German national soccer team of amateurs

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The German national soccer team of amateurs was a selection of non-professional players who represented Germany in soccer matches against teams from other nations.

From 1952 (2-1 against Great Britain on May 14th in Düsseldorf) to 1979 (0-1 against Norway on November 14th in Baunatal) the DFB played 154 international matches with its amateur national team (79 wins, 37 draws, 38 defeats; goal difference 267 : 172). The team took part in the tournaments of the 1952 , 1956 and 1972 Olympic Games . The Olympic team finally replaced the national soccer team of the amateurs after the union of European soccer federations opposed the continuation of the competition of the amateur European championship and professional players were allowed to participate in Olympic soccer tournaments under certain conditions.

Start of the amateur national team, 1951 to 1952

The top in German football in the early 1950s

With the introduction of the four-contract player Oberligen in Germany on 24 July 1949, the birth of was Profitums completed the round in 1949/50 in German football. The players in the upper leagues ( south , southwest , west , north and the Berlin city league ; in Berlin only from round 1950/51) were allowed to earn a maximum of 320 DM per month. For the 1950/51 season, with the creation of a second division (initially also II. Division) in the south, a further contract player class and the first amateur league as the top division of amateur football were introduced in addition to the one already existing in the west in 1949/50. In Berlin, southwest and north, one or five amateur league seasons were the direct substructure of the Oberliga. Among the amateur leagues came the 2nd amateur leagues, which played the games across districts, and among them in the football circles the A and B leagues.

As a result of the contract playing in the major leagues, the DFB introduced its own German championship for the amateur teams. In the final of the first German amateur championship on June 30, 1951 in Berlin, ATSV Bremen 1860 prevailed with 3-2 goals against the Karlsruher FV . Willi Schröder and Kurt Ehrmann stood out in the final, which took place before the final of the contract players between 1. FC Kaiserslautern and SC Preußen Münster. 1952 followed as the new amateur champion of VfR Schwenningen with a 5-2 success against Cronenberger SC , in whose ranks Herbert Jäger tried in vain to organize the defense. Top players were also involved in the national cup of amateurs . Karl Klug , Herbert Jäger and Matthias Mauritz were on the winning team of the Lower Rhine in 1951 . When the Bayern association dethroned the defending champion Niederrhein with 4-0 goals in 1952, there were six players in the team, Erich Bäumler , Ludwig Hinterstocker , Egon Loy , Rudolf Meßmann , Heinz Wittig and Johann Zeitler , who were in the top division play in the next few years or should come to further selection lessons even without a league membership.

Selection teams in Germany

In the DFB, the top performance of football was represented by the national team , representative games of the regional associations and the final round of the German football championship by the representatives of the major leagues. In 1951 national coach Sepp Herberger expanded his national team squad by introducing a B national team . On April 14, 1951, the first international match was played, which - as in the case of the senior national team's debut after the Second World War - was played against Switzerland and ended in Karlsruhe with a 2-0 defeat. In the following three games, later Olympians were tested with Georg Stollenwerk , Willi Schröder, Matthias Mauritz and Kurt Sommerlatt and in the only B international match of 1952 after this major event with Hans Eberle and Herbert Schäfer, two more amateur national players were used in the B selection.

After the Second World War, representative games of the regional associations almost had the character of international matches. On March 24, 1946, the first game of these national encounters took place in Stuttgart. South Germany won 3-0 goals against West Germany. They were especially valuable for national coach Sepp Herberger when building up the national team. While the observation of the top by the five top leagues alone was difficult to manage, the problem at the overall third class amateur level in the sense of a "close-knit" sifting of the talents was even more striking. Even the cooperation of the association sports teachers alone could not solve this problem satisfactorily . The national coach's legendary “notebook”, in which all the talents and experts of German football should be noted, helped more.

With the game North Germany against South West Germany on September 29, 1962 in Braunschweig, the representative games of the regional associations ended. Due to the newly created Bundesliga from the 1963/64 round , they lost their essential importance and were therefore discontinued.

