Beer 1, Brothels 0

Posted By James Forsyth Monday, July 10, 2006 - 10:22 AM Share

Brothel When the World Cup kicked off a month ago, there was a ton of controversy about Germany's legalized brothels and whether women had been trafficked into the country to service football fans. FP ran a piece at the time that took you inside a brothel and the scandal. So, we'd be remiss not to fill you in on the final score.

Turns out that football, beer, and prostitutes don't mix after all. The Daily Telegraph's Berlin correspondent reports that the brothels didn't get anywhere near the business they were expecting. One hooker laments that the "fans were happier to celebrate with beer than sex." But there was one silver lining for these ladies of the night: Italy's progress. Indeed, the World Cup winners were such good customers that the owner of Berlin's biggest brothel even found himself willing the Azzurri on in their semi-final against Germany.

It's a pleasant surprise to find that Germany's brothels didn't get rich off the tournament. But it does make you wonder if they asked Sven-Goran Eriksson for advice on tactics.

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