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Deutschland ist Weltmeister!
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October 17, 2017
Germany has participated in all but two World Cups. They did not participate in the first World Cup in 1932 because they could not afford to send a team to Uruguay. They also did not participate in the 1950 World Cup because they had not yet been reinstated as a member of FIFA as part of the post-WWII sanctions. Otherwise they’ve participated in all and have been in every quarterfinal since 1954.
The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) had been a nation for less than five years. There was no sense of national identity at that time and Germans were unsure if they could express national pride. The final has long been referred to as the time that West Germany was born.
It’s important to understand how big an upset the 1954 victory was. The rules were different then. Qualification and the drawing of groups was done according to the way FIFA saw fit.
In the qualification, Germany was drawn to play Norway and the Saarland in a home and away series of games. [The Saarland is the industrial, coal-mining region bordering France that was annexed into an independent state at the insistence of France after WWII. They were made up largely of the team 1. FC Saarbrücken, which was one of two powerhouse clubs in post-war Germany (the other being the 1. FC Kaiserslautern, club of German national captain Fritz Walter and 4 other players on the national team). Interestingly, their coach was Helmut Schön, who later became the assistant to German coach Sepp Herberger after the Saarland was reunified with West Germany in 1956. Schön later became the German national coach from 1963-1978, which included the iconic European champions of 1972 and World champions of 1974.] The Germans tied Norway in Oslo 1-1, beat the Saarland in Stuttgart 3-0 and then beat Norway 5-1 and the Saarland 3-1 to qualify for the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland.
At that time, Hungary was considered to be the founding fathers of modern soccer. Led by Ferenc Puskas—the Maradona or Messi of his time and arguably the first great soccer superstar (after the USSR’s invasion, he went to Real Madrid and led them when they were the best club in the word)—Hungary had not lost a game from early 1951 when the 1954 World Cup began. In 1953 Hungary beat England 6-3 in Wembley Stadium and later 7-1 in Budapest. They were considered to be a class above any team in the world. When FIFA drew the groups, they did so to showcase Hungary.
They drew four groups of four teams and seeded the top two, who were not required to play each other in the first round. So the first round the top seeded team played the second seeded team and one of the unseeded teams. In the Hungarian Group, the second seeded team was Turkey. The two unseeded teams were West Germany and South Korea. If, after the first round of games, the second and third place teams had the same record, then a playoff would occur to decide which team moved on. Most soccer observers at the time view the non-seeding of Germany and their placement in the same group with Hungary as an additional punishment following their non-inclusion in the 1950 World Cup.
Sepp Herberger went into the World Cup with a plan to get around the problem with Hungary. He did so picking 23 players with very different ideas about how to use them (another difference in the format of the games at that time was that each team was allowed only one substitute per game and that substitution, if done at all, would have to be done in the first half).
In the first game, Hungary handily beat South Korea 9-0. Germany was drawn to play a favored Turkey first and beat them 4-1. In their second game, scheduled in the Swiss-German border city Basel in order to ensure a full house, Herberger changed seven of starters, including the goalkeeper and after being down 1-3 in the first half, they went on to lose the game 3-8. Hungary dominated, the German fans were furious because they had to endure a beating with their B team. The only notable event was that Puskas was injured and it prevented him from playing again until the final. Turkey went on to defeat South Korea 7-0. Since both Turkey and Germany had 1-1 records, there was a playoff to determine who would go on to the knockout round.
For the playoff, Herberger went back to his best 11 and Germany won handily 7-2 setting up a game with the other pre-tournament favorite, Yugoslavia, the “magicians of the Balkans”. In a game that became known as “The Miracle of Geneva”, Germany went up 1-0 on a Yugoslavian own-goal at halftime before Helmut Rahn, known for scoring and nicknamed “The Boss” by his teammates, scored in the 86th minute to take an unexpected win. Hungary beat Brazil 4-2 in an uncharacteristically brutal game marked by numerous fights during and after the game.
Next up for Germany was the Austrian national team. Prior to WWII Austria was considered to be the most skilled and artistic European team. After the Anschluss with Germany in the late 30s, most observers expected the combined German/Austrian team to coast through the 1938 World Cup. But the players, who never meshed, finished fourth to eventual champion Italy. Most soccer observers had hoped for a Hungary-Austria final to settle the question of European dominance once and for all. That was why FIFA set up the draw the way they did. Austria was expected to dominate the more physical German side in the semi-finals.
