Germany national football team and Their Glorious History-
| For current information on this topic, see 2010–11 in German football. |
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| Nickname(s) | Die Mannschaft (The Team), used by non German-speaking media Die DFB-Elf (The DFB-Eleven) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund — DFB) | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Joachim Löw | ||
| Captain | Michael Ballack | ||
| Most caps | Lothar Matthäus (150) | ||
| Top scorer | Gerd Müller (68) | ||
| FIFA code | GER | ||
| FIFA ranking | 4 (September 2010) | ||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 1 (June 1994) | ||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 22 (March 2006) | ||
| Elo ranking | 4 | ||
| Highest Elo ranking | 1 (1990–92, 1993–94, 1996–97) | ||
| Lowest Elo ranking | 28 (1923) | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Switzerland 5–3 Germany  (Basel, Switzerland; 5 April 1908) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Germany 16–0 Russia  (Stockholm, Sweden; 1 July 1912) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 England Amateurs 9–0 Germany (Oxford, England; 13 March 1909) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 17 (First in 1934) | ||
| Best result | Champions, 1954, 1974, 1990 | ||
| European Championship | |||
| Appearances | 10 (First in 1972) | ||
| Best result | Champions, 1972, 1980, 1996 | ||
| Confederations Cup | |||
| Appearances | 2 (First in 1999) | ||
| Best result | 3rd Place, 2005 | ||
The German national football team (German: Die deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) is the association football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund), which was founded in 1900.
From 1950 to 1990, it was more or less the team of the Federal Republic of Germany as the DFB is based in Frankfurt, located in the former West Germany. Under Allied occupation and division, two other separate national teams were also recognized by FIFA: the Saarland team (1950–1956) and the East German team by the current national team. The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened to "Germany (GER)" in 1990. (1952–1990). Both have been absorbed along with their records (caps and goal scorers)
Germany is historically one of the three most successful national teams at international competitions, having won a total of three World Cups and three European Championships. They have also been runners-up three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup, and further won four 3rd places. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976. Germany is the only nation to have won both the men's and women's World Cups.
The current coaching staff of the national team include head coach Joachim Löw, assistant coach Hans-Dieter Flick, goalkeeper coach Andreas Köpke, athletic coach Shad Forsythe, athletic coach Oliver Bartlett, scout Urs Siegenthaler, technical director Matthias Sammer, and team manager Oliver Bierhoff.
Three German teams-
After the Second World War, Germany was banned from competition in most sports until about 1950, with none of the three new German states, West Germany, East Germany and Saarland, entering the 1950 World Cup qualifiers as the DFB was only reinstated as full FIFA member after this World Cup.
West Germany-
Main article: West Germany national football team
As in most aspects of life, the pre-war traditions and organisations of Germany were carried on by the Federal Republic of Germany, which was referred to as West Germany. This applied also to the restored DFB which had its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main and still employed coach Sepp Herberger. With recognition by FIFA and UEFA, the DFB maintained and continued the record of the pre-war team. Neighbouring Switzerland was once again the first team that played West Germany in 1950, with Turkey and Republic of Ireland being the only non-German speaking nations to play them in friendly matches during 1951.
After only 18 post war games in total, West Germany qualified for the 1954 World Cup, having prevailed against Norway and the "third German state", the Saarland.
Saarland-
Main article: Saarland national football team
The Saar protectorate, otherwise known as Saarland, split from Germany and put under French control between 1947 and 1956. Saarland did not want to join French organisations and was barred from participating in pan-German ones. Thus, they sent separate teams to the 1952 Summer Olympics and also to the 1954 World Cup qualifiers, when Saarland finished below West Germany but above Norway in their qualification group, having won in Oslo. Legendary coach Helmut Schön was the manager of the Saarland team from 1952 until 1957, when the territory acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany. He went on to coach the championship-winning team of the 1970s.
East Germany-
Main article: East Germany national football team
In 1949, the communist German Democratic Republic was founded in the Soviet-occupied eastern part of the country. A separate football competition emerged in what was commonly known as East Germany. In 1952 the Deutscher Fußball-Verband der DDR (DFV) was established and the East Germany national football team took to the field. They were the only team to beat the 1974 World Cup winning West Germans in a highly symbolic event for the divided nation that was the only meeting of the two sides. East Germany went on to win the gold medal at the 1976 Olympics. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and German reunification in 1990, the eastern football competition was reintegrated into the DFB.
