about with just 48 hours to go.

The main sports headline in the tabloid Bild concered injured captain Michael Ballack, who is expected to be able to play Friday despite missing friendly's with a leg problem.

Day 5
Woke up in: Frankfurt
Went to bed in: Hamburg
Postcard: It has been five days now and I’ve yet to see a piece of U.S. Soccer memorabilia.
Let that sink in for a second.
Nearly a work week’s time all over the largest country in Europe, where the world’s biggest commercial superpower hopes to compete for sport’s largest prize and… nothing?

Day 4
Woke up in: Hamburg
Went to bed: On a Deutsche Bahn train bound for Baden Baden
Postcard: I reserve the right to change my mind, after the mass of humanity in the process of descending upon this place in waves finally arrives en masse, but the German train system must — so far — be considered a work of art.

Day 3
Awoke in: Hamburg
Went to bed in: Hamburg
Postcard: There is so much soccer on these trips that your memories are bound to be founded in the stadiums and bars where you watch the tournament unfold, as you associate any big moment with the location that you first absorbed the signature events.
But those aren’t the only two places life unfolds, of course, and, for some reason, my favorite memories always seem to come from spontaneous events. Which is ironic after all the planning that goes into leaving the country for more than a month.
I had just left the U.S. national team’s news conference Saturday afternoon and, having consumed some bratwurst with some of the other American reporters, was on my way back to my hotel to rest.
All day, the masses at the central train station had been peppered with Germans dressed in colorful ‘60s garb, coming off trains from all reaches of the country. Most had sunflowers pinned to their clothing or in their hair. So something was certainly amiss and I was too curious to ignore it.

Day 2
Awoke in: Hamburg
Went to bed in: Hamburg
Postcard: The first sausage I consumed in Germany was of the typical breakfast variety, coming from the buffet at my hotel.

Berhalter finds happiest place
HAMBURG, Germany — Four years ago, the outstretched arm of a German defender denied Gregg Berhalter the biggest goal for American soccer since Joe Gaetjens made the mighty English the victim of perhaps the World Cup’s greatest upset in 1950.
When Berhalter was left off Bruce Arena’s initial 23-man squad last month, it looked like Torsten Frings’ illegal handball in the quarterfinal in Korea was the final World Cup memory Sam’s Army would have of the veteran defender.
Until Cory Gibbs’ knee injury showed the vacationing Berhalter that there is a destination better than Disney World — the World Cup.
“I was with my family at Disney World,” said Berhalter. “They were trying to reach me and, with the noise level, they couldn’t get through. Finally, it was quiet and I… got a message to call (coach) Bruce (Arena) as quick as possible. There’s been a situation.”
And a family trip was ruined?
“No, it made it better,” said Berhalter. “Back to work. They were sad to see me go, but at the same time, they were really happy that I made the team.”
He said he didn’t harbor any bitterness after being initially left out.
“If anything,” said Berhalter, “it was my fault for leaving him any choice.”
Berhalter recently left German club Energie Cottbus, where he was the captain, for 1860 Munich.
“It’s tough to leave, but I’m excited,” he said. “I have a new experience in front of me and I’m excited for it. I think it’s a big club and it’s going to be good.”

From where I sit, this looks like it’s going to be a peace-keeping mission.
As I look out my portside window on SwissAir flight 53 from Boston to Hamburg via Zurich, that white cross on a red background stares back at me from the upturned tip of the Airbus 330’s right wing.