The first games of the amateur national team

In Germany, in the run-up to the Helsinki Summer Olympics in 1952, the question of the participation of a German amateur football team was lively discussed both verbally and in writing. The dissenting voices far outweighed the public. The German Football Association argued against these votes that the many hundreds of thousands of active amateurs had to be set a goal for their performance striving. The DFB hoped to gain new impetus for amateur sport from participating in the games in Helsinki. In the end, this argument was convincing.

In February 1951 national coach Sepp Herberger received the order to create a German soccer team for the XV. Build Olympic Games. The executive branch of the International Olympic Committee had the representatives of West and East Germany sign an agreement in Lausanne on April 22, 1951 , in which the National Olympic Committee (NOK) of the Federal Republic designated as "solely responsible" for the formation of the Olympic team in 1952 the GDR athletes were given the opportunity to participate. The NOC of the GDR was not ready in the following period to enable East German athletes to integrate into the West German Olympic selection. Even the personal efforts of the President of the Executive Committee, Erik von Frenckell , failed to yield in East Berlin.

Only amateur players were admitted to the Olympic tournament. Jules Rimet , President of the International Football Association (FIFA) , chaired the jury. In preparation for the Olympic tournament, national coach Herberger had two week courses in August 1951 and March 1952, as well as three courses that lasted half a week. In addition, there were the first three amateur international matches in the history of the DFB in May and June of 1952.

The debut game of the amateur national team of the DFB took place on May 14, 1952 in Düsseldorf against Great Britain. The list of the first amateur international match of the DFB representation read:

Rudolf Schönbeck - Hans Eberle , Alfred Post - Kurt Sommerlatt , Herbert Jäger , Erich Gleixner - Matthias Mauritz , Georg Stollenwerk , Johann Zeitler , Willi Schröder , Kurt Ehrmann

With two hits from the center forward Hans Zeitler from VfB Bayreuth , the 2-1 start success was achieved. Four days later, on May 18, the DFB amateurs won their second encounter against the island's guests with 2-0 goals in Nuremberg. With the same result succeeded on June 8, 1952 in Munich in the third game, the third victory against the representation of Austria .

1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki

Helsinki Olympic Stadium

There was no international match for the amateurs immediately before the Olympic football tournament in Helsinki. One reason was the summer break in German football in June / July 1952. The major leagues started the round of 1952/53 on August 24th. The amateur national team opened the Olympic football tournament in Turku on July 20, 1952 with a 3-1 win over Egypt. This was followed on July 24th in the quarter-finals with a 4-2 win after extra time against Brazil, whereby Sepp Herberger's team was able to make up a 0-2 deficit. Three days later, the German team lost 1: 3 goals in the semifinals against Yugoslavia. In the game for the bronze medal on August 1, the 1948 Olympic champion, Sweden, prevailed with 2-0 goals against Germany.

DFB commemorative medal, front
back

The following players represented the DFB at the games in Helsinki:

position Surname active in the association Division
goalkeeper Rudolf Schönbeck FC St. Pauli Oberliga Nord
defender Herbert Hunter Cronenberger SC AL Lower Rhine
defender Alfred Post Rheydter SV Oberliga West
defender Hans Eberle ( chap. ) TSG Ulm 1846 2nd League South
Right runner Kurt Sommerlatt Phoenix Karlsruhe Amateur League North Baden
Middle runner Herbert Schäfer Spfrd. Wins Amateur League Westphalia
Left runner Erich Gleixner VfL Osnabrück Oberliga Nord
striker Matthias Mauritz Fortuna Dusseldorf Oberliga West
striker Ludwig Hinterstocker FC Traunstein State League Bavaria
striker Georg Stollenwerk SG Düren 99 2nd League West
striker Johann Zeitler VfB Bayreuth State League Bavaria
striker Willi Schröder Bremen 1860 Amateur League Bremen
striker Kurt Ehrmann Karlsruhe FV Amateur League North Baden
striker Karl Klug Sterkrade 06/07 Amateur league Niederrhein