Memorable losses: Wembley goal and Game of the Century-
After finishing fourth in the 1958 World Cup and reaching only the quarter-finals in the 1962 World Cup, the DFB had to make changes. Following examples set abroad, professionalism was introduced, and the best clubs from the various Regionalligas were assembled into the new Bundesliga. In 1964, Helmut Schön took over as coach, replacing Herberger who had been in office for 28 years.
In the 1966 World Cup, West Germany reached the final after beating the USSR in the semifinal, facing hosts England at Wembley Stadium. Wolfgang Weber's last minute goal took the game into extra time, a goal claimed to be controversial by the English, with the ball appearing to hit the hand of a German player as it travelled through the England penalty area before he prodded it in. The first extra time goal by Geoff Hurst, nicknamed Wembley-Tor (Wembley goal) in Germany, is still controversial after all this time. As the Swiss referee did not see the situation properly, the opinion of the Soviet linesman Tofik Bakhramov who believed that the ball bounced back from the net rather than the crossbar led to one of the most contentious goals in the history of football. While the Germans pushed hard to tie the game, spectators entered the field in the final seconds, and Hurst scored another controversial goal giving England a 4–2 win.
West Germany gained a measure of revenge in the 1970 World Cup by knocking England out in the quarter-finals 3–2, having been 2–0 down, before they suffered another memorable extra time loss, this time in the semi-final against Italy at Estadio Azteca. Karl-Heinz Schnellinger scored during injury time to level the match at 1–1, and during extra time, both teams held the lead at one time. Memorably, Franz BeckenbauerGame of the Century" in both Italy ( remained on the field even with a dislocated shoulder, his arm in a sling strapped to his body, as West Germany had used up their two allowed substitutions. Eventually won 4–3 by Italy, this match with five goals in extra time is one of the most dramatic in World Cup history, and is called "Partita del secolo) and Germany (Jahrhundertspiel). While the exhausted Italians lost to Brazil, West Germany went on to claim third place by beating Uruguay 1–0, and Gerd Müller finished as the tournament's top scorer with 10 goals.
Prior to the start of the tournament, hopes were not as high for Germany as in previous tournaments (even in Germany itself), even though it was the host nation. Critics pointed out the apparent lack of quality players in the squad and coach Klinsmann's decision to live in America rather than Germany. However, Germany won the opening game of the World Cup against Costa Rica 4–2. They continued to develop both confidence and support across the group stage, conceding no further goals as they beat Poland 1–0 and Ecuador 3–0, with Miroslav Klose scoring twice and Lukas Podolski adding another in the last match. Germany finished on top of their group with three wins. The team went on to defeat Sweden 2–0 in the round of 16, with Lukas Podolski netting both goals in only 12 minutes, from assists by Miroslav Klose.
People watching the Germany vs. Argentina match at the Donau Arena in Regensburg
Germany faced favorites Argentina in the quarter-finals, a team that Germany had not defeated since the 1990 World Cup. Germany's shutout streak was broken shortly after half time as Argentina scored first to grab a 0–1 lead. However, Michael Ballack's cross, flicked on by Tim Borowski, allowed Klose to head in the equalizer with 10 minutes to spare. During the subsequent penalty shootout, goalkeeper Jens Lehmann saved two shots while his teammates all converted their shots to win the shootout 4–2. After the game, the Argentinians started a brawl, which later resulted in a match ban for midfielder Torsten Frings after Italian television networks showed video footage of him participating in the fight.
2010 FIFA World Cup finals-
Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 World Cup draw, which took place on 4 December 2009, placed Germany in Group D, along with Australia, Serbia, and Ghana. Throughout the tournament, Germany impressed by playing an attractive, attacking style football, and despite Germany being the underdog against both England and Argentina, putting 4 goals past these two footballing nation heavyweights. On 13 June 2010, they played their first match of the tournament against Australia and won 4–0.
