BERLIN, June 8: After months of intense preparation, a fair amount of national soul-searching and near-fanatical scrutiny of the home team, the 18th soccer World Cup kicks off on Friday — not a day too soon for hosts Germany.

The country is buzzing on the eve of a month-long soccer extravaganza that includes 32 teams and 64 matches in 12 stadiums from Hamburg to Munich

Some 250,000 fans from Poland to Paraguay converged on the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to launch a tournament-long street party — just a taste of the festivities that cities across Germany have lined up.

The orb on the German capital’s TV tower has been transformed into a massive pink-and-silver soccer ball. There is no mistaking it — the World Cup is around the corner and the excitement in Germany is palpable. Colouring the mounting sense of anticipation, however, is a peculiarly German sort of anxiety.

The World Cup slogan is ‘A Time to Make Friends’ but just how friendly the tournament will prove is a subject of intense debate. Officials have launched a campaign to encourage locals to be nice to the estimated 1.5 million foreign fans.—Reuters