No, it is not the same.
Five years ago, the soccer tribes gathered here for the World Cup final, a memorable night at the Olympiastadion when Zinédine Zidane lost his cool, Italy triumphed over France, and there was no question as to the city or the country or the planet's focus.
Downtown in the Tiergarten, in the largest of the "fan miles" that have since become tournament staples, a million people gathered to watch on giant screens (and no, there wasn't a postmatch riot). Everything about that game, everything about that competition in this soccer-mad country, was on a scale of big, bigger and biggest.
So it is a bit discombobulating now to return for the women's World Cup, which begins Sunday in that very same stadium when the host nation will play Canada, to attend a FIFA press conference with a mere handful of reporters (and just a single television camera, from co-Canadian rights holder Rogers Sportsnet), to see this fabulous city alive and buzzing as usual, but none of that activity apparently attached to the world game.
It is all relative. Perhaps the bells and whistles and mania are missing, and the sport does have a significant gender divide, but that doesn't alter the fact that when all is said and done, what's to come will be the largest stand-alone women's sporting event ever staged. On Sunday there will be something in the order of 75,000 fans in the stands for Canada-Germany, and given that the home team has won the last two World Cups and is the best female side in the world at this moment, here's betting that the locals will be enthusiastically onboard once the action begins.
As for Canada, which arrives here quietly confident about its prospects, the first hurdle will be to simply survive that first match without shellshock. On the pitch, that will be challenge enough. Germany has beaten Canada all nine times the countries have played - the last time last September, 5-0, though since that loss, Canada has been on a roll.
The Germans, for all of their skill and experience and depth of talent, have their occasional stumbles. They lost to Brazil in the 2008 Olympics, and lost twice to the Americans (who are actually the top rated team, according to FIFA) last year, including an embarrassing 0-4 score line in a friendly played in Cleveland.
But since that match, the frauenmannschaft is 8-0, winning by a cumulative score of 30-1.
Canada's captain and all-time leading scorer, Christine Sinclair, was asked Friday what a victory over Germany would mean for her team.
She tried her best not to look like someone who had just been asked what it would mean if the sun rose on the other side of the sky.
"They're the best women's team I've ever seen," she said. "I don't even remember the last time they gave up a goal, they're so good. They're peaking at the right time, and they're going to have the crowd behind them."
The key to beating the Germans?
"Defend," she said with a knowing smile.
But Canada under coach Carolina Morace has become a positive, stylish, attacking side. The plan may be to fall back and fill up the box and try to keep it close, but that would go against their nature, so don't bet the house on it.
After the first match, things should get a little easier, and the Canadians' challenge becomes a simple one. To emerge as the second qualifier from their group, they will have to beat Nigeria - as expected - in their third game, and depending on whether goal differential comes into play, they may have to beat them handily.
The pivotal match is their second, against seventh-ranked France in Bochum next Thursday. Win there, and they're all but assured of going to the knockout stages. Play to a draw, and it will almost certainly be a matter of goals for and against. Lose, and it will likely be a repeat of the 2007 World Cup, when an extra time strike from Australia sent Canada home much earlier than expected.
But all of that is down the road, and the focus now is entirely on that daunting first hurdle. For the Canadian players, who trained behind closed doors Friday at a small stadium in one of Berlin's woody neighbourhoods, adjusting to the environment on Sunday may be nearly as tough as adjusting on the pitch, not just because the crowd will be partisan, but because it will be enormous for women's soccer. Consider that the total attendance for the last 10 matches Canada has played - six training-ground friendlies and four matches in the Cyprus Cup tournament - is 1,015.
"I think the first 15 or 20 minutes are going to be huge for us," Sinclair said. "It is important for us not to give up a goal in the first few minutes."
Morace, though, who played for Italy - and at least once played in front of 80,000 people - thinks that once the match begins, her players will be able to block out any distractions. "In Mexico, we played in front of 12,000 people," she said. "And Mexican people are quite a bit different than German people.
"Some time to not be the favourite is an advantage," she continued. "Because the pressure is now with the people that have to win. But for us, it's not just about beating Germany. It's about playing well. We know we will work hard and play well. If on the field they are better than us, we will respect them."
Anyone who reads that and takes it as a concession speech doesn't understand how Carolina Morace thinks.