Croatia’s opening group match on Tuesday evening in front of a huge capacity crowd at the Olympiastadion in Berlin represents a high-water mark in the nation’s short international football history.
June 15, 2006 (Press Release) --
Croatia’s opening group match on Tuesday evening in front of a huge capacity crowd at the Olympiastadion in Berlin represents a high-water mark in the nation’s short international football history. Coach Zlatko Kranjcar and his team, who comfortably beat Sweden to first qualifying spot in European Group 8, have honed their preparations for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ in readiness for this special moment. Part of the meticulous build-up included planning their trip with Deutsche Bahn (German Railways). The Croats let the train take the strain on Monday for the 460-kilometre trip between Fulda and Berlin.
The Croats are by no means alone: more and more teams are getting their show on the rails. Costa Rica took the train to Munich from Mannheim for the Opening Match, while Mexico chose German Railways to convey their party from Gottingen to Nuremberg and back, a welcome 3-1 victory over Iran separating the two eco-friendly trips.
“No stress, comfortable, relaxing and quick,” the teams unanimously agreed after using a mode of transport rarely featuring on national teams’ itineraries. Germany pioneered the new trend at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2005, when Jurgen Klinsmann and his men took the Inter-City Express (ICE) from Frankfurt to Cologne. “We were bang on time, fast and comfortable. We’d be only to glad to do it again, and play an active role in promoting Green Goal,” Team Manager Oliver Bierhoff declared.
The participating teams’ increasing use of the railway represents another significant success for the 2006 FIFA World Cup environmental initiative. Green Goal’s target for transport envisaged half the crowd at every match using buses and trains for the trip to and from the stadium. In a FIFA World Cup first, organisers have adopted the standard Bundesliga practice of combining the match ticket with a 24-hour local transport travel card, an initiative backed by the OC to the tune of several million Euros. Additionally, 6,000 journalists were handed a so-called Mobility Card with their accreditation documents, providing free rail travel the length and breadth of the country.
The plan has gone down exceptionally well with the travelling fans: almost 40,000 of the crowd at the Opening Match in Munich arrived at the ground by public transport.
Deutsche Bahn provides an entire first-class carriage for team rail travel, with the service personnel headed by a VIP chef who would normally only accompany state dignitaries. It goes without saying that ICE trains bearing FIFA World Cup hopefuls receive signalling and routing priority.
“We're expecting more and more teams to opt for the railways after the group phase,” a highly satisfied OC Transport section head Andreas Maatz declared.
Source: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/
The Croats are by no means alone: more and more teams are getting their show on the rails. Costa Rica took the train to Munich from Mannheim for the Opening Match, while Mexico chose German Railways to convey their party from Gottingen to Nuremberg and back, a welcome 3-1 victory over Iran separating the two eco-friendly trips.
“No stress, comfortable, relaxing and quick,” the teams unanimously agreed after using a mode of transport rarely featuring on national teams’ itineraries. Germany pioneered the new trend at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2005, when Jurgen Klinsmann and his men took the Inter-City Express (ICE) from Frankfurt to Cologne. “We were bang on time, fast and comfortable. We’d be only to glad to do it again, and play an active role in promoting Green Goal,” Team Manager Oliver Bierhoff declared.
The participating teams’ increasing use of the railway represents another significant success for the 2006 FIFA World Cup environmental initiative. Green Goal’s target for transport envisaged half the crowd at every match using buses and trains for the trip to and from the stadium. In a FIFA World Cup first, organisers have adopted the standard Bundesliga practice of combining the match ticket with a 24-hour local transport travel card, an initiative backed by the OC to the tune of several million Euros. Additionally, 6,000 journalists were handed a so-called Mobility Card with their accreditation documents, providing free rail travel the length and breadth of the country.
The plan has gone down exceptionally well with the travelling fans: almost 40,000 of the crowd at the Opening Match in Munich arrived at the ground by public transport.
Deutsche Bahn provides an entire first-class carriage for team rail travel, with the service personnel headed by a VIP chef who would normally only accompany state dignitaries. It goes without saying that ICE trains bearing FIFA World Cup hopefuls receive signalling and routing priority.
“We're expecting more and more teams to opt for the railways after the group phase,” a highly satisfied OC Transport section head Andreas Maatz declared.
Source: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/
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