Instead, after a tight 1-0 halftime lead, Germany coasted in the second half to win handily 6-1 and the game became known as “The Miracle of Basel”. Many of the German fans who had been bitter after the earlier loss to Hungary began to forgive Herberger and the players.
Hungary defeated defending champion Uruguay 4-2 in overtime to set up the rematch with Germany, a game for which no one except for the most die-hard German fans expected a crowning victory for Hungary. After all Puskas would be back—there was nothing that could stop them. Some of the Hungarian players were known to have been smokers and more than a few were known to drink more than a few of the one-beer-per day allotted to them. Many players were seen with their wives and girlfriends at the swimming pool the day before the final.
The final, on July 4, 1954 in Berne, Switzerland, was played on an overcast, cool day under a steady rain. Herberger reverted to his best 11 players for the final, but, again, no one expected a close game. And those sentiments were confirmed when Hungary led 2-0 after just nine minutes. But Herberger and captain Fritz Walter wouldn’t let the team bend. They scored their first goal in the tenth minute and tied it with a rocket by Rahn in the eighteenth minute as the first half ended in a 2-2 tie. The second half went back and forth but produced no goals until Hans Schäfer, considered the fastest, most skillful left wing of his time, broke down the sideline and crossed to Helmut Rahn who shot a low, skidding ball beyond the outstretched fingertips of the Hungarian goalkeeper for a 3-2 lead in the 86th minute. The team held on and Hungary was beaten for the first time in almost four years.
So in (West) Germany, the 4th of July is also celebrated as something of an Independence Day because the sense of national identity was born on that day. But the birth is associated with a soccer game, not a revolutionary war.
And that’s another reason Germans feel confident when they have to play a World Cup game on July 4. They always have the memory of “The Miracle of Bern” to draw upon.
Original review:
A fun little book by a pioneering German sports broadcaster that gives a personal perspective and description of the 1954 World Cup winning German team. Enjoyed the contrast of comparing today's spectacle with the relative innocence and naïveté of 1954. These were the days before the dominance of television (around 27,000 tv sets existed in Germany prior to the World Cup, which increased to more than 40,000 at the time of the final). And no one thought of keeping a video record!
More people listened to Herbert Zimmerman's immortal radio broadcast (the final call is featured in the last scene of the film "The Marriage of Maria Braun"). A highlight of this book is the full transcription of Zimmerman's entire second half broadcast.
A good book for junkies of German football (soccer).
The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) had been a nation for less than five years. There was no sense of national identity at that time and Germans were unsure if they could express national pride. The final has long been referred to as the time that West Germany was born.
It’s important to understand how big an upset the 1954 victory was. The rules were different then. Qualification and the drawing of groups was done according to the way FIFA saw fit.
In the qualification, Germany was drawn to play Norway and the Saarland in a home and away series of games. [The Saarland is the industrial, coal-mining region bordering France that was annexed into an independent state at the insistence of France after WWII. They were made up largely of the team 1. FC Saarbrücken, which was one of two powerhouse clubs in post-war Germany (the other being the 1. FC Kaiserslautern, club of German national captain Fritz Walter and 4 other players on the national team). Interestingly, their coach was Helmut Schön, who later became the assistant to German coach Sepp Herberger after the Saarland was reunified with West Germany in 1956. Schön later became the German national coach from 1963-1978, which included the iconic European champions of 1972 and World champions of 1974.] The Germans tied Norway in Oslo 1-1, beat the Saarland in Stuttgart 3-0 and then beat Norway 5-1 and the Saarland 3-1 to qualify for the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland.
At that time, Hungary was considered to be the founding fathers of modern soccer. Led by Ferenc Puskas—the Maradona or Messi of his time and arguably the first great soccer superstar (after the USSR’s invasion, he went to Real Madrid and led them when they were the best club in the word)—Hungary had not lost a game from early 1951 when the 1954 World Cup began. In 1953 Hungary beat England 6-3 in Wembley Stadium and later 7-1 in Budapest. They were considered to be a class above any team in the world. When FIFA drew the groups, they did so to showcase Hungary.
They drew four groups of four teams and seeded the top two, who were not required to play each other in the first round. So the first round the top seeded team played the second seeded team and one of the unseeded teams. In the Hungarian Group, the second seeded team was Turkey. The two unseeded teams were West Germany and South Korea. If, after the first round of games, the second and third place teams had the same record, then a playoff would occur to decide which team moved on. Most soccer observers at the time view the non-seeding of Germany and their placement in the same group with Hungary as an additional punishment following their non-inclusion in the 1950 World Cup.
