Could someone please evict Ballack from the team camp in South Africa? The players have made clear team spirit was way better without him ffs.
German media. He's undergoing a medical program there, meaning he's plenty of time to hang out with team members. The players have praised the outstanding team spirit in this tournament many times.
Who thinks we should stop being referred to as "West Germany" when referring to the Nationalelf prior to 1990? I mean, it is the same country (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) and the same footballing federation (Deutscher Fußball-Bund), we re-absorbed our brothers and sister from the East.
There should really be a new name for Germany after the foreign talent raiding followed by integration......
This brother doesn't. Those teams didn't represent all of Germany. In German it's never used anyway, but in English it's the common usage. Considering that it is an issue of zero importance these days, that's fine as it is.
And they are actually right in the WR thread - there is a huge difference between West Germany and Germany now (they aren't talking about football there). That's the reason many Western politicians feared re-unification after all. Yeah, it's a silly thread and all, but that was a valid point once you buy the premise. And calling WWII the best thing to happen to Germany is slightly maccabre as well. Sure, the outcome was good in the end, but considering it did cost the lifes of tens of millions of people and the holocaust happened in the context of WWII one shouldn't word it that way.
I said "losing WWII was the best thing that happened to Germany", not WWII itself. If I didn't, and you are indeed correct, well then, that was a huge error on my part which probably occurred by not being able to type as fast as my thoughts are processed.
No, you said losing indeed - my apologies. I should have checked the thread again before commenting on thread, sorry.
It only bothers me when people use this to argue that "Germany" (the unified one) has yet to win a World Cup, because the previous three were won "by West Germany". One could argue with more justification that the current Italy (= Republic of Italy) has only won two World Cups (1982, 2006), because the first two were won by a team representing the Kingdom of Italy (1934, 1938), but you never hear anyone doing that, although these were actually two different states unlike the Federal Republic of Germany 1949-1990 and 1990-2010.
Israelis rooting for Germany Despite country's dark history, 30.5% of Israelis hope to see German soccer team take FIFA World Cup home. But not all Israelis are pleased with growing popularity. 'It's simply a disgrace, are there no other teams to support?' says Holocaust survivor The German national soccer team is generally not considered one of the most popular in Israel, but it seems this year's FIFA World Cup is leaving its mark. A poll conducted Sunday by Yedioth Ahronoth and the Dahaf Institute, headed by Mina Tzemach, showed that almost one-third of Israelis would like to see coach Joachim Löw's team win the Cup. The poll's findings are based on answers by 500 respondents, comprising a representative sample of the adult population in Israel. According to the findings, 31.1% of the male population in Israel (27.7% of the general sample) would like to see Holland take the cup home. Germany, surprisingly, comes in second place, with 30.5% of the male population (25.1% of the general sample) hoping to see striker Miroslav Klose and his teammates win the international championship. Christine Winter of the Goethe Institute in Tel Aviv welcomed the German national team's growing popularity in Israel, and said, "As the World Cup games progress I hear of more and more fans of Germany here…There is a sense of awakening with regards to Germany. Many come to study the language here and the Israelis are the second largest group of tourists in Berlin. "There are many German visitors in Israel and Berlin has a large community of Israelis. The national team was the last thing that wasn't so 'in' until now, but this is changing too." 'It's just soccer' While Israeli fans are aware that their decision to support the team may be perceived as controversial, some insist that it is "just soccer." Germany supporter Ariel Melamud, a med student at Ben Gurion University, told Yedioth Ahronoth, "My uncle was born in 1947 and says he could never support a team like Germany, even though it is just soccer. "There is always the connotation of what happened in the Holocaust, but let's keep in mind that this is just soccer. With all the history, which is certainly difficult, I do not think it should affect the game itself." Germany's fans in Israel also include a significant number of Israeli-Arabs, and one such fan, a resident of Nazareth, told Yedioth Ahronoth, "This team is the most popular in our sector. I can't explain why Germany. There is no special reason, and it is certainly not because of what happened, but simply because they play the kind of soccer we like." As for the results of this year's tournament, Spain comes in third after Holland and Germany, according to the poll, and got the support of 23% of its respondents. Uruguay was ranked last, with only 8.1% of Israelis wishing to see it win. The maximum sampling error for the general sample stands at 4.4%. When asked what country they most supported before the tournament kicked off, 13.6% of the male respondents opted for Germany, which surprisingly got more votes than teams such as England, Spain, and even Holland. While the respondents were asked to ignore the achievements recorded during the tournament, Germany's fantastic abilities, including defeats over Australia, England and Argentina, may still have had an influence on their answers http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3915278,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/0,1518,704792,00.html A German fan shot two Italian fans 3 minutes from where I live because they kept teasing him aobut the fact that Italy has one more WC titles. Unbelievable.
Yeah, I don't take it seriously...I don't even wanna know the particulars, but I'm sure they put Lahm in a corner where he could only lose, no matter what he would have said. Then they took his response and blew it out of proportion... I hope they'll move on...these "scandals" that are 100% orchestrated by the press are tiring...
I can believe this - I'm technically Jewish, and I'm obviously cheering for Germany. And in terms of Oezil, it creeps me out more that I have a crush on a 21-year-old than that I have a crush on a devout Muslim.
I haven't been religious since about 1994, and I've called myself an atheist since about 2001. I don't keep kosher, I don't give up bread for Passover, I don't fast for Yom Kippur, and I love cheeseburgers.
I gave up religion as soon as I was old enough to have common sense. I don't care if other people swear by it - it doesn't bother me, just don't try and convert me.