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All schedules provided in this eBook are GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), or UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), an alternative equivalent (both GMT and UTC indicate the same World Time Zone). The previous World Cup eBook has done the same, regarding the match times, the reason being that this should help make it simpler for anyone around the World to convert the match times to his⁄her own Time Zone. So it is important to remember that the times displayed for the matches need to be converted to your own World Time Zone, so you know when to watch each match! Please feel free to use MieNet's on-line (it's free). Alternatively, check this interesting page, which always displays simultaneously the current time for most Capital cities as well as a large number of other cities, World round. A relevant remark is that it will be Summer time in the Northern Hemisphere, in June⁄July, the period during which the World Cup takes place in Germany, in 2006. Now, the fact that it is Summer, in Germany, means that one extra hour for "Summer time" (i.e., DST, or Daylight Saving Time) will have been added to the usual time the Germans keep! What can make things less simple than it might look, a priori, is that although many countries observe DST, many others do not. So it is a good idea to check in advance how many hours you will be ahead or behind German Time, the coming Summer. Germany is within the GMT+1 Time Zone (this Time Zone is referred to as CET, i.e., Central European Time). During the World Cup, however, German Time functions as GMT+2, formally referred to as CEST, that is, Central European Summer Time. So, in short, CEST is one hour ahead of CET, which, in turn, is one hour ahead of GMT or UTC. This means that all match times displayed in this eBook appear 2 (two) hours behind the actual local (German) time for the matches. Just in case the in information could be relevant to you, DST (Daylight Saving Time) is in fact effective since around mid-Spring (usually April) up to mid-Fall (usually October), in Germany – Summer of course constituting the central span during which the clocks are advanced by one hour, in Germany, as well as in Europe, in general. It is a good idea not to leave for the last minute to get these World-Time details straight, to check your own Time Zone difference to that Germany is in, to check whether or not your area of the World will also be observing DST, and to make a note of the Time Difference you get to, between your Local Time and German (World Cup) Local Time for June-July (that is make a note of the number of hours you need to add or subtract, so you can ensure you'll be turning on your TV set at the correct times for the matches!). This is really not a bad suggestion, for numbers can be easily forgotten (or remembered inaccurately), unless they are somehow meaningful to us. This is the most secure way to ensure a match will not be missed because the calculated time-difference did not take the Daylight Saving Time alterations into account! For although DST is usually a single hour (though not always – please note! – I have known it to be from just ½ an hour, up to 2 full hours), because an area of the World may be observing DST and another may not, the risk of getting it all wrong by two (or more) hours is very real! Want an example? Let's consider Germany, the 2006 World Cup Host Nation, and Brazil, the current (2002) World Cup Champion. Anyone checking the Time Difference between say, Berlin and Brasília, at Christmas, will find Berlin 3 (three) hours ahead of Brasília. During the World Cup, however, this three-hour Time Difference will have 'grown' into a five-hour Time Difference! How can it be so? Well, at Christmas, Brasília (Southern Hemisphere, thus Summer) is observing DST and Germany (Northern Hemisphere, thus Winter) is of course not. The reverse, however, will be occurring when the World Cup kicks off! It will be Germany – no longer Brazil – that will be observing DST! In reality, the "official" four-hour difference between Brasília and Berlin is experienced for just two very brief periods a year, by the inhabitants of both countries, as most of the year either Nation will be found under Daylight Saving Time. As remarked above, we cannot take for granted that DST is effective somewhere, just because it is Summer. Here's a token of illustration: we have seen that Berlin is 3 (three) hours ahead of Brasília, at Xmas time; however, Berlin is 4 (four) hours ahead of Buenos Aires, at the same Xmas time (2005) – for DST is not being observed in Buenos Aires at this time, even though it is also Summer, there. These are just examples, but they serve well to illustrate that, under the heat of excitement, it can be challenging to get all the needed information straight, at the last minute, at the risk of missing part of or an entire match! ![]() ![]() So, wherever you are on the Globe, get this Time Difference issue clear, in advance, for silly mistakes are far more prone to occur when this sort of thing is done at the last minute, under the excitement characteristic of the anticipation building up to an important match! |
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