Offside Sarah

positionsspiel:

Yann M’Vila vs Sami Khedira 

(via positionsspiel-deactivated20120)

Reading Rec: Pride, pig-headedness and glee - Leverkusen's Project Ballack fails

Excerpt: 

‘Demontage. It’s a word that’s so good Germans had to nick it from the French. It refers to the taking apart of something (or someone) but there are extra layers of meaning. A Demontage is conspicuous, a very public destruction of an important person’s image and status, and it implies an element of glee, lust even. Roping in a fremdwort (foreign word) to name an activity can sometimes betray a sense of unease, and Demontage is probably a good example of that: taking pleasure in someone’s (symbolic) dismemberment sounds a little less problematic in exotic syllables.

“Ballacks Demontage hat begonnen,” (Ballack’s demontage has begun), wrote Stuttgarter Zeitung in July 2010, when the captain’s future in the brave new Germany of Jogi Löw looked less than assured.’

Read the full article at The Guardian.

2010: Pique vs Klose

bundesligaclassic:

Spain centerback Gerard Pique and Germany forward Miroslav Klose had a contentious encounter at the 2010 World Cup semi finals.  

Remembering Bernd Schuster…as a traitor. 

bundesligaclassic:

Before his move to the Bernabeu, Bernd Schuster (top row, second from right) spent eight successful years with Barcelona where he moved after his great performances caught their attention at the 1980 European Championship. 

Reading Rec: German soccer chief Theo Zwanziger calls for gays to come out

Excerpt: 

‘Germany captain Philipp Lahm, however, disagrees as far as soccer goes.

“Football is like being the gladiators in the old times,” Lahm said in an interview published Monday. “The politicians can come out these days, for sure, but they don’t have to play in front of 60,000 people every week.”

“I don’t think that the society is that far ahead that it can accept homosexual players as something normal as in other areas,” he added.’

Read the full article on ESPN

Reading Rec: Soccer predictions for 2012 - Ben Lyttleton

What to expect or what you should want from football in 2012, including Euro 2012 predictions, manager merry-go-rounds, tackling stigma of depression, Jose finally besting Pep, and more! See the full article at Sports Illustrated. 

The days when England use to beat Germany…(though I think England remain ahead in total games won between the two countries)

bundesligaclassic:

West Germany’s first match against England after the Second World War came on December 1st, 1954 in front of 100,000 supporters at Wembley Stadium in London.  West Germany lost the match 3-1. It was their 8th game against the English, Germany remaining without a win.  Above is West Germany’s goalkeeper Fritz Herkenrath parrying away a shot from England’s Tom Finney.