German national team: Caught cheating

Since the medical professor Dr. When Otto Nerz made his debut in Amsterdam in October 1926 as the first coach of the German Football Association, the national team was only coached by Germans. A foreigner on the bench? For a long time it was simply unthinkable – and as long as the success was there, it wasn’t a big issue. Other countries were more flexible, not least German coaches became a hit export. Til today.

If Turkey hadn’t released Stefan Kuntz a few weeks ago, the national team would have had to play against teams coached by their compatriots twice in this international phase. This only means a reunion with long-time Bundesliga coach Ralf Rangnick, who led Austria to Germany before qualification for the European Championship was completed.

Since the Germans are qualified as hosts, they don’t have to worry too much about a defeat on Tuesday in Vienna, even if it would damage the spirit of optimism under Julian Nagelsmann.

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It has recently become apparent that there is a danger from “defectors” in the coaching bench. Three of the last four duels in this special constellation were lost, most recently a 2:3 against Domenico Tedesco’s Belgians in March. The former Schalke coach has a German and an Italian passport. The last defeat against Austria to date (a 2-1 defeat in Klagenfurt in 2018) was also attributed to a German: Franco Foda.

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The overall record against German coaches is positive: 24 wins, three draws and eight defeats. Rangnick is the 21st coach whose team plays against the team from his home country – spread over 35 games, as there were various repeat offenders. Above all, former national coach Berti Vogts, who – like Sepp Piontek – played five times against the country with whom he became world champion in 1974.

Saarland trained beautifully

Vogts’ conflict of conscience was particularly evident as he had to try, purely professionally, to ruin the DFB’s participation in the 2004 European Championship and once again allow himself to be insulted as a traitor to the fatherland. In any case, he was completely absorbed in his task. He offered to call him “Berti McVogts” to the Scottish press. Before the first leg in June 2003, he admitted: “23 years for the DFB as a coach and eleven years as a national player were a wonderful time. It won’t be an easy game for me.” As the anthems were played, he then looked at both flags, “because I love both.” Neither with the Scots nor then with Azerbaijan in three further qualifying games did he spoil his fatherland’s fortunes, as he only got one point from five games.

Helmut Schön was certainly not too unhappy about his two defeats. Before the Dresden native became the third national coach (1964 to 1978), he had to oversee the selection of Saarland, which was self-sufficient after the war, and before the 1954 World Cup he met his teacher Sepp Herberger, under whom he had played 16 international matches. Saar lost both games (0:3 and 1:3), and after the second leg in Saarbrücken, Schön appeared at the winners’ banquet as a matter of course and made a joke: “Dear Mr. Herberger, since Saarland no longer has the opportunity to play in If Switzerland wants to become world champion, please make it with the German national team.” Herberger had to laugh. With the good wishes of the opposing coach, Germany actually became world champions in Bern four months later.

Jürgen Klinsmann faced Germany with the US team at the 2014 World Cup

Source: picture alliance / Erik S. Lesser/EPA/dpa

Like in 2014. In the last group game in Brazil, Jürgen Klinsmann, Joachim Löw’s predecessor and boss, stood in the way, and the foreign press speculated about a second Gijon (a result agreement), as a draw would have been enough for both of them to advance. However, the trainer friends bravely asserted that there would be no agreement. Klinsmann: “We always fight for victory, we are not made for draws.” Joachim Löw lectured: “If you play for a draw, things usually go wrong.” His assistant Hansi Flick assured: “Non-aggression pact? That won’t be the case. We will win and not play for the result.”

This also happened with a goal from Thomas Müller (1:0). But both made progress in the rainy battle of Recife, and the football world was satisfied: “Müller is clearing Germany’s name, there was no non-aggression pact like between Germany and Austria in 1982,” wrote Spain’s newspaper AS. The test match defeats in 2013 (3:4) and 2015 (1:2) against Klinsmann’s US boys have almost been forgotten, making the Swabian sonnyboy the only one to have two wins against his country of birth.

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Former Bremen champion player Josef “Sepp” Piontek pinned the first one on his lapel. He also met the DFB team in the third group game of a World Cup, and luckily for them they were already in the round of 16 in Mexico in 1986. Denmark’s 2-0 win did not cause any major damage, at most in the relationship between Piontek and the DFB. At the press conference, the Dane coach blasphemed: “If that’s all German football has to offer…”. He took revenge victoriously in two subsequent tests and at the European Championships in 1988. “Emperor” Franz Beckenbauer only allowed himself to be mocked once by Piontek – and sent the Danes home early.

Incidentally, Piontek is one of three Germans who competed against his homeland with two countries. In 1992 he lost a friendly with Turkey (0-1). Beckenbauer’s assistant at the 1990 World Cup, Holger Osieck (2003 with Canada, 2011 with Australia) and Bernd Storck (2010 with Kazakhstan, 2016 with Hungary) also belong in this category.

Schäfer flies to the Germany game

Winfried Schäfer certainly has the most unpleasant memories of a “stranger”. After his Bundesliga career, the long-haired cult coach of Karlsruher SC tried out, among other things, as a selection coach for Cameroon and met Rudi Völler’s team in the last group game at the 2002 World Cup in Japan. Only the winner would advance, Schäfer at least won the preliminary skirmish. “I am a lion and I want to represent Cameroon with dignity with my team.” Nevertheless, despite being in the majority, he lost 2-0 and had to pack his bags. But he remained in office.

Winfried Schäfer had to vacate his post after a 3-0 defeat against the DFB team

Quelle: picture-alliance / Press photo ULMER/Markus Ulmer

But Germany became his fate: after a friendly defeat in the fall of 2004 (0-3) in Leipzig, he lost his job the night after the game. Schäfer vented his anger, saying that the players had been playing poker for bonuses up until an hour before kick-off and wanted to boycott the game. His bitter realization: “There are people in Cameroon who don’t want success.”

The name of record national player Lothar Matthäus can also be found in the list; his yield is 100 percent. On June 6, 2004, he stormed Betzenberg with the Hungarians and spoke of the “Miracle of Kaiserslautern”.

Insider knowledge paved the way for his team to win 2-0 over that of his World Cup mate Rudi Völler: “My advantage is that I know the German team much better than Rudi knows mine.” This applied to almost all Germans on an opponent’s bench. Most of the time it didn’t help.

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