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.
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.
If the early history of the European Championships can be seen as explicitly wrapped up in the
politics of the time, then Spain's victory on home ground in 1964 European Nations Cup could be
regarded as one of international football's ultimate flashes in the pan.
This was a victory that was simultaneously the last gasp of one of the greatest club sides that
European football has ever seen and the beginning of a lull that would last for more than twenty
years, a brief victory for the ultra-nationalism that blighted Spanish political life for the most
of the four decades that followed the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939.
Interview with artist Craig Coulthard, the mind behind Forest Pitch, an event that will be
part of the London 2012 Festival and Cultural Olympiad. Conducted by Eric Beard.
Succinct Briefing About Forest Pitch: A full size football pitch
hidden deep within a commercial forest in the Scottish Borders.
What do we mean by "prehistoric"? We mean before FIFA adopted co-opted, some might say
women's soccer a couple of decades ago, with its history seemingly dated to the 1990s. Though there
has been some coverage of the pre-war era (especially the interesting focus put on Dick, Kerr
Ladies), the period between the end of the Second World War and the fall of the Berlin Wall is
patchily covered, at least to our knowledge (feel free to leave links to any good books, essays,
papers etc in the comments).
Retro Football Kits - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Throughout history, people have been kicking a ball but the earliest scientific evidence suggest
that it was an exercise from a military manual in the second and third BC in China it was called
Cuju. Modern football took years in the making after the Chinese forgot about cuju.
This is Bosuilstadion in Belgium, home to Royal Antwerp Football Club. It was once a grand home
of European football, with a capacity close to 60,000 and the venue for West Germany's 2-1 win over
Belgium in the 1972 European Championship semi-final. It also hosted dozens of eagerly-anticipated
friendlies between the Netherlands and Belgium.
Holy Bratwursten Batman, the Zjermans are bitchslappin' us
We fooled them yet again!
Back in 1986, we played Germany ( West-Germany to be precise) in a friendly and we missed a
couple of regulars ( Van Basten and Rijkaard weren't there) while Arnold Muhren and Erwin Koeman
weren't selected yet.
Out of wide array of matches being played and televised today (a bunch of international
friendlies, a few South American World Cup qualifying matches, and the final four qualifying
playoff matches for Euro 2012), the one to watch is a friendly in Hamburg:
Germany-Netherlands (2:30pmET, ESPN Classic, ESPN3.
As football news goes, it's pretty vanilla, but making red cards in the box a more rare
occasion, leaving goalkeepers more leeway to explore their more rambunctious selves in and around
the general ankle region of attackers.
There's also apparently a rule which says no image but that one to the left can be used in a
story on red cards on a football-related site.
Sometimes we see a game and think that it was an epic game. But one match was so incredible,
that over 40 years later it is still known as the Game of the Century. It was Italy vs. West
Germany in the semifinals of the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. With two European football powers
clashing for one spot in the coveted World Cup finals and players from both teams who are legends,
it was probably always destined to be epic.
I have always suspected Pele of being slightly overhyped. The Maradona v Pele debates always
seemed interesting enough, but I don't know how many of the people involved had actually watched
the latter playing, and if they had, how they were able to make those performances stand up against
Maradona's extraoardinary genius.
Another interlull upon us no club matches, as the top players are jetting around to join their
national sides. There's a full and relatively interesting slate of Euro2012 qualifiers, given the
that qualifying group stage finally wraps up on Tuesday: 20 fixtures today, out of which we've
picked 5 to keep an eye on, and then 22 more on Tuesday.
One of the most controversial games in World Cup history just increased and decreased in
controversy simultaneously. That's an achievement in itself.
The 1966 World Cup final was marked by the was-it-or-wasn't-it-over-the-line debate
over Geoff Hurst's third and decisive goal.
By Alan Duffy
Spot the drug cheats
Forget the Russian linesman and whether or not the ball crossed the line and all that malarkey,
it has now been revealed that three of West Germany's team in the famous 1966 World Cup final
failed drug tests after the game.
By Chris Wright
Sir Bobby Charlton poses alongside his vast blue velvet hat collection at his home in Cheshire
in May of 1970 after winning his 100th England cap the previous week against Nothern Ireland
(scoring his penultimate 48th international goal in the process)...
Ready for your close-up Mr Charlton?
Jurgen Klinsmann connected with Scott French to discuss his coaching influences, as well as to
refute some of the criticism he recently received from his tenure with the German national
team.
"I had wonderful coaches throughout my career, from an [Arsene] Wenger [at AS Monaco] to a
[Cesar Luis] Menotti [at Sampdoria] to a [Franz] Beckenbauer [with West Germany's champs and at
Bayern] to a [Berti] Vogts [with Germany's national team] to [Ossie] Ardilles [at Tottenham and
Giovanni] Trapattoni [with Bayern] -- they've won everything.