Sepp Herberger went into the World Cup with a plan to get around the problem with Hungary. He did so picking 23 players with very different ideas about how to use them (another difference in the format of the games at that time was that each team was allowed only one substitute per game and that substitution, if done at all, would have to be done in the first half).
In the first game, Hungary handily beat South Korea 9-0. Germany was drawn to play a favored Turkey first and beat them 4-1. In their second game, scheduled in the Swiss-German border city Basel in order to ensure a full house, Herberger changed seven of starters, including the goalkeeper and after being down 1-3 in the first half, they went on to lose the game 3-8. Hungary dominated, the German fans were furious because they had to endure a beating with their B team. The only notable event was that Puskas was injured and it prevented him from playing again until the final. Turkey went on to defeat South Korea 7-0. Since both Turkey and Germany had 1-1 records, there was a playoff to determine who would go on to the knockout round.
For the playoff, Herberger went back to his best 11 and Germany won handily 7-2 setting up a game with the other pre-tournament favorite, Yugoslavia, the “magicians of the Balkans”. In a game that became known as “The Miracle of Geneva”, Germany went up 1-0 on a Yugoslavian own-goal at halftime before Helmut Rahn, known for scoring and nicknamed “The Boss” by his teammates, scored in the 86th minute to take an unexpected win. Hungary beat Brazil 4-2 in an uncharacteristically brutal game marked by numerous fights during and after the game.
Next up for Germany was the Austrian national team. Prior to WWII Austria was considered to be the most skilled and artistic European team. After the Anschluss with Germany in the late 30s, most observers expected the combined German/Austrian team to coast through the 1938 World Cup. But the players, who never meshed, finished fourth to eventual champion Italy. Most soccer observers had hoped for a Hungary-Austria final to settle the question of European dominance once and for all. That was why FIFA set up the draw the way they did. Austria was expected to dominate the more physical German side in the semi-finals.
Instead, after a tight 1-0 halftime lead, Germany coasted in the second half to win handily 6-1 and the game became known as “The Miracle of Basel”. Many of the German fans who had been bitter after the earlier loss to Hungary began to forgive Herberger and the players.
Hungary defeated defending champion Uruguay 4-2 in overtime to set up the rematch with Germany, a game for which no one except for the most die-hard German fans expected a crowning victory for Hungary. After all Puskas would be back—there was nothing that could stop them. Some of the Hungarian players were known to have been smokers and more than a few were known to drink more than a few of the one-beer-per day allotted to them. Many players were seen with their wives and girlfriends at the swimming pool the day before the final.
The final, on July 4, 1954 in Berne, Switzerland, was played on an overcast, cool day under a steady rain. Herberger reverted to his best 11 players for the final, but, again, no one expected a close game. And those sentiments were confirmed when Hungary led 2-0 after just nine minutes. But Herberger and captain Fritz Walter wouldn’t let the team bend. They scored their first goal in the tenth minute and tied it with a rocket by Rahn in the eighteenth minute as the first half ended in a 2-2 tie. The second half went back and forth but produced no goals until Hans Schäfer, considered the fastest, most skillful left wing of his time, broke down the sideline and crossed to Helmut Rahn who shot a low, skidding ball beyond the outstretched fingertips of the Hungarian goalkeeper for a 3-2 lead in the 86th minute. The team held on and Hungary was beaten for the first time in almost four years.
So in (West) Germany, the 4th of July is also celebrated as something of an Independence Day because the sense of national identity was born on that day. But the birth is associated with a soccer game, not a revolutionary war.
And that’s another reason Germans feel confident when they have to play a World Cup game on July 4. They always have the memory of “The Miracle of Bern” to draw upon.
Original review:
A fun little book by a pioneering German sports broadcaster that gives a personal perspective and description of the 1954 World Cup winning German team. Enjoyed the contrast of comparing today's spectacle with the relative innocence and naïveté of 1954. These were the days before the dominance of television (around 27,000 tv sets existed in Germany prior to the World Cup, which increased to more than 40,000 at the time of the final). And no one thought of keeping a video record!
More people listened to Herbert Zimmerman's immortal radio broadcast (the final call is featured in the last scene of the film "The Marriage of Maria Braun"). A highlight of this book is the full transcription of Zimmerman's entire second half broadcast.
A good book for junkies of German football (soccer).
Displaying 1 of 1 review