In view of the three first placed Hungary (gold), Yugoslavia (silver) and Sweden (bronze), the very good performance of the DFB amateurs at the 1952 Olympic tournament is clear. The Olympic champion from Hungary competed in Helsinki with the Golden Eleven for Ferenc Puskás . It is therefore not possible to speak of equal opportunities for Herberger's selection, which mainly consisted of the amateur camp and the second leagues. Yugoslavia also provided the senior national team for the tournament in Helsinki. Vladimir Beara in the gate; the runner row with Zlatko Čajkovski , Ivan Horvath and Vujadin Boškov and the strikers Bernard Vukas , Stjepan Bobek and Branko Zebec belonged to the European top class in 1952. In Sweden, the stars Gunnar Gren , Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm were no longer there from the Olympic championship team in 1948 , only defender Erik Nilsson was in the Helsinki team, but with goalkeeper Karl Svensson , defender Lennart Samuelsson , runner Olle Åhlund and striker Ingvar Rydell were participants of the World Cup team in 1950 , which had taken 3rd place in Brazil. Then there was the stopper for the 1958 World Cup , Bengt Gustavsson . In addition, the Swedes competed in their A international matches against the Netherlands, Scotland, Denmark and Finland in May and June 1952, complete with the players of the 1952 Olympic football tournament.

In the 3-2 victory against Yugoslavia on December 21, 1952, none of the Olympic participants from Finland was in the senior national team of the DFB. Even at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, there were no German players from the 1952 Olympic tournament. Only Georg Stollenwerk was one of the regular players at the 1958 World Cup .

Between the Olympics, 1953 to 1955

After the 1952 Olympics, the DFB held four international games with the amateur football team between 1953 and 1955. Because of the qualifying games for the soccer world championship and the World Cup tournament in 1954 in Switzerland - also because of the sensational title win of the Herberger protégés - the view of the amateur national team was of secondary importance in those years.

In the 1952/53 season, two games were played against Austria (April 29, 1953; 3-1 win) and France (June 13, 1953; 1-0 win). Goalkeeper Günther Klemm from SpVgg Nassau Wiesbaden (from the 1953/54 round in the Oberliga Süd at FSV Frankfurt) came as newcomers , the right wing runner Willi Gierlich from 1. FC Köln (a deployment in the Oberliga West), the left wing runner Fritz Semmelmann from SpVgg Bayreuth from the Bavarian regional league and strikers Richard Kreß from FV 1910 Horas (from 1953/54 in the Oberliga Süd at Eintracht Frankfurt), Winfried Herz and Heinz Wozniakowski from Eintracht Braunschweig (the two GDR refugees shot in the round 1952/53 the forced relegation from the Oberliga Nord, Eintracht Braunschweig, in the amateur league Lower Saxony East to the championship and thus to immediate promotion), Hans Weilbächer from Eintracht Frankfurt (Oberliga Süd) and left winger Helmut Rühle from Stuttgarter Kickers (Oberliga Süd) for use.

In 1954 and 1955 there was an international match between the amateurs. Goalkeeper Egon Loy ( SC 04 Schwabach ; Amateur League North Bavaria) confirmed his contract from the 1954/55 round in the Oberliga Süd at Eintracht Frankfurt with his performance on May 30, 1954 in Longwy against France. Helmut Sattler and Ernst Wade were already on the ball with Kickers Offenbach in the Oberliga Süd, although the defender Sattler was only able to fight for his place in the regular formation in the 1955/56 round. The same was true for left winger Hermann Höfer from Eintracht Frankfurt , only the later long-time left defender made his breakthrough in the 1954/55 round. On November 12, 1955 in London in a 3-2 win against England, the complete series of runners with Karl Hoffmann (Fortuna Düsseldorf), Rudolf Hoffmann (Viktoria Aschaffenburg) and Max Schwall from the Karlsruhe district association FV Daxlanden made their debut in the amateur national team. Continuity and the planned development of a team towards a specific sporting goal could not be seen from the approach over the three years.

1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne

Olympic badge

preparation

During the negotiations between the two German NOKs on 21/22 September 1956 it was unclear whether a football team should compete at the Olympic Games in Melbourne . The goal of the GDR was to send an all-German team (the GDR could have nominated their national players, as they were considered amateurs). It was only at the last meeting on October 15, 1956 in Cologne that the NOK-Ost declared that it was ready to send its own West German teams in football, hockey and water polo. As one of four teams, the German received a bye and therefore did not have to go into the first-time qualification .

