Yves Herman / REUTERS

ALL SMILES >>>> Argentina's Hernan Crespo celebrates his goal against Côte d'Ivoire

The World Cup | Tournament Launch Deutschland 2006: Off To A Good Start Lederhosen, supermodels, smiles in the taxis and a touch of soca — the first few days of the Cup had it all By MICHAEL ELLIOTT subscribe to TIME Printable Version email this story Photo Essay: The tournament launched with glamor and spectacle

Posted Sunday, June 11, 2006; 13.49BST
If it goes on like this, we're in for a treat of a month. The World Cup got under way last week with an opening ceremony in Munich that was — miraculously, as opening ceremonies go — more good fun than toe-curlingly embarrassing, with Claudia Schiffer and Pelé to the fore, together with oompah bands doing such things as you never thought you'd see guys in lederhosen attempt. When the ceremonies were over, Germany defeated Costa Rica 4-2 in the sort of open, goals-aplenty game that fans love, then Ecuador managed the first upset of the tournament with a well-earned victory over Poland. A day later, in one of those only-in-the-World Cup moments, tiny Trinidad and Tobago held Sweden 0-0, playing almost all the second half with a man short. Granted, England's victory over Paraguay was horribly, well, English, in its absence of any flair or imagination, but then who expected anything else?

Arnd Wiegmann / REUTERS ALL SMILES >>>> a fan approves

Germany, though, was at its best. We don't mean the team — though it didn't look half bad, even playing without its injured star, Michael Ballack — so much as the country. That Land of Smiles thing — what do you know, there's something to it. Security officials at Berlin's Tegel Airport, known for their crabbiness, were positively friendly; one was even singing when a Time reporter passed through. Cab drivers are not only trying out their English but — this you won't believe — complimenting clients on their German. "We are looking forward to guests from every corner of the earth," said Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a video podcast, "and we want to celebrate a great festival with them, peacefully and joyfully."

German officials know very well that there's a long way to go. A nation that has never forgotten the terrorism at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich is mounting its biggest security operation since World War II. In addition to the police, 7,000 military personnel are on standby, along with tens of thousands working for private security firms. Germany has set aside the provisions of the Schengen Agreement, which allows travel without a passport within most of the European Union. Security at the stadiums is tight, with fans having to present identification before being searched by hand. But at least in the week before the Cup started, the security checks that are a sad necessity of such an event these days were being carried out in good humor and a fashion that was as low-key as officials could manage.

Even the heavens obliged. After a long, cold spring, summer has finally arrived, the sidewalk cafés are doing a lively business and Germans are stripping down. The nation expects 4 million tourists during the Cup, and, in Berlin alone, health officials plan to distribute 100,000 condoms. If the mood of the first weekend holds, that won't be enough.

With reporting by Andrew Purvis/Berlin

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