At least one Rotorua bar was transformed into a sea of red, black and yellow as fans celebrated Germany's Fifa World Cup win.
Dozens of football fans, covered in facepaint and draped in colourful flags, turned out to watch the televised final between Argentina and Germany at Hennessy's Irish Bar yesterday, with some lining up as early as 6am to get a cosy spot.
Screams, cheers and tears of joy erupted when Germany's Mario Gotze scored the only goal of the match, in extra time. Meanwhile, Argentina supporters in striped blue and white T-shirts went silent.
Heiko Kaiser, a self-confessed "football fanatic" said he was thrilled with the result.
Having moved to Rotorua from Germany with his partner Christina in 2000, he was a Germany supporter through and through.
"What a game. It's a well-deserved win for the Germans, who have played so well throughout the whole tournament," he said.
"We sort of knew Germany had it in the bag though, we were pretty confident they would win."
Mr Kaiser said he hadn't missed a game throughout the entire tournament and the early starts didn't deter him.
Another fan, Jenny Ebersold, said she was ecstatic Germany took out the Cup.
"I can't believe it. I'm happy times a million, it's so amazing."
Miss Ebersold, 22, has travelled from Munich and said there was no better place to watch the game than in a pub with friends in one of the "loveliest cities in New Zealand".
Argentina supporter Jake Waxman was less impressed.
"I'm going to be depressed for the next few days, but what can you do."
Hennessy's Irish Bar manager Hilary Hennessy said she was surprised by how many people turned up to watch the game at the bar.
"We were so busy, we sold more than 100 breakfasts which certainly exceeded our expectations for a Monday morning."
Ms Hennessy said the World Cup had been great for business over the past month.