On 17 June, I had the great fortune of attending a 2006 World Cup match in Frankfurt with a couple of colleagues. We had excellent seats and the atmosphere in the sold-out stadium was absolutely electrifying.

Portugal beat Iran 2:0. Our seats turned out to be among a throng of wildly enthusiastic Iran fans, who were tremendous fun. I happened to sit directly in front of Ebi, an Iranian pop star. We shared a couple of beers and had a great time.