BERLIN, June 9 (UPI) -- Starting Friday, official life in Germany will succumb to what the world -- except, of course, the United States -- deems the most important sporting event of all: the FIFA Soccer World Cup.
Expect German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and every other politician who got his hands on a ticket, to be at the matches involving Germany, donning a scarf in black, red and gold; expect traffic jams around the 12 World Cup venues; expect pandemonium in the streets everywhere Germany, Brazil or England plays.
The tournament kicks off Friday with host Germany facing underdog Costa Rica in Munich for the opening match. But the events won't be limited to the stadiums: Almost every German city has its own World Cup parties, often with a giant TV screen and beer and food stands at a public square; cinemas show soccer movies and even classic games; museums take out paintings and haul in soccer memorabilia, and the orb of Berlin's highest landmark, the TV tower, has been transformed into a giant silver-and-pink soccer ball.
Starting Friday, non-soccer issues will lose importance, blurred by a heated debate on referee blunders, offside goals and underdog wins: While it looked like the Iranian nuclear standoff on Wednesday took an unexpected turn for the better, the newspapers in Germany focused on the injured calf of Michael Ballack, Germany's sole world-class player and soon-to-be midfielder for prominent Chelsea FC, who may now miss Friday's match.
The month-long tournament, which features 32 teams from all five continents, is expected to mobilize more than 3 million soccer fans from all over the world in Germany.
There is hardly a side that doesn't aim to profit from the tournament: Experts hope for some 50,000 new jobs to be created during the World Cup; the German economy, once Europe's growth motor, with the help of the money-spending soccer maniacs aims to finally wander out of its valley of tears. And Berlin hopes for the tournament to ring in a new era of prosperity, much as in 1954, when Germany, in the 'Wunder von Bern' ('Miracle of Bern') beat huge favorites Hungary 3-2, unleashing a wave of self-confidence that helped trigger the German economic miracle just 9 years after World War II.
German politicians will use the event to show they're avid supporters of the cause. At each and every game, a member of the German Cabinet will be present. Merkel, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (who still is a member of his old soccer club TUS 08 Brakelsiek) will likely top the list for most stadium visits.
Also expect Labor Minister Franz Muentefering to hang around in the stands. Merkel's vice-chancellor is a die-hard fan and in the political scene known for his infamous soccer metaphors.
This is by no means a new phenomenon: When Germany won the World Cup in 1990 in Rome, then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl visited the German locker room, celebrating with the half-naked players, who drizzeled champaign over their sweaty bodies.
But what about some unfinished business in parliament? Three crucial reforms -- the federalism reform, the business tax reform and the health reform -- remain untackled, and they are unlikely to receive a real edit before the final game is played on July 9.
Until then, Germany will likely be governed by a somewhat unreal mixture of joy and angst.
A wave of optimism has gripped the country ever since Merkel took office late last year, and that optimism has only taken on further momentum with the World Cup approaching.
"Together with all our guests, we want to celebrate an exciting, fascinating and fun soccer party," Merkel said earlier this week.
While the German team should not stand a chance to be able to compete with huge favorites Brazil, the country hopes for a wave of euphoria to carry the team all the way to the final in Berlin.
But expect the German angst -- the infamous feeling of Teutonic anxiety -- also to cloud the tournament: Will everything be well-organized? Will the games be safe? Will the German team make the country proud?
And then there is the underlying fear of something going terribly wrong: The slogan German organizers have adopted for the World Cup is "A Time to Make Friends," but several incidents of racist violence, mainly in Berlin and in other parts of eastern Germany, have unsettled security officials.
Security concerns are immense for Germany's June 14 match against Poland in Berlin. Violent Polish hooligans may face off with German neo-Nazis, who for the game have printed t-shirts that say: "In 1939, we beat Poland in 28 days, in 2006, 90 minutes will do."
And even the Iranian nuclear conflict may enter the World Cup agenda: If Iran reaches the next round, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- besides being an anti-Semitic demagogue also known to be an ardent soccer fan -- will likely come to Germany to support his team.
The United States and Iran could face-off in the semifinals at the earliest. While the prospect of President Bush and Ahmadinejad in the same stadium would be quite interesting, both teams are likely to go home a bit earlier: London bookies bet 80-1 that the U.S. wins the Cup, still better than the Iranians, who stand at 250-1.
If Bruce Arena's boys are eliminated, U.S. soccer fans can turn to the German team: Its coach, Juergen Klinsmann, is married to an American woman and -- much to the dismay of the German press -- commutes from his home in southern California to do his coaching job in Germany.
