At the Heysel Stadium in Brussels on the eighteenth of June 1972, West Germany lifted their first major tournament trophy since the 1954 World Cup. Two years later, at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, they lifted the World Cup. Yet it is sometimes said that the team of 1972 is more fondly remembered than the team of two years later, and it is certainly fair to say that the road to these twin victories was not without its problems.

Unfortunately, not fun items...I've been told, for now, Ricardo Clark's Danish interest seems to have dissapated. His salary seems to be an issue at times, with this being one of them. I'm not sure what's next for him. Just when it appeared ex-Crew free agent midfielder Kevin Burns was set to be signed by Danish second flight side Blokhuis, there has come a annoying snag we'll talk about a little

By Chris Wright

Germany have finally gotten around to launching their new change strip for Euro 2012 and, as we stated when it was originally leaked ages and ages ago, it's a work of true retro kunst harking back to their beautiful green strip from 1972 and marking the 40th anniversary of their first European Championship win.

verrückt!! There's nothing quite like a goofy footballer pretending to be an overzealous fan and you can count on Germany and Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller to do it! As the Euro 2012 approaches, the German National Team have been hard at work rolling out campaigns to drum up home support, launching new jerseys (ironically, it's back to 1972′s away green kit!

Why does Germany wear green? The Ireland myth and the truth.

After dropping a few hints over the past few months, Adidas released the new Germany away kit that will be used throughout EURO 2012. It's green. Really, really green. Like you, we've seen a German flag before and could not find a trace of green on it.

Germany qualified for EURO 2012 with a perfect record of 10 wins from 10 matches and are amongst the tournament favorites. As Die Mannschaft prepares for next summer's tournament, the...

Good heavens. We hope you warmed your hands first, Sami! Images via gq-magazin.de.

Avert your eyes, Kickettes! We haven't revealed this much flesh on the site in one go since Tim Howard was kind enough to get his nekkid on for ESPN, and our server collapsed under the weight of our rampant lust.

You didn't actually think I'd shut my yap just because some windows closed, did you?I can report that Ryan Nelsen was considering a return to D.C. United when Tottenham swopped in at the last minute. I can also tell you he still plans to come back to the Red-and-Black. There should be a full report up at MLSS before long.

A whole gaggle of interesting matches to watch this weekend. We've chosen a handful each on Saturday and Sunday, including the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations, a couple each from the big leagues (Premier League, including Chelsea-ManUtd; Serie A, highlighted by AC Milan-Napoli; La Liga the one we're most interested in is Atletico Madrid-Valencia), plus a few wild cards (e.

The quarter final stages of the African Nations Cup gets under way, and this week, we also travel to Germany, Italy and England for some tasty ties.

The quarter final stages of the African Nations Cup gets under way, and this week, we also travel to Germany, Italy and England for some tasty ties.

As if the defending MLS Champions needed any more offensive firepower, the LA Galaxy announced today that Edson Buddle would be rejoining the Galaxy after terminating his contract with FC Ingolstadt by mutual consent.

Buddle's addition gives LA the league's best forward tandem, as he and Robbie Keane will lead a line that should feast on the service provided by Landon Donovan and David Beckham.

The day after reports that Edson Buddle had been released from his contract with Ingolstadt in Germany's 2.Bundesliga, Major League Soccer announced that he has signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Buddle left the Galaxy following the 2010 season. "I am thrilled to be able to return to MLS and a club that has meant so much to me in my career," Buddle said in a press release.

Buddle returns: The forward Galaxy fans never wanted to leave has returned to the club (Daily Breeze file photo). The rumors were true. Edson Buddle has returned to the Galaxy after spending a year in Germany where he scored 10 goals for second tier Ingolstadt. "I am thrilled to be

On the left is Sylvie van der Vaart; on the right is a Barbie in her likeness. Or maybe that's the other way around. Images via @rafvdvaart

It was only a matter of time before the living Barbie became a real Barbie, wasn't it?

Proud husband Rafael tweeted some pics of the Sylvie Barbie that was unveiled at a toy fair in Germany today.

You're looking at Munich's Olympiastadion, which will be the host to the Women's European Champions League Finale on May 17! The Olympiastadion was built for 1972 Olympics and it also hosted the 1974 FIFA World Cup Final. You may not recognize it because none of the games from the 2006 World Cup tournament were played there.

Welcome to Offbeat Wednesday, where we cover the wacky side of football! Today, read about the German National Team's bizarre new campaign, Mourinho's Carpark 'Me Time', Harry Kewell's Tennis Day Out and Guti's Holiday!

Now now, don't get all excited! You're not looking at the latest 80′s German pop band founded by Lothar Matthäus, but it's close to the truth.

While it's possible something else wiggled through the window, it appears Edson Buddle rejoining L.A. and Charles Renken heading to the Portland Timbers will stand as our late fireworks.As I was informed to be likely, the DaMarcus Beasley move to Nancy did not come off, most likely because Puebla execs are too busy trying not to go to jail.

Ingolstadt has just released Edson Buddle from his contract. I've been told he's headed back to the Galaxy. Looks like a go, multiple sources checked here.UPDATE: I had been trying to nail this one down for several hours. Ingolstadt suddenly made it easy for me. And somewhere, Eintracht Frankfurt execs are cursing.

With one blast of the newly patented Kickette Pheremone Spray™, this Kickette soldier girl is ensuring that Manuel Neuer will comply with her whims for the next 24-hours.

You reckon this stuff will catch on?

