A brief history of British-German Football

1871 - 1938 The Fifties The Sixties The seventies The eighties the nineties 2000 & beyond

2000 and beyond

In the Euro 2000 group final, England won 1–0 over Germany but neither team made it beyond round 1. While Germans bemoaned the fall of their team into mediocrity, England celebrated its first victory over Germany in a competition match since 1966. Apparently, the tables were turning again.

A first World Cup qualifier later in the year was won by Germany, followed by a football lesson by England in September 2001 in which they shamed the German side to the bone. The crushing 5–1 defeat was owed much to an outstanding Michael Owen who scored a hattrick. Further goals by Steven Gerrard and Emile Heskey finished off a Germany team whose defence was falling to pieces.

Sven Goran Eriksson's England played slick, skilled football against a German side who appeared to be giving up halfway through the match, and had big problems in defence and attack. After the match, Germany's Franz Beckenbauer, who had predicted a German victory, said that this England side was the best he had ever seen.

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Just before the 2002 World Cup, Wales achieved a 1–0 defeat of Germany that sent shockwaves through the Welsh press.

Few would have thought that this German side would get anywhere in the World Cup, and yet, Völler got his team sufficiently sorted to finish runners-up, losing 2–0 to Brazil, and ahead of England who had already been kicked out by Brazil in the quarterfinals.

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In 2003, Germany played two Euro 2004 qualifiers against Scotland under their new German coach, Berti Vogts. The Scottish team held Germany to a draw in the first match but had to take a 2–1 defeat in the second.

Wales meanwhile became the best-supported national team during the qualifying tournament for Euro 2004, with an average attendance in excess of 70,000.

At the Euro 2004 in Portugal, Germany dropped out in round 1 after draws with the Netherlands and Latvia, and a defeat at the hands of the Czech Republic. England meanwhile finished ahead of Germany for the first time since 1972. In the quarterfinals they were eliminated by the Portuguese on penalties after 2-2 draw.

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The most recent encounter between a British and a German side took place in June 2005, when Northern Ireland came to Dortmund for a friendly. After a mere 15 minutes, Germany's Robert Huth was sent off for pushing the ball over with his hand to prevent an Irish goal. Ireland went on to convert the penalty into a lead.

Though Germany equalised within two minutes, they failed to fully assert themselves during the remainder of the first half. Klinsmann's substitutions after half time lend the German attack more edge ultimately leading them to victory against a Northern Ireland team who played a much weaker second half.

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Additional Sources:

www.thefa.com – The Football Association of England

www.englandstats.com – A database of England Internationals since 1872

www.dfb.de – The German Football Association (Deutscher Fussballbund)

www.fussballdaten.de – German football statistics

www.ddr-fussball.info – East German Football (Das grosse DDR-Fussball Spezial)

www.irishfa.com – The Irish Football Association ( Northern Ireland)

www.scottishfa.co.uk – The Scottish Football Association

www.londonhearts.com/scotland/scotlandrecords.html – Scotland, the Complete Record

www.faw.org.uk – The Football Association of Wales

www.rsssf.com – The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation – match statistics

David Downing: The Best of Enemies. England v Germany. Bloomsbury, 2000.

Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton: Christmas Truce. The Western Front December 1914. Pan Grand Strategy, 1999.

Paul Fussell: The Great War and Modern Memory. Oxford University Press, 2000.

www.aaronshep.com/stories/061.html – A memoir of the Christmas Truce




1871 - 1938 The Fifties The Sixties The seventies The eighties the nineties 2000 & beyond




   
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