Football matches come, of course, in all shapes and sizes the critically important and the
relatively inconsequential, local derbies steeped in decades of mutual loathing and round-trips
which measure thousands of miles and have never been undertaken before. Occasionally, though,
context isn't everything.
It doesn't take much to bring out the obsessive in many men of any age, and this is something
that advertisers and hawkers have been aware of for a long time and acting upon this sort of
impulse with greater and greater sophistication in recent years. Football supporters, of course,
can be amongst the worst for obsessive behaviour, and one of the more obvious manifestations of
this comes in the form of football programmes.
PHILADELPHIA — Starting with Wednesday's friendly against Mexico, new U.S. men's soccer coach
Jurgen Klinsmann says he will rely heavily on a core group of veterans in achieving his long-term
goal of transforming the Americans into World Cup contenders.
"I think every core of a team starts with your leaders, and it's definitely here: (Tim) Howard,
Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey and Landon (Donovan)," Klinsmann told USA TODAY on Sunday.
Finally. After pursuing Jurgen Klinsmann for 5 years, the USSF has hired Jurgen Klinsmann to
be the next National Team coach, replacing Bob Bradley. Most fans wanted Klinsmann to lead the
National Team back in 2006, but US Soccer would not pay him the money or give him the control he
wanted to implement his agenda.
The Son of the late Great Bobby Moore who died of Bowel Cancer in 1993 aged 54 has been
found dead in his Notting Hill home.
Dean (43) ran a pub opposite Chelsea's home stadium Stamford Bridge was found dead by paramedics
who were called by concerned relatives, he was understood to have had a medical condition which may
have triggered his un-timely death.
Photo by Giftraum
The U.S. Soccer Federation confirmed today what many had expected - Jürgen Klinsmann will be
the next manager of the men's national team.
After reportedly twice trying to hire the German for the job in the past five years, Sunil
Gulati has his man. The federation will hold a press conference in New York on Monday and his
first match as head man will be against Mexico on August 10.
Oranje had qualified for the WC1974 finals. Cruyff and Neeskens beat Brazil and West Germany -
not playing a very impressive tournament so far - was to be the next nudge on the ...eh...football
shoe.
German tabloid Bild wanted to milk the situation.
They had a plan. They knew where the Dutch [read more]
If you are not fan of Bayer Leverkusen or a massive disciple of the German Bundesliga, Lars
Bender may appear as an obscure name to you and this may be the first time you are also hearing the
name ‘Werkself'. ‘Werkself' means "Factory Squad" and is a nickname for TSV Bayer 04
Leverkusen.
By Chris Wright
Presenting the first installment of a new, off-season series we'll be featuring semi-regularly
on Pies over the summer 'On This Day In...'
Having somehow wriggled his way into Enzo Bearzot's 'final 22′ despite not having played a
competitive game for nigh-on two years after getting himself caught up in the 'Totonero'
match-fixing scandal in 1980, a palpable wave of derision accompanied Juventus striker Paolo
Rossi's inclusion in Italy's 1982 World Cup squad with both the fans and the nation's media pouring
scorn on Bearzot for frittering away a place in the squad on a man who was clearly not
match-fit.
The Cold War spread insiduously into every aspect of life between the end of the second world
war and the end of the 1980s, and sport was no exception to this rule, whether it was the Soviets
and Americans boycotting each others' Olympic Games or Bobby Fischer facing off against Boris
Spassky at chess in Rekjavik in 1972.
The Cold War spread insiduously into every aspect of life between the end of the second world
war and the end of the 1980s, and sport was no exception to this rule, whether it was the Soviets
and Americans boycotting each others' Olympic Games or Bobby Fischer facing off against Boris
Spassky at chess in Rekjavik in 1972.
The 1990 World Cup will forever be remembered for Paul Gascoigne aka Gazza breaking down
in tears following his second yellow card of the tournament in the Semi-Finals against
West Germany which would have ruled him out of the World Cup Final had England not succumbed to a
penalty shoot-out defeat to the Germans.
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Over the long weekend I was luckily enough to see an advanced copy of the new movie 'One Night
In Turin" which chronicles England's 1990 World Cup run where they lost to West Germany on
penalties in the semi-finals.
Watching the movie I was struck by the similarities between England's 1990 World Cup run and the
2010 effort.
When I was growing up my father was in the military, therefore we moved around quite a lot. In
the late 80s we lived in Germany and I went to a forces school alongside other British kids. As we
lived in a long forgotten era before the internet we were starved of any sort of British culture
(including football).
Imagine an alternative reality where the USA victory over England in the 1950 World Cup was not
only noticed by the general public, it sparked a soccer boom in the United States.
In this reality, the top US professional soccer league, second in popularity only to American
football, not only follows the FIFA international calendar, it regularly develops, maintains and
retains world class talent.
So as the 1970's came to a close, ending one of the most politically turbulent decades in the
history of sports, the world behld with horror the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979,
which....
...wait a minute. I'm forgetting something. There was a World Cup in 1978. And everybody came.