Under the leadership of national coach Sepp Herberger, assisted by Dettmar Cramer and Georg Gawliczek , the DFB organized extensive preparations for the football tournament for the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. The targeted preparatory phase began with a training game on April 18, 1956. Two international matches in May, courses and test matches against the German B national team were also added. The level of a senior national team, however, could not reach the world championship coach of 1954, with the staff available to him, despite well-thought-out planning. His psychological strength was the most important weapon in building the unconditional will to perform and the team spirit among all players in the Olympic squad in order to be able to put together a competitive team for the tournament, not the single-player class of the squad.

competition

Hoffmann (l.) And Schwall (r.) At Melbourne Airport

In Melbourne on November 24, 1956, the Soviet Union was the opponent of the amateur football team in the preliminary round of the Olympic football tournament . The team around goalkeeper Lev Yashin and captain Igor Netto had their strengths in the two victories against the senior national team of national coach Sepp Herberger on August 21, 1955 in Moscow (3: 2) and on September 15, 1956 in Hanover (2: 1) impressively demonstrated. With Fritz Herkenrath ; Karl Schmidt , Erich Juskowiak ; Horst Eckel , Josef Posipal , Herbert Erhardt ; Erwin Waldner , Willi Schröder , Ulrich Biesinger , Fritz Walter and Heinz Vollmar had the reigning soccer world champion of 1954 in Hanover in September in Hanover could not bring the Soviet Union to its knees, so that the victory of a German amateur selection had to be considered hopeless. In fact, the Soviet Union entered the Olympics with the identical line-up from Hanover, only Kuznetsov replaced the defender Tishchenko. The protégés of DFB trainer Georg Gawliczek competed in the following line-up:

Albert Görtz - Willi Gerdau , Hermann Höfer - Karl Hoffmann , Rudolf Hoffmann , Fritz Semmelmann - Matthias Mauritz , Rolf Geiger , Johann Zeitler , Herbert Schäfer , Ernst-Günter Habig

Only Matthias Mauritz, Hans Zeitler and Herbert Schäfer brought experience from the 1952 Olympic tournament in Helsinki. Gerdau and Geiger played their first amateur international game. Habig scored the 1: 2 in the 86th minute of the game, Zeitler almost hit the post with the final whistle, but it remained with the narrow victory of the eventual Olympic champion Soviet Union. This defeat already meant the elimination of the DFB-Elf from the competition. In addition to team leader Hans Huber and companion Hermann Joch, four other players also belonged to the DFB delegation in Melbourne. The full roster included the following players:

position Surname active in the association Division
goalkeeper Albert Goertz Düsseldorf SC 99 Lower Rhine regional league
goalkeeper Manfred Eglin Karlsruhe FV 2nd League South
defender Willi Gerdau Heider SV Oberliga Nord
defender Hermann Höfer Eintracht Frankfurt Oberliga Süd
defender Günter Jäger Fortuna Dusseldorf Oberliga West
Right runner Karl Hoffmann Fortuna Dusseldorf Oberliga West
Middle runner Rudolf Hoffmann Viktoria Aschaffenburg Oberliga Süd
Left runner Fritz Semmelmann SpVgg Bayreuth 1st Amateur League Northern Bavaria
Outrunner Max flood FV Daxlanden 1st Amateur League North Baden
striker Matthias Mauritz Fortuna Dusseldorf Oberliga West
striker Rolf Geiger Stuttgart Kickers Oberliga Süd
striker Johann Zeitler VfB Bayreuth 1st Amateur League Northern Bavaria
striker Herbert Schäfer SF victories Amateur League Westphalia
striker Ernst-Günter Habig SC Rapid Cologne Middle Rhine amateur league
striker Albert Brülls Borussia Monchengladbach Oberliga West

It is understandable that the International Football Association (FIFA) 's definition of amateur annoyed IOC President Avery Brundage . FIFA excluded players with professional contracts, but not comparable players from the socialist countries (Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria). The semi-professionalism practiced there enabled these countries to offer their best players. You therefore competed with the senior national team.

