Ahead of Germany’s first match of the season against France, there was plenty of trepidation. Badly traumatised and with the wounds still raw from this summer’s debacle in Russia, a match against the team that had taken the World Cup
Against Saudi Arabia last Saturday, İlkay Gündoğan got off the bench to replace Marco Reus. His arrival was met with a chorus of jeers, boos and whistles from the Leverkusen crowd. To the casual watcher, it must have been a
When the draw was made last December for next month’s World Cup, Germany were provided with a challenging, but workable, set of three opponents. Three countries that, for fans of the Mannschaft, will be familiar without having to trawl too
Get past the “Group of Death”. Overcome one of the many “lesser” teams that have punched above their weight. Check. Knuckle down and put a threatening European rival out of commission. Check. It has not been an easy ride, but
As we approach this summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil and reflect on the Nationalmannschaft’s last meeting with Poland in Hamburg – which would see a skeleton C-Elf take to the field – we stay in the Hansastadt for the
The Nationalmannschaft would round off their calendar year in satisfactory style against England at Wembley, a ground that has become home from home. With a place in the World Cup safely in the bag Nationaltrainer Joachim Löw would use the
Tunis, 22nd September 1993 We take ourselves back ten years for the next name in our One Cap Wonders series, and to the journeyman striker Bernd Hobsch – one of the heroes of SV Werder Bremen’s successful 1992/93 Bundesliga campaign.
Chicago, 13th June 1993. It is the summer of 1993, and Germany are the current World Champions. The team are in the United States, preparing for the following year’s World Cup by taking part in a four-team tournament: the US
This week I was part of my company’s team for the Optajoe Football Quiz – the quizzing highlight of the year for the sports industry in the UK. My role: the team’s specialist on German football, of course.
Here’s a little bit of trivia for you: who is the only Nationaltrainer to have been awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz – the Federal Cross of Merit – for something other than his work with the Nationalmannschaft? Answer: Jupp Derwall, who received
Azerbaijan, oder. No sketchy report tonight – all of Germany’s home games are being aired on ESPN, so I will be watching the game live and providing my own biased journalistic take on proceedings as they happen. Sort of like