"There are 45 000 fans here tonight (Sunday). The stadium is sold out," the Cologne stadium announcer said proudly over the loudspeakers just before Angola and Portugal kicked off Cologne's first game of World Cup 2006 in Germany.
The stadium wasn't totally packed, however. Noticeably, there were still quite a few plush red leather seats vacant in the stadium's VIP area.
Empty seats in the VIP box at a World Cup match? Do the Germans not have any fat cats, with large entourages and a bevy of beefy bodyguards?
Apparently not.
The Germany 2006 Local Organising Committee (LOC) battled to fill the VIP section for the Portugal-Angola game on Sunday as the ethical German politicians turned down offers for complimentary tickets one after the other.
"The German LOC couldn't get a politician to take a ticket.
They have a €40 (about R340) limit on gifts they're allowed to accept and a VIP ticket for a World Cup match is easily worth around €150 (about R1 100), so German politicians are afraid they'll get creamed by the public if they accept a complimentary ticket," explained Dennis Mumble, a member of the SA 2010 LOC and also the manager of the Soccer City Stadium that will host the 2010 World Cup final.
Mumble is the assistant general co-ordinator for Fifa at the Cologne venue and the German politicians' disciplined stance came as a shock to a man who is used to outrageous demands from South African politicians for dozens of VIP tickets for games at Soccer City.
"It's a good example for our politicians and public figures back home.
"If you get a gift here and there or free tickets, where does it stop?" asked Mumble.
For a man who will over the next four years have the task of making Soccer City the football Mecca every World Cup final venue should be, working with Fifa and the German LOC has been an eye-opener.
In the hours before Angola and Portugal kicked off on Sunday, there were no flustered, panicked faces from the organisers.
"The things that go on behind the scenes at a World Cup match are incredible."