On board the World Cup plane

Celebrations explode as the doors of the aptly named Lufthansa flight 2014 open. Germany flags are waving and banners are held aloft. Hundreds of fans pour onto the terrace of the airport building to give the team a worthy World Cup winning welcome. "What a crowd" tweets Mesut Özil while he, along with his equally buoyant teammates, step off the plane and back onto German soil.

This is just the beginning. What would later follow was a welcome from approximately 400,000 people at the fan mile based at the Brandenburg Gate.

Thirteen hours earlier at Rio de Janeiro's international airport in the light of the afternoon, a double-deckered Boeing 747-8 appears in front of the terminal. A few Germany fans are huddled behind a small wall on the runway, and they wave while the Germany team make their way onto the plane that would take them home. In their hand luggage? The World Cup trophy. Following the team were the families, the advisors and, of course, the journalists.

Champions are still normal passengers

Our journey through to economy class takes us through first class, where the German FA, led by president Wolfgang Niersbach, have started to sit down. After that, it's business class, where the players are sat. Jerome Boateng looks preoccupied as he stares out of the window, while Lukas Podolski is all smiles as we walk through. Christoph Kramer puts his bag in his locker above his seat and Miroslav Klose is talking to his twin sons. This team might be 2014 World Cup champions, but they are still normal passengers. The coach is nowhere to be seen though, at least not on this level. Joachim Löw was seated on the floor above us, on seat 81C, which is right at the front of course.

Every seat of the plane is taken, and it's time to depart. But then an announcement is made: "A baggage car has just clipped the fuselage," says the captain. "There's a small scratch on the paint, nothing serious, but the flight will be delayed," he adds.

Two and a half hours later at 6:37pm local time, the giant machine finally takes off. Soon after the seatbelt sign is switched off, a few journalists go straight to work on the latest updates of what's hapenning onboard the World champion's plane. After all, every detail about the Germany team is news.

'Here it is'

At just before 7pm, the general secretary of the German FA Helmut Sandrock and press officer Jens Grittner take a tour of the plane with the World Cup trophy.

"Here it is," was the cry from everyone on board, as if they themselves had fulfilled a childhood dream and become World Cup champions themselves.

Everyone has the chance to hold onto football's holy grail and to have a photo with it. And now it's my turn. The 36.6 centimeter trophy is relatively heavy when you hold it in your hands, but there's no time to think as the photo is taken and the golden structure moves on to the next pair of wanting hands.

Emotions are allowed, but there are plenty of people on hand to make sure the trophy isn't dropped. (Then again, it isn't the "real" trophy. FIFA hold onto that. An original replica is what the winners are allowed to take with them.)

By the time the trophy has returned to the classes near the front of the plane, calmness descends. Most of the passengers reveal all the signs of the last five weeks as tired faces and half-closed eyes look around the cabin.

The arrival of joker Podolski in economy class wakens the group up though. The Arsenal striker is in a great mood as he talks shop, makes jokes and of course takes a few photos. In his red and black Flamengo jersey, Podolski is a one man carnival as he heads around the plane, regardless of the turbulence that suddenly occurs.

Then, there's hardly a sound on board, not even in business class. No surprise really, the real party lies ahead, at home, in Berlin.