Northern Ireland v Germany

GERMAN FOOTBALL – FASCINATING FACTS

» » ‘The Miracle of Bern’ or ‘Das Wunder von Bern’ is how the 1954 FIFA World Cup Final is affectionately known in Germany. The final, played between underdogs West Germany and favourites Hungary on 4 July 1954, saw the Germans come back from a two-goal deficit to win 3-2 at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern, thanks to a goal from Max Morlock and a brace from Helmut Rahn. » » FC Bayern Munich are Germany’s most successful club with 29 national championships (28 Bundesliga titles) to their name. Borussia Dortmund have won the national title on eight occasions – five times during the Bundesliga (established 1963) era. » » With 25,000 clubs and more than 6.8 million members, the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB) is the single largest sports federation in the world. » » Nicknamed ‘The Emperor’ or ‘Der Kaiser’, Franz Anton Beckenbauer is generally regarded as the greatest German footballer of all time. Twice European Footballer of the Year, Beckenbauer is one of only two footballers - along with Brazil’s Mário Zagallo - to have won the FIFA World Cup both as a player and as a coach. » » As well as being the German word for ‘football’, fußball is a commonly used term for the game of table football – first invented by Harold Thornton and patented in the UK in 1923. » » West Germany lost to Italy in the so-called ‘Game of the Century’ or Jahrhundertspiel in the semi-final of the 1970 FIFA World Cup on 17 June 1970. The match, which finished 4-3 to the Italians, is unique as it is the only time five goals have been scored in extra-time of a World Cup match. » » Germany’s first international match saw them defeated 5-3 by Switzerland in Basel on 5 April 1908.

» » In German football the term ‘joker’ doesn’t refer to a comic character in the dressing room - rather a substitute who comes off the bench and scores. » » The votes of journalists from the football magazine Kicker Sportmagazin - it celebrates its centenary in 2020 - along with the Verband Deutscher Sportjournalisten (Association of German Sports Journalists) determine the annual winner of the German Fußballer des Jahres (Football of the Year) award. With four titles Franz Beckenbauer has won the award more than any other player. Marco Reus was the recipient of the 2019 award. » » The Germany women’s national football team or ‘Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft der Frauen‘ have won the FIFA Women’s World Cup on two occasions (2003 and 2007) while they have also come out on top in eight of the 12 UEFA Women’s Championships held to date. » » With 150 caps to his name former midfielder Lothar Matthäus has made more appearances for the German national team than any other player. The 1990 Ballon d’Or winner was a part of the side that won the 1980 UEFA European Championships and the 1990 FIFA World Cup. » » At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro a German squad containing the likes of Lukas Klostermann, Matthias Ginter, Niklas Sule, Julian Brandt and Serge Gnabry won the silver medal. It was Germany’s first success at the Games as a unified nation - West Germany previously won bronze at the 1988 games. » » On 29 May 2013 Lukas Podolski scored the German national team’s fastest ever goal after just nine seconds in a 4-2 win over Ecuador. Words Andy Greeves

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