The German people are always viewed as a pragmatic, serious and hard working one and the German national soccer team shares these qualities. England's legendary striker Gary Lineker once said about the German national soccer team that "soccer is a game played by 22 people but in the end the Germans always win".
This reflects the German team's strength in a fun manner, but believe me; Germans are never to be taken lightly. They illustrated it by playing 7 (yes, yes, SEVEN) World Cup finals, winning 3 of them. let's take a deeper look in the past of the German national soccer team and find out how the above feat of power was triggered.
German National Football Team – History
Besides being one of the national teams with the longest and hardest to pronounce names in its native language (in German, the national team is called "Die Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft"), the German national team is also one of the oldest around. Still, when it was formed in 1908, there were a few already experienced national teams around, namely those of England and Scotland.
Since there weren't a lot of national teams in Europe at that given moment, matches between the three countries were frequent, and this sparked rivalries that can even be felt today. For the German national team, England is considered its nemesis, especially since they lost a World Cup in front of the English squad in 1966.
Another negative result against their arch-rivals is that the German national soccer team suffered its biggest defeat against England, in a 1909 match when they lost 9-0 to a much more experienced and mature English squad.
German National Football
Team – Division - Due to the political events surrounding the country in the 20th century, the German national soccer team suffered immensely, being practically ripped apart into West and East. The West Germany team was one of the most successful in Europe over the last century, however East Germany also had a very talented squad of players and even managed to win the Olympic title in 1976.
Many speculate that if both teams were allowed to play as one, we would have witnessed an even more rampant German soccer team in international competitions.
German National Soccer Team – Trophies - Due to the aftermath of World War I and its poor economic condition in 1930, Germany had to withdraw from the World Cup held in Uruguay. However, 4 years later, debuting in official international competitions at the 1934 World Cup in Italy, they managed a huge performance, reaching the semi-finals and grasping the bronze medal.
This great performance did not repeat itself in 1938 for the World Cup held in France, as most of the athletes were taken in the army, as Hitler staged World War II. After the war, with the World Cup competition being suspended until 1950, Germany was not allowed to take part and was subsequently banned from the World Cup held in Brazil, for obvious reasons.
Being banned from the World Cup, even 5 years after the war was over, sparked a desire between the German national soccer players and they managed a massive performance 4 years later, being crowned champions of the tournament in Switzerland.
Although this performance was not repeated in 1958 and 1962 when they left the competition earlier than expected, they managed to reach the final in 1966, but were beaten by their arch-rivals, England, who were playing at home.
The defeat against the English team was a shock for the German national soccer team, but they still managed to pull a good performance in 1970, reaching 3rd place again and their pace increased as they would stage the 1974 World Cup at home.
Eventually, they won this and managed to add to their trophy room. But many consider that the best period of time for the German national team was between the 1982 and 1990 World Cups. A group of greatly talented German players managed to reach the finals in all 3 World Cups between these periods, however they only won the last one in Italy 1990.
After reaching yet another final in Japan and Korea's 2002, German fans were hopeful that their team would repeat the 1974 performance, when Germany won at home. For the soccer World Cup in Germany held in 2006, fans were pessimistic about their team getting a good run, as some internal problems seemed to doom them from the start. Still, in a display of ambition and with the home fans at their back, the German soccer team managed an honorable 3rd place, bringing yet another medal home.
This reflects the German team's strength in a fun manner, but believe me; Germans are never to be taken lightly. They illustrated it by playing 7 (yes, yes, SEVEN) World Cup finals, winning 3 of them. let's take a deeper look in the past of the German national soccer team and find out how the above feat of power was triggered.
German National Football Team – History
Besides being one of the national teams with the longest and hardest to pronounce names in its native language (in German, the national team is called "Die Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft"), the German national team is also one of the oldest around. Still, when it was formed in 1908, there were a few already experienced national teams around, namely those of England and Scotland.
Since there weren't a lot of national teams in Europe at that given moment, matches between the three countries were frequent, and this sparked rivalries that can even be felt today. For the German national team, England is considered its nemesis, especially since they lost a World Cup in front of the English squad in 1966.
Another negative result against their arch-rivals is that the German national soccer team suffered its biggest defeat against England, in a 1909 match when they lost 9-0 to a much more experienced and mature English squad.
German National Football
Team – Division - Due to the political events surrounding the country in the 20th century, the German national soccer team suffered immensely, being practically ripped apart into West and East. The West Germany team was one of the most successful in Europe over the last century, however East Germany also had a very talented squad of players and even managed to win the Olympic title in 1976.
Many speculate that if both teams were allowed to play as one, we would have witnessed an even more rampant German soccer team in international competitions.
German National Soccer Team – Trophies - Due to the aftermath of World War I and its poor economic condition in 1930, Germany had to withdraw from the World Cup held in Uruguay. However, 4 years later, debuting in official international competitions at the 1934 World Cup in Italy, they managed a huge performance, reaching the semi-finals and grasping the bronze medal.
This great performance did not repeat itself in 1938 for the World Cup held in France, as most of the athletes were taken in the army, as Hitler staged World War II. After the war, with the World Cup competition being suspended until 1950, Germany was not allowed to take part and was subsequently banned from the World Cup held in Brazil, for obvious reasons.
Being banned from the World Cup, even 5 years after the war was over, sparked a desire between the German national soccer players and they managed a massive performance 4 years later, being crowned champions of the tournament in Switzerland.
Although this performance was not repeated in 1958 and 1962 when they left the competition earlier than expected, they managed to reach the final in 1966, but were beaten by their arch-rivals, England, who were playing at home.
The defeat against the English team was a shock for the German national soccer team, but they still managed to pull a good performance in 1970, reaching 3rd place again and their pace increased as they would stage the 1974 World Cup at home.
Eventually, they won this and managed to add to their trophy room. But many consider that the best period of time for the German national team was between the 1982 and 1990 World Cups. A group of greatly talented German players managed to reach the finals in all 3 World Cups between these periods, however they only won the last one in Italy 1990.
After reaching yet another final in Japan and Korea's 2002, German fans were hopeful that their team would repeat the 1974 performance, when Germany won at home. For the soccer World Cup in Germany held in 2006, fans were pessimistic about their team getting a good run, as some internal problems seemed to doom them from the start. Still, in a display of ambition and with the home fans at their back, the German soccer team managed an honorable 3rd place, bringing yet another medal home.
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