The World Cup may not raise the dead but it can pat itself on the back for waking up the comatose. Though I'm getting embarrassingly fond of the tranquilised lifestyle in the perfectly manicured spa town of Baden-Baden, it was engrossing to watch the motorcade that was still going on a couple of hours after Germany's win over Sweden yesterday afternoon.
I didn't expect such a spectacle in these parts, but the locals had got the hang of a surely unfamiliar ritual. People were levering themselves through the sunroofs, girls were perched on the open car windows and any hand not clutching a beer was pumping a horn. They didn't act like this when Germany beat Costa Rica, Poland or Ecuador.
There is a moment when the World Cup starts to obsess the host nation. Eight years ago in Avignon I witnessed the French become fanatical at the quarter-final stage. The Germans, with a deeper football tradition, have not waited so long. As the emotional momentum builds, a country begins to believe it will overcome the opposition and its own defects.
Jürgen Klinsmann's team has not convinced me entirely, since the back four looks as if it will falter when it comes up against proper attacking and even in yesterday's game they conceded the penalty to 10-man Sweden that Henrik Larsson skied. Even so, that is less relevant than the joyous mood swing of a country in angry despair not so long ago after a thumping by Italy in a friendly.
The best my German friends could tell me before this World Cup was that they had some young players who would form a good line-up in the future. Now they feel they won't need that patience after all. The forward pairing is good, while the midfield plays brightly and will do even better if Michael Ballack hits peak form.
Klinsmann's insistence on attacking football might have been prudent rather than altruistic. It is giving Germany their best possible chance by leaving the defence with as little to do as is feasible. A classier team should put them out - although their next opponents Argentina had to wait until extra time to defeat Mexico and might have had Gabriel Heinze sent off for an uncontrolled tackle. Let's not pretend there is a country here that is flawless.
The visiting contenders have a real challenge on their hands, because each game for Klinsmann's side is not just a home fixture in the technical sense any more. The atmosphere will be one of raucous faith and that is bound to be tough to overcome for the opposition.
Cultural commentators will soon be inflicting even more think pieces on you about the rebirth of an unapologetic nationalism in Germany, so I'll just stick to the sporting facts. I don't blame the Germans if they fancy their chances in this World Cup.
