I was very much looking forward to my visit to Leverkusen, the Bay Arena in particular. And it didn't disappoint. It is an absolutely fantastic stadium - nothing in New Zealand even begins to compare. After gracing The Shrine of Football for a decade, it's little wonder that Anfield legend Sami Hyypia opted to play out the last two years of his career in this magnificent football arena. There was only one thing about it which disappointed, and that had nothing to do with the venue. Mother Nature deemed that this match would take place in sauna-like conditions - a sizzling 36 degrees Celsius at kick-off, a temperature I know only too well after coming close to fainting pitch-side in such heat during the OFC U-20 Women's World Cup qualifiers in Apia in 2006. It's not the hottest temperature I've experienced while reporting on a football match. That was in Brisbane two years prior, during the 2004 Australia Cup … yes, the one where North Korea … you know the rest! These conditions were tailor-made for the Columbians on the occasion of their FIFA Women's World Cup Finals debut, of course, but not surprisingly, it was the more experienced Swedes who prevailed, although they didn't half make a meal of doing so! The chances they squandered …! Jessica Landstrom put away the only goal of the game just shy of the hour mark, but could so easily have had a hat-trick. In a group where goal difference could yet prove a factor, the Swedes may yet regret their profligacy in this match. Especially with the USA scoring a decisive 2-0 win over North Korea later in the evening, courtesy second half goals from Lauren Cheney and Rachel Buehler. Megan Rapinoe had a goal disallowed at the death in a match which saw Abby Wambach and Cheney both hit the crossbar for the two-time winners. Ri Ye Gyong replied in kind with a crossbar-rattler for the North Koreans, but the Americans looked a formidable combination in the second spell, at the conclusion of which came a quite remarkable turn of events. Indeed, I'd go so far as to say it was quite fascinating. As we do in New Zealand, and just about everywhere else, as far as I'm aware, come the final whistle, the combatants shake hands in a show of respect for their opponents' efforts throughout the preceding ninety minutes. Not so after this match. The USA squad went into a team huddle, as did their North Korean counterparts, who then trooped off straight to the dressing room. The only acknowledgement of the opposition was the post-match handshake of the respective coaches, Pia Sundhage (USA) and Kim Kwang Min (North Korea). Given what we are used to doing and seeing at home and abroad, e.g. Premiership fixtures, it was certainly unusual not to see it happening in such a high-calibre fixture. When I catch up with my old friend Aaron Heifetz, Team USA's media man, in a couple of days, I'll endeavour to get some light shed on the situation. So to Wednesday's action, and a remarkable match between Norway and Women's World Cup Finals debutants Equatorial Guinea, remarkable in that just one goal was scored despite a staggering 38 shots on goal! Emilie Haavi scored the only goal of the game with six minutes to go to clinch victory for the Norwegians, having hit the post early in the match. The woodwork also denied Lene Mykjaland in a match which saw the Africans enjoying the better of the exchanges, to the surprise of many. That match was followed by the game I attended, in which Australia were worth a point against Brazil, but came away reflecting on a 1-0 defeat by the

A Liverpool fanatic in Leverkusen A glimpse of the roof at the BayArena Columbia and Sweden do battle in the 38C heat Borussia-Park, where the 1973 UEFA Cup was won Brazil and Australia line up for their anthems

South Americans, who were made to look ordinary at times by the Matildas. As with Leverkusen, Moencengladbach was another venue I was greatly looking forward to visiting, not only because it's another superb stadium, but it's a ground which holds a special place in footballing history, at least as far as I'm concerned. I made sure I arrived a little earlier than usual so I could try and imagine the post-match scenes from 1973, when Borussia Moencengladbach's 2-0 win wasn't enough to turn around the 3-0 deficit by which they trailed following the first leg of the UEFA Cup Final, an Anfield triumph which ultimately earned Liverpool their first European trophy. The image of Bill Shankly, Tommy Smith, Ray Clemence, Kevin Keegan et al parading the UEFA Cup around the ground nearly forty years ago was still in my mind's eye when a recently retired women's football legend saw NZL on my media accreditation pass, sat down next to me and asked if I could spare a few minutes to chat about the Football Ferns. Needless to say, we had a ball going through my favourite women's team player by player, much to the delight of this former Olympic gold medallist and FIFA Women's World Cup winner, who, in between two breaks to have her three children (including twins), amassed 201 appearances for the USA before retiring last year. And who welcomed the chance to obtain fresh information about players which didn't smack of the "airbrushed" impersonal "media speak" offerings which all too often appear on official websites. Said info will be put to good use during ESPN's commentary on the England v. New Zealand game in Dresden, where I look forward to catching up with Kate Markgraf once again. So, all sixteen teams have now played a match at Germany 2011, and perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the tournament so far has been the closeness of the individual contests. Six games have been decided by the odd goal, with one drawn, while only the USA have recorded what, by the standards of other scorelines, can be regarded as a clear-cut victory. I've had the pleasure of seeing eight teams so far, with a further two to be added to that list in the next two days, but not before a quick stop in Cologne. A lunch-time cruise on the Rhine and a visit to the city's magnificent twin-towered Cologne Cathedral will nicely break up the journey from Bochum to Frankfurt, where I'll see host nation Germany playing Nigeria on Thursday night. It's a match which the African team must win or their World Cup is effectively over. Then it's a cross-country dash into Cold War country - whoever would have thought we'd see those colonial upstarts, the Football Ferns, taking on the Motherland behind the old "Iron Curtain" in Dresden, the easternmost Women's World Cup venue in the Fatherland? Somehow it seems apt to sign off this latest travelogue with the old terrace theme I've adapted for this latest FIFA Women's World Cup Finals experience. Go on, sing along: "We're on the march with Herdman's Army. We are going to Germany. And we'll really shake 'em up At the Women's World Cup, 'Cause the Football Ferns are gonna make history!!" Go get 'em, gang! Group C details: Columbia 0, Sweden 1 (J. Landstrom (57))  HT 0-0 USA 2 (L. Cheney (54), R. Buehler (76)), North Korea 0  HT 0-0 Group D details: Brazil 1 (Rosana (54)), Australia 0  HT 0-0 Norway 1 (E. Haavi (84)), Equatorial Guinea 0  HT 0-0