The appreciation and support of the DFB for the appearance of the amateur national team in Melbourne was not exactly documented positively by the international matches of the senior national team on November 21 and 25, 1956 in Frankfurt against Switzerland and in Dublin against Ireland. The priorities within the DFB were clearly not aimed at the constructed “strengthening” of the amateur national team.

Between games, 1957-1959

In 1957 there were three international matches for the amateur national team. At the end of the 1956/57 round, there were two games against Scotland and England in May. Willy Reitgaßl ( VfB Coburg ; 1st Amateur League North Bavaria; 21 years) and Heinz Hornig ( Eintracht Gelsenkirchen ; 2nd League West; 20 years) made their debut as wingers . In the 1957/58 season, three international appearances against England, France and Curacao followed. In the 3-2 win on October 12, 1957 in Ilford against England, the 18-year-old Karl-Heinz Schnellinger ( SG Düren 99 ; 2nd League West) made his debut alongside Willi Gerdau as a left defender and the talented trio in attack with Peter Grosser ( FC Bayern Munich ; not used in the Oberliga Süd), Klaus Matischak ( VfB Bottrop ; 2nd League West) and Günter Herrmann ( Eintracht Trier ; Oberliga Südwest). National coach Sepp Herberger tested talents for other international tasks through the amateur national team during these years. Schnellinger's path led straight to the top: in April 1957 he defended the UEFA youth tournament in Madrid, in October 1957 he played in the amateur national team, in April 1958 his debut in the senior national team and in June 1958 participation in the football 1958 World Cup in Sweden.

In the spring of 1959, two international matches were played. On April 15th in Enschede against the Netherlands and on May 27th in victories against England. Both games were won with 2-0 goals. Center forward Erwin Stein from SpVgg Griesheim 02 scored all four goals, making him a beacon of hope for the qualifying games for the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Since Stein still managed to equalize in the international match against Poland on May 20, 1959 in Hamburg after his substitution in the 63rd minute of the game in the senior national team, he was the goalscorer for the amateur national team for the 1959/60 season - especially for the Olympic Games in Rome - indispensable. This also applied to the plans of national coach Sepp Herberger. With the talents Peter Kunter (goalkeeper of Eintracht Wetzlar ), Jürgen Kurbjuhn (defender of Buxtehuder SV ), Werner Olk (defender of SV Arminia Hannover ), Willi Schulz (outrunner of Union Günnigfeld ), Günter Herrmann (half-striker of Karlsruher SC ) and Gert Dörfel (left winger from Hamburger SV ), the DFB, together with veterans Matthias Mauritz and Herbert Schäfer, had found a powerful framework for the amateur national team. With this they could go to the Olympic qualifying games with good prospects. But participation in the Olympic Games was inconceivable without a real striker. Erwin Stein signed a contract with German champions Eintracht Frankfurt for the round in 1959/60 and moved in with the Hessians in the European Cup of champions until the 1960 final in Glasgow against Real Madrid and proved his in the Oberliga Süd as well as in the European games outstanding qualities as a goalscorer. The amateur national team thus lost the most dangerous attacker and Erwin Stein at Sepp Herberger lost any chance to be considered again for the senior national team.

Elimination games against the GDR and Olympic qualifying games, 1959 to 1960

German-German qualifying games, 1959

Before the 1960 Olympics, the DFB wanted to set up an all-German team made up of the best players from both associations; the German Football Association demanded at the deliberations on April 17, 1959 in Munich, however, that either the team from the Federal Republic or an Olympic team from the GDR should take part in the Olympic qualification and that it should be decided in two qualifying games. According to an agreement between the two National Olympic Committees, the Games took place on September 16 and 23, 1959, in camera. The GDR played the three international matches played immediately before the qualifying matches against the DFB amateurs against Portugal (June 28, 1959), Czechoslovakia (August 12, 1959) and Finland (September 6, 1959) with the following players: Klaus Thiele, Hans-Dieter Krampe, Conrad Wagner, Bringfried Müller, Herbert Maschke, Werner Heine, Siegfried Wolf, Werner Unger, Roland Dücke, Günter Schröter, Bernd Bauchspieß, Dieter Erler, Rainer Fanz, Gerhard Vogt and Horst Kohlen. The decisive test match of the DFB team took place on August 5, 1959 in the Augsburger Rosenaustadion against a combination of the top division teams of FC Bayern and 1860 Munich and BC Augsburg. The amateur national team won the game with 3-2 goals.