They lost their second match 0–1 to Serbia. Their next match against Ghana was won 1–0 by a goal from Mesut Özil. Germany went on to win the group and advanced to the knockout stage. In the round of 16, Germany humiliated England 4–1. The game however did controversially have a goal scored by Frank Lampard disallowed despite video replays that showed the ball clearly beyond the goal line. In the quarterfinals, Germany defeated Argentina 4–0; this match was also celebrated striker Miroslav Klose's 100th international cap and the match in which he tied German legend Gerd Müller's record of 14 World Cup goals, one behind the all-time record of 15 World Cup goals, which is held by Ronaldo of Brazil. In its subsequent match, the World Cup semifinal, Germany was defeated 1–0 by Spain on 7 July. Germany played Uruguay for Third Place, as in 1970, and won the match 3–2 on 10 July.
Germany scored the most with a total of 16 goals in the 2010 World Cup, in comparison, the winning nation Spain scored only 8 goals. The German team became the first team since Brazil in 1982 to record the highest goal difference in a World Cup without winning it.
The German team has become multicultural, as 11 of the players in the final 23-man World Cup Finals roster were eligible to play for other countries.
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Upcoming fixtures-
These upcoming fixtures are contained in the DFB's home page
| Date | Home team | Away team | Venue | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 17, 2010 |  Sweden |  Germany | Göteborg | Friendly |
| February 9, 2011 | Germany |  Italy | Dortmund | Friendly |
| March 26, 2011 | Germany |  Kazakhstan | Kaiserslautern | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| March 29, 2011 | Germany |  Australia | Mönchengladbach | Friendly |
| June 3, 2011 |  Austria | Germany | Vienna | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| June 7, 2011 |  Azerbaijan | Germany | not yet known | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| August 10, 2011 | Germany |  Brazil | Stuttgart | Friendly |
| September 2, 2011 | Germany | Austria | Gelsenkirchen | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| September 6, 2011 |  Poland | Germany | Warsaw | Friendly |
| October 7, 2011 |  Turkey | Germany | not yet known | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| October 11, 2011 | Germany |  Belgium | Düsseldorf | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| August 15, 2012 | Germany |  Argentina | not yet known | Friendly |
| Qualifying matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup | ||||
| February 6, 2013 | Italy | Germany | not yet known | Friendly |
| Qualifying matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup | ||||
Stadiums-
Germany does not have a national stadium, so the national team's home matches are rotated among various stadiums around the country. They have played home matches in 39 different cities so far, including venues that were German at the time of the match, such as Vienna, Austria, which staged three games between 1938 and 1942.
National team matches have been held most often (42 times) in the stadiums of Berlin, which was the venue of Germany's first home match (in 1908 against England). Other common host cities include Hamburg (34 matches), Stuttgart (29), Hanover (24) and Dortmund. Another notable location is Munich, which has hosted numerous notable matches throughout the history of German football, including the 1974 World Cup final, which Germany won against the Netherlands.
Kit-
The 2006 World Cup saw an unprecedented widespread public display of the national flag in Germany.
Adidas AG is the longstanding kit provider to the national team, a sponsorship that began in 1954 and is contracted to continue until at least 2018. Nike, Inc. had been courting the team, and in August 2007 reportedly offered as much as €500 million to outfit the team for an eight-year period – a figure that is six times what Adidas currently pays – but the federation decided to remain with Germany-based Adidas.
The national team's home kit has always been a white shirt and black shorts. The colours are derived from the 19th century flag of the north German State of Prussia. The away shirt colour has changed several times. Historically, green shirt with white shorts is the most often used alternative colour combination, derived from the DFB colors (and the ones of a playing field), though it is also reported that the choice is in recognition of the fact that Ireland, whose home shirts are green, were supposedly the first nation to play Germany in a friendly game after World War II. This is false, as their first match after WWII was in fact against Switzerland.Jürgen Klinsmann, citing that teams in red are statistically more successful, and perceived as more intimidating.
He hoped to use the red away shirt as first choice for the 2006 World Cup despite less than impressive results when playing in these colors (for example, the 1–4 loss in Italy), but Germany played every game at the 2006 World Cup in its home white colours. In 2010 the away colours then changed back to a black shirt and white shorts, but at the tournament the team dressed up in the black trousers from the home dress. The new away kit was worn by the team for the first time in a friendly against Argentina on 3 March 2010. Other colours such as grey and black have also been used. A change, from black to red, came in November 2004 on the request of
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