Football World Cup 2006 - Higgledy Pigg & Co

In 2006 I took a whirlwind trip around the major sporting events in Europe & Australia.  I went to the British Open Golf, the Football World Cup, Wimbledon, Henley Royal Regatta, Royal Ascot, almost le Tour de France and The Ashes test series.  I travelled to Germany for the Football World Cup with my dear friend & brofur Higgledy Pigg.  Tales of our tails are detailed below in excerpts from Higgledy's blog.


HogsBigBlog - 2006


I’m the luckiest hog in the world.  I’m back in Australia now, following the Australian golf tour and The Ashes cricket series with Wallas E Katt (photographer) & Henley Bear.  It's amazing to see how many animal inspired golfers there are...




The Australian Open Golf, Rose Bay, at the bottom of my hill
Sunday 19 November, 2006

The Australian Open was played at the bottom of Bellevue Hill, down the road from where I live.  I went with Henley Bear, he’s a life member at The Royal Sydney Golf Club.  I was going for Ben Bunny and Stuart Appleby, but it was won by a nice man called John Senden.
http://www.australianopengolf.com/


The British Open Golf, Hoylake on the Wirral, UK
Sunday 23 July, 2006

The British Open was played at Hoylake in England, just around the corner from where Andy grew up.  I went with Henley Bear, of course he’s a life member at Royal Liverpool Golf Club!  The Open was won by my hero Tiger Woods from America.  I also really like Ben Bunny and Mark Hensby from Australia and Retief Goosen from South Africa.  I’m a bit scared of Jeff Maggot.
http://www.opengolf.com/


The rest of my blog is about my trip to see the Australian Socceroos and England in the Football World Cup – Germany 2006.

FIFA World Cup Germany 2006: Final Ranking
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/060718/1/8sse.html

For anyone new to blog world, my latest adventures start at the top and you scroll down through the history of my travels.


Holiday in England, London, Woolley Firs & Liverpool
Monday 3 July, 2006

England & Australia’s World Cup teams have gone home, so we flew from Cologne/Bonn in Germany to London in England for the rest of our holiday.  Staying with Dave, we caught up with friends in Marlow; then went to see The Hesk at Woolley Firs and onto Wallasey and Liverpool to see Sam.


England lost to Portugal in a Penalty Shoot Out 1:3
Sunday 2 July, 2006

We watched this match from the Fanfest Platz in Berlin.  Wallas was the least of my worries, Andy did not like the referee.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4991618.stm

Today’s Hero: Owen Hargreaves – played hard, beaten by the ref.
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/182050_HARGREAVES_Owen.html


Germany beat Argentina in a Penalty Shoot Out 4:2
Saturday 1 July, 2006

This match was amazing.  The Socceroos have gone home, so we went to see Germany against Argentina in Berlin.  By ‘we’ I mean me and Wallas E. Katt… He had fun with the security guards, as we were sitting in the fifth row from the front behind the German subs bench.  Wallas thought it was great fun, he barracked hard for Argentina.
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/060630/1/8feo.html


Holiday in Germany, Offenburg to Magdeburg
Wednesday 28 June, 2006

We left our ‘home’ in France and drove down to Switzerland to farewell Tezza & Paula.  Then we had a little holiday throughout Germany visiting Offenburg, Heilbronn, Oehringen*, Heidelberg, Marburg and Magdeburg.  In Marburg we spent the day with Annette’s friend Mela.
* Oehringen was the World Cup home base of the Socceroos and lots of Aussies.


Australia lost to Italy 0:1
Monday 26 June, 2006

We went to Kaiserslautern to watch this one.  It was a sunny hot day, we played hard and Guus planned to win in extra time.  This was not to be, Italy stole the match with 15 seconds to go.  We were devastated, silence fell over the stadium.  After the match we chatted with Lucas Neill’s family and tried to cheer them up.
http://ninemsn.sportal.com.au/default.aspx?s=g2006display&id=84582

Today’s Hero: Lucas Neill – he played really well but he was robbed.
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/178312_NEILL_Lucas.html


England beat Ecuador 1:0
Sunday 25 June, 2006

We watched this on the telly during a storm in Reipertswiller.  The fuzzy TV cleared just in time for us to see Beckham score!  England are through.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4991536.stm

Today’s Hero: David Beckham
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/161454_BECKHAM_David.html


Strasbourg, Home of le Tour de France 2006
Saturday 24 June, 2006

I went to Strasbourg to see the start of le Tour de France, a really big bike ride where people fight over a bright yellow tshirt.  I now understand what it means to ‘peak to soon’… the race doesn’t start until 1 July. http://www.letour.fr/2006/TDF/LIVE/us/2000/index.html
Ah well, I toured Strasbourg and took some photos anyway…


Australia drew with Croatia 2:2
Thursday 22 June, 2006

We drove to Stuttgart to see this match, stopping in Karlsruhe along the way.  We needed to win or draw to get through, and Harry equalized to make us all happy.  Phew, phew, 2:2, we’re through!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4853428.stm

Today’s Hero: Harry Kewell
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/159069_KEWELL_Harry.html


Holiday in France, Reipertswiller & villages of Alsace Lorraine
Wednesday 21 June, 2006

I’m having a week’s holiday in Reipertswiller France, with Tezza, Paula, Dave, Andy & Annette.  We’re visiting nearby villages or towns and relaxing in the French countryside.


England drew with Sweden 2:2
Tuesday 20 June, 2006

Still at Nanna Tezza’s we all dressed up and watched this from Wallasey.  After the match Joe gave me his strip… should I abandon Liverpool for Chelsea? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4853282.stm

Today’s Hero: Joe Cole
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/179662_COLE_Joe.html


Australia lost to Brazil 0:2
Sunday 18 June, 2006

We watched this in Wallasey, England, where we spent the first few days of our holiday with Tezza and Paula. Despite the score, the Socceroos played really well against the world class Brazilians.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4853210.stm

Today’s Hero: Craig Moore
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/154061_MOORE_Craig.html


Matches before I left home:


England beat Trinidad 2:0
Thursday 15 June, 2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4853008.stm

Today’s Hero: Stevie Gerrard
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/214961_GERRARD_Steven.html


Australia beat Japan 3:1
Monday 12 June, 2006

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=106143

Today’s Hero: Tim Cahill
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/213001_CAHILL_Tim.html


England beat Paraguay 1:0
Saturday 10 June, 2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4852606.stm

Today’s Hero: Carlos Gamarra – for his ‘own goal’ for England
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/94915_GAMARRA_Carlos.html

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World Cup Willie - My Inspiration

It all began back in 1966 when 'World Cup Willie' was born to lead the England team in the 1966 Football World Cup... Then decades later I was born in Wallasey, UK.  Of course I'm football mad; and after moving to Australia, I now love every sport... particularly if I can combine it with some overseas travel.

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