Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star [Football]

Mellor Bode is a little Border Collie living in Cottbus. Every day, he runs across the grass with people whose faces are all different, while the football passes back and forth between them, sometimes through the air, sometimes along the ground. The air is always filled with joy.

But Mellor is happiest when he sees the ball fly into the net. Everyone gathers around him, and even those who usually keep their distance pat his head. Some even pick him up and hold him aloft, letting him leap at them before they all roll around on the ground together.

He loves this life. He loves their broad hands, the bananas and nuts they give him, the songs and cheers from the stands, and most of all, the bright lights raining down from above and the joy in everyone's eyes.

But Bode is not really a Border Collie. After turning seventeen, Mellor gradually realizes that he isn't the well-behaved little sheepdog he thought he was. No dog lives inside a human body, so what is he, a person or a dog?

Mellor doesn't know the answer.

It doesn't matter. His warm home will accept everything about him. But a wider world is calling, and Mellor is pushed out the door to face the wind and rain.

"Mellor, our little genius!"

"Mellor, you're different. You need to go to a bigger stage and stand among them."

"Little Mellor, you're one of a kind. One day, you'll wear that white jersey."

With tears and blessings, Cottbus's morning star journeys from East Germany, from Poland to Munich, from Bremen to the Netherlands. He shines across this land and lives in the heart of every German.

He is Germany's morning star.

Theme: There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.