It means one thing and one thing only when flags of many colors are hoisted on Lebanese balconies: football is imminent. Famed for one of the most consistent and largest shows of fandom for big football nations, the first diehard Lebanese fans of the Nationalmannschaft – a word which the most-watched Arab sport reporters here bark out with three exclamation marks as a mixture of a battle cry and endearment – have already put up German flags on their buildings in April, more than six weeks before the team managed by Joachim Löw will run onto the pitch in Lille for their opening game in Euro 2016. These expressions of affinity recur with every World and UEFA Cup tournament and are as handy as they are rewarding when one seeks to illustrate the passion for the foreign in everyday Lebanese culture. One of the most attractive foreign identities during tournament
