Tag: germany

The death match of 1942

BY THE MIDDLE of September 1941, just three months after Adolf Hitler’s army had invaded the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic’s capital, Kyiv, was occupied by the Wehrmacht after a…

Euro 96: when football should have come home

It has been 20 long years since Euro 96 had English fans dreaming. Boasting one of the best England squads in recent decades, the Three Lions made it all the way to the semis before succumbing to old foes Germany on penalties.

A Tale of One City: Hamburg

This feature is part of A Tale of One City IF YOU WANT AN ALTERNATIVE, exhilarating, football experience, then visit Hamburg. There, in northern Germany’s major port city, you will find the Reeperbahn; more…

Günter Netzer: the rebellious loner who became a hero

It was a warm summers day in Düsseldorf on June 23, 1973. The DFB-Pokal final had entered extra time as old adversaries Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Köln refused to be separated. Gladbach supporters…

The reawakening of Borussia Mönchengladbach

IT IS PROBABLY FAIR TO SAY that wealthy Bayern Munich’s recent, all-encompassing domination of German football has wrongly eclipsed the achievements of some of the Bundesliga’s other, less well-known sides. Indeed, over the…

RB Leipzig: mocking Germany’s 50+1 rule

A CERTAIN ENERGY DRINKS COMPANY ARE NO STRANGERS TO CONTROVERSY. A maiden foray into football ownership, assuming control of SV Austria Salzburg and subtly re-branding them to Red Bull Salzburg, brought about a…

Bernd Schuster: the impossible German maverick

On 30 April 1988, one of the most remarkable El Clásico encounters to ever take place unfolded at the Camp Nou between Barcelona and Real Madrid. The game came just two days after…

The Bayern Munich Academy Way

This feature is part of The Academy Way ASCENDENCY COMES IN MANY FORMS. For one club, ascendency includes 27 domestic league titles, 18 DFB-Pokal titles and six German Super Cup titles. But…

Saarland vs. West Germany: a national affair

WHEN THE QUALIFICATION ROUND was drawn for the 1954 World Cup, French and German diplomats looked worriedly at each other. At a time when Europe was trying to move on from the calamities…

The Felix Magath before Felix Magath

Wolfgang-Felix Magath wasn’t always the sadistic, cheese-toting crank he’s now portrayed as being. A long time ago, before Fulham, Hangeland and the Quarkwickel, he was a footballer. And a very good one at…

The extraordinary life and death of Matthias Sindelar

Until the tanks rolled in and Adolf Hitler ruined everything, Vienna in the 1930s was a vibrant and wonderful place. It was a cultural hothouse that produced such unique minds as Freud, Schnitzler…

A World of Ultras: St. Pauli

GERMANY: A PIONEER OF THE BEAUTIFUL GAME and one of the most successful footballing nations on both the club and international stage. Following the national team’s triumph at the 2014 FIFA World Cup,…