The first meeting took place on September 16 in the Walter Ulbricht Stadium in Berlin . The GDR selection was supervised by trainer Heinz Krügel , the DFB amateurs by Herberger assistant Georg Gawliczek. The GDR team played in the formation:

Klaus Thiele - Bringfried Müller , Hans-Dieter Krampe - Werner Unger , Werner Heine , Dieter Fischer - Roland Ducke , Günter Schröter , Gerhard Vogt , Dieter Erler , Reinhard Franz

The DFB selection came up with the following list:

Manfred Eglin ( Stuttgarter Kickers ; Oberliga Süd) - Werner Olk ( SV Arminia Hannover ; Amateur League Lower Saxony-Ost), Jürgen Kurbjuhn ( BSV Buxtehude ; Association League Hamburg) - Matthias Mauritz ( Fortuna Düsseldorf ; Oberliga West), Herbert Schäfer ( Sportfreunde Siegen ; Amateur League Westphalia), Willi Schulz ( Union Günnigfeld ; Amateur League Westphalia) - Willy Meyer ( 1. FC Schwandorf ; Amateur League South Bavaria), Günter Herrmann ( Karlsruher SC ; Oberliga Süd), Joachim Thimm (SV Arminia Hannover; Amateur League Lower Saxony East), Günter Nauheimer ( FSV Frankfurt ; Oberliga Süd), Gert Dörfel ( Hamburger SV ; Oberliga Nord)

The game was won by the DFB amateurs with an own goal and a goal from “Charly” Dörfel with 2-0 goals. On September 23, the second leg was played in the Düsseldorf Rheinstadion. At the GDR representation, the players Karl-Heinz Spickenagel , Martin Skaba , Lothar Meyer and Wilfried Klingbiel were used against the first leg. DFB coach Gawliczek used Willi Gerdau from Heider SV in defense , Jürgen Neumann from 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the runner row and Heinz Höher from Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Horst Wilkening from SV Arminia Hannover against the game in Berlin. With goals from Thimm and Wilkening, the DFB amateurs also won the second game with 2-1 goals and were thus able to take part in the qualifying games for the 1960 Summer Olympics. The German national team of amateurs prevailed against the current senior national team of the GDR .

Olympic qualifying games, 1959-1960

Finland and Poland were Germany's opponents in the Olympic qualification in November 1959, April and May 1960 . In Siegen / Westphalia, home of captain Herbert Schäfer, the first encounter took place on November 11, 1959 against Finland. The game was just won 2-1 goals. Carl-Heinz Rühl from SC Viktoria Köln made his debut on the right winger. But the penetration power in the attack was not convincing. 14 days later, on November 24th in Essen, the dream of the Olympic city of Rome was a long way off after the clear 3-0 defeat against Poland. The German amateurs finally failed after their 3-1 defeat in Warsaw on April 18, 1960. Since Poland also competed with their senior national team, despite the two clear defeats, one cannot speak of an actually disappointing amateur national team. The player names of the B national team (Fritz Ewert, Horst Schnoor; Willi Giesemann, Friedel Lutz, Gustav Witlatschil, Friedel Späth, Ferdinand Wenauer, Hermann Nuber, Willi Koll, Heinz Strehl, Peter Grosser, Helmut Kapitulski, Theo Klöckner) from 1959 indicate on the other hand, point to the direction and sifting for the senior national team and show that the DFB amateur selection was actually not in the first row in the internal ranking of the DFB selection teams, but actually represented the performance of top amateur football and not that of the top leagues .

