Even normally quiet streets were electrified early Monday by Germany’s dramatic 1-0 win of the World Cup in extra time, a victory that symbolized, at least to fans, not just the country’s dominance of Europe, but its global prominence. Car horns and vuvuzelas honked, and fireworks and firecrackers exploded. On the Kurfuerstendamm, the gleaming street of stores and restaurants that was the symbol of West Berlin during the Cold War, cars quickly jammed traffic and fans draped themselves in the black, red and gold of the German flag.

Germany's national soccer club, favored by many to win this year's World Cup, is not messing around with their accommodations for next June's tournament. Dissatisfied with Brazil's hotel inventory, the team has decided to instead build a new beach resort as their home base. Financed by a Munich entrepreneur, "Campo Bahia" will have 14 two-story homes for players and team officials, a soccer field, and a media center by the time it finishes construction this spring. It'll be the first time the squad will have its own World Cup facility built from scratch, according to Der Spiegel.