Okay, you can all relax now. Turns out that our hero, Arsenal captain Robin van Persie, will NOT be sanctioned for allegedly throwing an elbow in the face of defender Carlos Cuéllar, after all. Had the Football Association chosen to sanction him, and there certainly seemed to be justification for doing so, the punishment to both Robin as an individual and Arsenal as a cohesive whole would have been severe enough, considering the awful timing, to virtually end the team's season on quite a sour note.

Okay, you can all relax now. Turns out that our hero, Arsenal captain Robin van Persie, will NOT be sanctioned for allegedly throwing an elbow in the face of defender Carlos Cuéllar, after all. Had the Football Association chosen to sanction him, and there certainly seemed to be justification for doing so, the punishment to both Robin as an individual and Arsenal as a cohesive whole would have been severe enough, considering the awful timing, to virtually end the team's season on quite a sour note.

Arsene Wenger is being linked with a move to take Schalke midfielder Lewis Holtby to Arsenal. And there are even some suggestions that a deal has already been done for the German-born 21-year-old to join the Gunners in the summer. His contract in Germany ends next year.

A source with close ties to Arsenal has told Arsenalinsider that the transfer has already been agreed for the midfielder, whose Scouse father is a former Brit soldier based in Germany.

German forward Lukas Podolski, who has been linked consistently with Arsenal in recent weeks, has chosen to focus on his future in the Bundesliga rather than talking up a move to the English top flight.

The 26-year old Podolski appeared on Arsenal's radar in this month's transfer window after disagreements with FC Cologne's management late last year.

The race for the Bundesliga title is getting very interesting with each passing week as Bayern Muinch, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke all notched up wins to ensure that there was no let up in the league standings.

All three teams are level on 40 points with fourth place Borussia Mochengladabch only a point behind.

By now all Manchester United fans would have known that we've agreed to sell Mame Biram Diouf to Hannover 96. The question, I'm pondering over is Why? Diouf was signed from Molde FK in July 2009, and after a 30-month stay in English football, he's moving to Germany. I find his transfer really weird! During all this time, he has played lot of football, he has gained valuable experience and made

Hoffenheim attacker Fabian Johnson pulled one back late in a 3-1 loss at Borussia Dortmund.szólj hozzá: Dortmund Hoffenheim 3:1 GOALS- Greg Seltzer

Following a tweet from player agent Richard Motzkin that announced Danny Mwanga would be training with Aston Villa for ten days, the Philadelphia Union confirmed that the striker will miss the team's first preseason session.

According to the Union, Mwanga "will join his teammates in Orlando on February 6, in time for the start of the Union's second leg of preseason.

0 people like this Bayern Munich have scored a PR own goal after scores of fans were left furious by a fake press conference held by the club. The German giants urged supporters to join them for a press conference, which would be streamed live on their Facebook page, to hear about a major new [...]

0 people like this Bayern Munich have scored a PR own goal after scores of fans were left furious by a fake press conference held by the club. The German giants urged supporters to join them for a press conference, which would be streamed live on their Facebook page, to hear about a major new [...]

I'm not sure where this started, but the reports that Edson Buddle is now training with Belgian side Westerlo are flat false. He's back in Germany.And from what I've been told, he remains an option for Everton, though I am not precisely sure how much of one.- Greg Seltzer

I'm not sure where this started, but the reports that Edson Buddle is now training with Belgian side Westerlo are flat false. He's back in Germany.And from what I've been told, he remains an option for Everton, though I am not precisely sure how much of one.- Greg Seltzer

Eddie Pope was kind enough to contribute mightily to the long-promised Top 5 List of transfers that weren't for Americans, so I'm going to air his full comments on the relevant matter contained within unedited. If you haven't seen it yet, you may wish to read that before the following text.--"At a couple points throughout my career, I had a lot of interest from many European teams.

Rumors have been swirling recently involving German midfielder Michael Ballack possibly making the move to Major League Soccer.

Ballack, best known for his heroics in the 2002 World Cup Final and time spent with Chelsea and Bayern Munich, has been linked to the expansion Montreal Impact for the past few months.

By Tony Edwards - San Jose, CA (Jan 19, 2012) US Soccer Players -- In today's edition, Tony asks about Everton's tactics and upcoming schedule, looks at Steve Cherundolo's Hannover '96 back in action in Germany, wonders about the Rapids' priorities going into the season, and asks Joe Cannon not to quit his day job.

Remember Yuri Zhirkov? The man with a big reputation as one of the upcoming stars of European football joined Chelsea for a fee of around £18m in 2009 and being honest, did little really to cement his place in the team or force his way in. I think we could realistically, count on one hand the amount of games he played well in for Chelsea.

Germany's DFB Women's Indoor Cup took place over the weekend and as to be expected, FFC Frankfurt's enthusiastic squad picked up the trophy from the hands of the sad Bayern Munich girls. Next time, chicas!

But there's a reason behind all of this, of course.

We've semi-regularly tried to post a Friday "What to Watch this Weekend" (WtWtW) viewing guide. Starting today, we'll aim to bookend that with a companion "What We Watched this Weekend" (WWWtW) summary pulled primarily from weekend email chatter among the CultFootball crew, maybe spiced up with some video highlights.

Post Match Quotes from USSoccer.com


U.S. Men's National Team head coach JURGEN KLINSMANN:
On Jermaine Jones and what went in to decision to make captain:
"It was certainly a difficult situation for Jermaine with the suspension in Germany.

Coach JURGEN KLINSMANN: On Jermaine Jones and what went in to decision to make captain: "It was certainly a difficult situation for Jermaine with the suspension in Germany. I spoke with his coach and the club and we agreed it was beneficial to all of us to have him come in. He arrived the night of the 14th and the next day he practiced twice.