Between games, 1961 to 1963

After the failed Olympic qualification in 1960, calm returned to the DFB, especially with regard to the amateur national team. The forces were pooled for the qualification of the senior national team for the 1962 World Cup in Chile. Between 1960 and 1964, no more games were played with the B-Elf, only the junior national team and the amateur team still played international matches alongside the senior national team. But only the junior squad could be associated with the senior national team, the amateur national team from 1961 to 1963 was actually an amateur selection and not a “de facto B team” in official amateur dress. The amateurs played an international match against the Netherlands on June 1 in Oberhausen in 1961 and won 5: 3 goals. In 1962, the year of the soccer world championship, two international matches were played: on April 7, they played against Italy in Hanover and against France on May 31 in Merlebach. In both games, the 19-year-old defender talent from Minerva 93 Berlin , Bernd Patzke , was used as a defender. In 1963, the DFB massively increased its efforts to prepare the amateurs for the German-German qualifying games against the GDR in September of that year for the 1964 Olympic qualification . Six international matches were played from April to June. Helmut Schön , coach of the DFB-Amateure, drew a satisfactory balance after the anniversary tournament in England (100th anniversary of the English Football Association ) from May 15 to 22, 1963: "Within eight days, four games were played against the Netherlands, England, France and Scotland played with only thirteen players. The players should come together under international competition conditions. This goal has been achieved, so to speak, the game was still so successful (three wins; defeat in the final), of course pleasing and giving confidence. "The following players were used in the tournament in the games in Durham, Middlesbrough, North Shields and Sunderland: Sepp Maier in the gate; Walter Liebich , Hans Kraus and Hermann Michel as defense lawyers; Walter Birkhold , Wilhelm Zott and Horst Kunzmann in the runner row; Hans-Jürgen Himmelmann , Franz-Josef Hönig , Dieter Zettelmaier , Heinz-Herbert Kreh , Gerhard Neuser and Wilfried Leydecker in the attack. When the sixth international match was played in victories against Japan on June 5, 1963, 14 days after the tournament in England, the only newcomer was Bernd Kirchner from Arminia Bielefeld , who promptly contributed a goal in the 4-0 win. Coach Schön attached great importance to the promotion of team cooperation and further practice. The formation crystallized with goalkeeper Manfred Martinschledde ; the defense lawyers Michel and Liebich; the runners Birkhold, Zott and Kunzmann and the strikers Kirchner, Hönig, Braner, Neuser and Leydecker. Center forward Harald Braner von Wormatia Worms , who had scored 18 goals in 24 games in the last league round in 1962/63, moved to 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the newly founded Bundesliga for the 1963/64 round and was thus lost to the amateur national team.

German-German qualifying games 1963

One day after the fourth day of the Bundesliga , on Sunday, September 15, 1963, the first elimination match against the GDR took place in Karl-Marx-Stadt . Before that, at the end of August, after an almost three-month break, a training match against the Rhineland selection took place in the Oberwerth stadium in Koblenz , although the long break had a negative impact on the 2-2 draw. It was hoped that a one-week course in Hof from September 8th to 14th before the departure for Karl-Marx-Stadt would be able to build on the achievements from the spring.

Helmut Schön, the assistant to national coach Sepp Herberger, had nominated the following formation:

Manfred Martinschledde ( Hombrucher FV 09 ; Association League Westphalia) - Hermann Michel ( Ibbenbürener Spvg ; Association League Westphalia), Walter Liebich ( Lüner SV ; Regionalliga West) - Walter Birkhold ( VfL Heidenheim ; Amateur League North Württemberg), Wilhelm Zott ( FC Wacker Munich ; Amateur League Bavaria ), Horst Kunzmann ( 1st FC 08 Birkenfeld ; Amateur League North Baden) - Bernd Kirchner ( Arminia Bielefeld ; Regional League West), Franz-Josef Hönig ( FV 08 Geisenheim ; Landesliga Hessen-Rheingau), Dieter Zettelmaier ( 1st FC 01 Bamberg ; Amateur League Bavaria), Gerhard Neuser ( Sportfreunde Siegen ; Regionalliga West), Wilfried Leydecker (FV 08 Geisenheim; Landesliga Hessen-Rheingau).

Other players in the DFB line-up were: Horst Grunenberg ( Hermannia Kassel ; Amateur League Hessen), Rolf Winter ( SC Victoria Hamburg ; Regionalliga Nord), Heinz-Herbert Kreh ( 1. FC Haßfurt ; Amateur League Bavaria), Herbert Bayer ( VfB Lohberg ; Amateur League Niederrhein) and Wolfgang Hellstern ( FC Hechingen ; Amateur League Black Forest-Bodensee).

