Wake Forest, Winston-Salem embrace the German national soccer team

There was one final piece of the German Team puzzle that needed to be put in place at Spry Stadium and it was up to father-son super fans to take care of it.

About an hour before Germany's World Cup team went through a practice and the fans piled into the 3,000-seat stadium, Thomas and Mattias Siegel planted the German flag. Well, they didn't actually plant the flag they had brought with them, but they attached it to the railing at midfield.

Now, the party could start.

"This is amazing for us to be here," said Thomas, who four years ago moved from Germany to Washington, D.C. "We drove down yesterday to this amazing community, and this is special."

What Thomas was excited about was gettingto share the experience with his 14-year-old son, Mattias.

"This is pretty cool," Mattias said. "We've never seen this team like this, live and in person."

The Siegel family planned on trying to get autographs afterward, but said just seeing the team is enough.

As an expert on the team, Thomas was more than happy to give a scouting report. Among the experts predicting who might win, the German team is considered about the sixth best team in the 48-country field.

"They are a young team and they have a fighting spirit," Thomas said. "We may not have the big, popular players like Messi, but this is a team that never gives up and that's why I appreciate this team."

Spry was beyond full

The line to get into Spry Stadium started around 1 p.m. or so and it stretched around the block from the main entrance. Gates finally opened about 4:45 p.m. and fans were treated to plenty of free stuff once they got inside.

There were nice German t-shirts with the number 26 on the back, sweat bands with German colors, a cinch sack and even blow-up beach balls were given away.

Among those standing in line was Ian Bluetrich of Winston-Salem, who was baby-sitting 9-year-old Turner Collins and his 7-year-old brother, Parker.

"This is so cool to have this right here in Winston-Salem," said Bluetrich, who grew up playing youth soccer and played four years at Reagan. "I don't think these kids realize an opportunity like this to see a World Cup team like Germany this close up."

Bluetrich, who is a rising junior at NC State, didn't mind the wait in line.

"We are in the shade, so it's not that bad," he said.

As for the Collins brothers, they were asked who they will be cheering for once the World Cup starts.

"It's Germany all the way," Turner said.

Bobby Muuss talks soccer

The German team media liaisons were not allowing any of the local media interview players or coaches, but Bobby Muuss and Tony da Luz, the men's and women's soccer coaches at Wake Forest, talked about what a privilege it was to have Germany right here.

"This is so big for Wake Forest, for Winston-Salem and the men's and women's teams here," Muuss said, adding that fans will get a glimpse of some of the best soccer players in the world.

"There are 150 journalists from Germany right now here in Winston-Salem and they'll talk about Wake Forest and Spry Stadium and what a great advertisement," Muuss said.

Muuss and da Luz talked to the crowd before the training session began.

As for how good the German team might be in this World Cup, Muuss wasn't about to give a prediction.

"We have the four-time (World Cup) winner here in Winston-Salem, so I think their chances of advancing are pretty good," Muuss said. "But we just want to be the best hosts that we can be as a community and hopefully, they'll be here until mid-July."

Road trip from Tampa

Dennis Santana grew up in Cuba, and as a youth started to follow the German National Team and he's been hooked ever since.

Santana drove up from Tampa, Florida, on Monday and made it to the practice after he secured one of the free tickets online. He was one of the lucky 3,000 that got a ticket from the 7,000 who signed up.

"I wasn't going to miss this," Santana said. "Since I was 12 years old, I started following German soccer. I saw them on TV back then and I loved them ever since."

Monday night was the first time he will see the German team live, and didn't care that it was just a practice.

"It's too expensive to fly to the games and get tickets to the games, so this is the next best thing," he said. "I'm loving this."

Plenty of German media

According to Wake Forest, there are 150 media members between print and television who are here in Winston-Salem from German outlets. They will also travel to the games and will be staying throughout Winston-Salem.

One of those media members is Maximilian Swartz, a cameraman for a news agency in Germany.

He had a big camera and was on the Spry sideline waiting for players and coaches to hit the field. The last time Swartz was in the U.S. was 16 years ago.

"I arrived yesterday from Charlotte," Swartz said. "It's interesting to be here in America."

Swartz said with so many media members following the team's every move, it does create some issues.

"It can get crazy, but we are polite to each other because we are all colleagues," he said. "I think it will be interesting to see how the people here in Winston-Salem behave."

Swartz said the mood with fans about how the team might do is mixed.

"After two hard losses in the World Cup, we are hoping for something different," he said. "It's a young team and there's some new talent and looking forward to seeing them play."

As for his down time in Winston-Salem, Swartz has already found out about the vibrant arts district downtown. He's staying in a downtown hotel.

"I walked a little bit through the arts district already and I'm looking forward to exploring more of what the city has to offer," Swartz said.

Not everybody got in

Just before the players hit the field, there were still plenty of soccer fans outside of Spry Stadium who couldn't get a ticket.

Chase Wickham, who is from Canada but lives in Charlotte, is a huge World Cup soccer fan who played at Alabama-Birmingham. He didn't get lucky enough to get tickets but gambled on finding a ticket for himself and his 5-year-old twins, Ayla and Cade.

"I was hoping to see this and decided to come even though I didn't have tickets," Wickham said. "I was hoping to at least find one ticket and then the kids could come in with me but I was told I needed three tickets."

Wickham said the chance to see Germany even just in a practice was worth the drive.

"At least I tried," he said.

There were about 10 to 15 others who were trying to find tickets, but nobody had any extras.

"This is a big deal," Wickham said.

Campus Gas and merchandise

Jackson Moore looked a little winded after the six-hour blitz of business at the Campus Gas just down the street from Spry Stadium on Polo Road.

Moore works for a promotional group that sells merchandise through soccer.com and the German team merchandise went fast.

"Business was really good and we didn't have enough merchandise and ran out of t-shirts and everything else," Moore said. "We had some hats left over, but that's about it."

Moore said they did just over $20,000 in sales in a little over five hours.

"The lines were pretty long all day," Moore said. "I'm amazed at how the fans came out and bought just about everything we had."

How it all happened

Craig Zakrzewski, a senior associate athletics director at Wake Forest, was marveling at the turnout.

Once the process of the free tickets was announced, he said there were more than 7,000 who signed up to receive information. Once that part was over when the tickets were offered, it took about a half-hour for the 3,000 tickets to be claimed.

"It's super exciting to have the German National Team here and it's a big deal for Wake and for Winston-Salem," he said. "It was all hands-on deck to get the team here and the facilities and Graylyn (where the team is being housed) being so close all played into this happening."

Zakrzewski said England also showed some interest in Wake Forest, but ultimately it was Germany which decided this was the place to train for the grueling World Cup matches.

"It's about showing off our community and showing the folks from Germany who are here that we are embracing them," he said. "Once they saw our facilities and walked the grounds they were hooked. We hope they make a run for their fifth World Cup title."

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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 5:42 AM.