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Football fever hits Germany

German fans celebrate at Berlin's Sony Centre after watching their team defeat the USA earlier in the World Cup

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Germany and its citizens are in the midst of football euphoria -- and they are determined to call the World Cup trophy their own.

The country is getting ready for what it hopes will be a victory against Brazil in Sunday's final.

That means building up a suitable supply of beer and potato chips, as well as preparing big screens in bars, coffee shops and outdoor plazas.

In Berlin, the Sony Centre at Potsdamer Platz has erected an enormous screen and is expecting thousands of people for the game.

Whether in public or at home, people are getting ready for what promises to be the biggest party of the year. The country is already draped in black, red and gold -- the colours of the German flag.

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Berlin's Brandenburg Gate is wrapped in sheets printed with Germany's flag, and the city is bravely expressing national pride -- unusual for a country that has become used to suppressing patriotism.

Politicians are getting ready too. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, himself a soccer fan, is flying to Japan straight from the G8 summit in Canada to watch the game in person. The Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, has offered Schroeder a lift in his jet.

When Edmund Stoiber, the conservative candidate for chancellor, got wind of this, he decided to go too.

But everyone's eyes are on the German team.

Germany has won the World Cup three times –- most recently in 1990, the year of German reunficiation. At the time, Germans felt on top of the world.

But 12 years later, it is a young and somewhat inexperienced team that finds itself in the final.

Newspapers lead with stories about soccer daily, and any apparent symptoms of a player's injuries are meticulously analysed.

The nation's press also has been commiserating with Michael Ballack, who was barred from Sunday's game during his team's semifinal victory over South Korea.

In the past, German soccer fans have struggled with self-doubt after poor performances from the team and did not expect them to win through to the finals.

Doubt here has vanished, however, having been replaced by hope and confidence.

Fans here see their team making a comeback after a humiliating 5-1 defeat last summer at the hands of England -– when many saw German soccer as having reached rock bottom.

But having been proved wrong in the World Cup so far, fans now hope to show the world their team has made a true comeback with a victory against four-time World Cup champ Brazil.

For many Germans -– especially those in the largest cities -- the only disappointment is that Germany is not facing Turkey in the final. Turks are the biggest minority in Germany.