Soccer in July

Guten tag, Andreas!
Acctually, soccer does mean football. Or at least has football in its meaning, it seems to have developed by taking the "soc" out of "associtation" in "Football Association", according to:

Online Etymology Dictionary - (etymonline.com)

soccer:
1889, socca, later socker (1891), soccer (1895), originally university slang, from a shortened form of Assoc., abbreviation of association in Football Association (as opposed to Rugby football); cf. rugger, but they hardly could have taken the first three letters of Assoc.

Also, I thought it was called "das Fußballspiel" in Germany, and, heck, I can't even pronounce that!

Ciao!

Lee, I'm really, really impressed. And thanks for the information :-)

It's called FOOTBALL, not Soccer. When the game became popular among English college students in the 19th century there was a big discussion about rules, whether the use of hands and arms was allowed or whether the game was limited to feet only. It was then officially decided that FOOTBALL is the game where you kick a ball with your feet only. The other one then took on the name RUGBY. Of course you can call Rugby "football" in the US. We refer to your version as "American Football". So now that this is straigthend out and laid clear back to your question. I'd be surprised if there were any professional sport matches in the heat of July anywhere in the Southern half of Italy...

Andreas, (or any nachtisch fachmann)
We will be stopping in Düsseldorf on our return from Rome to New York, and since I am a dessert-oholic, what are some German sweets that I need to try?
Thanks!
Lee
"Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first."—Ernestine Ulmer

Ah, there you are. Are knew there was a question on Düsseldorf and Nachtisch but didn't remember it was hiding in the Italy forum. What do you mean by desert? How much time will you have? Just a few hours at the airport? Just buying anything at a grocery store?

I wish it was for a longer time, but it is only a two hour layover in the airport. I've wanted to visit Germany for years. I even bought the language course on cassette - a red-neck trying to talk German is not a pretty sight! My wife tried to get a job there in the 1980's with the Department of Defense, but that didn't work out. SO, a visit to the Düsseldorf airport will have to do (for now). When I think of a German dessert, I think of strudel - but the only strudel I have ever had is Pillsbury Toaster Strudel from our grocery store (pretty sad, huh?). So I hope there are some shops in the airport that sell REAL German pastries/desserts!

Hm, DUS airport is very modern, new so I'm sure you'll find a bakery there that sells pastries. Also check the grocery store for Milka Schoko&Keks (choc, cooke, milk cream) or any other milka flavour you might like. Ask the bakery for Nussecken.

Thanks, Andreas! That sounds like a nice treat!