With goals from Kleiminger, Stöcker and Nöldner, the GDR's Olympic team clearly won the first leg with 3-0 goals and was able to beat the DFB in Hanover on September 22nd, despite the 2-1 defeat with two goals from center forward Dieter Zettelmaier -Amateurs to move into the actual Olympic qualification against the Netherlands and the Soviet Union. The senior national team of the GDR, supervised by Károly Sós , had only just lost 1: 2 goals against England on June 2, 1963 in Leipzig; played 1: 1 against Bulgaria in Magdeburg on September 4, 1963 and lost to Hungary on October 19 of the same year in Berlin in the European Championship qualification with 1: 2 goals. The formation on September 15, 1963 in Karl-Marx-Stadt against the DFB amateurs included Jürgen Heinsch , Klaus Urbanczyk , Konrad Wagner , Werner Unger , Herbert Pankau , Kurt Liebrecht , Rainer Nachtigall , Jürgen Nöldner , Otto Fräßdorf , Heino Kleiminger and Hermann Stöcker only marginally different from the three formations of the A international matches. This was in stark contrast to the senior national team of the DFB, which played the first international match in the era of the Bundesliga against Turkey on September 28, 1963 in Frankfurt am Main . None of the players used came from the current amateur national team.

In the reference work “The Great Lexicon of GDR Football”, the subject of “Olympic selection” is described as follows: “Selection made up to participate in the qualification for the Olympic Games, in the Eastern Bloc countries of the time mostly identical to the A selection, provided that the Appointed have not played any World Cup qualification or World Cup finals. ”On the subject of“ Olympic soccer tournament ”, the“ Football Lexicon ”from Copress Verlag in Munich states:“ After the Second World War, the contradictions between amateur and professional increased through participation the Eastern European 'state amateurs' who officially appeared as amateurs internationally, but played almost exclusively under professional conditions at home. "

Despite the missed participation in the Olympic qualification, the DFB rewarded the amateurs with a trip to Japan in October 1963. Within five days on October 12, 14 and 16, three international games were played in Tokyo against Japan B (2-1 victory), South Vietnam ( 2: 1 victory) and Japan A (1: 1 draw) were held as part of a “pre-Olympic tournament”, from which the German amateurs emerged as the tournament winners.

The amateur national team from 1964 to 1970

Before the qualifying games for the 1968 Olympics

In the 1964 Olympic Games, the DFB amateurs played four international games. On May 2, the team played in Bamberg in front of 27,000 spectators (stadium record) 1: 1 against France. Bernd Dörfel and Helmut Sandmann (both Hamburger SV ) made their debut on the right wing of the amateur national team at the side of local striker Dieter Zettelmaier. From May 24th to June 2nd the team took part in the "International Amateur Tournament" in Italy against the national teams of France (2: 2), England (1: 0) and Spain (1: 1) and won it by drawing lots , after the final against the selection of Spain in Genoa had not found a winner. The scaffolding still provided the staff for the 1963 playoffs. Four international matches were held in 1965, but now the carousel of players is picking up speed. Four goalkeepers were used in the encounters: Horst Christopeit ( VfL Bochum ), Wolfgang Mühlschwein ( Eintracht Frankfurt ), Klaus Schonz ( VfR Neuss ) and Rudolf Netzel ( TSV Straubing ). Also with the field players value was placed on new names ( Heinz Wittmann , Peter Klepatz , Gerhard Faltermeier , Josef Parzl , Wolf-Rüdiger Krause , Rüdiger Halbe ). In the game on May 15 in Siegen against Thailand, Jürgen Grabowski from FV Biebrich 02 stood out on his debut . The striker had a great future ahead of him, but not in the amateur national team. He was a member of Helmut Schön's team at the 1966 World Cup in England.

The year 1966 saw the amateur national team take part in the European Amateur Championship, which was organized by UEFA for the first time . In the group stage, the eleven were eliminated after four games with one win, two draws and one defeat against Turkey and Yugoslavia. The German team played their first international match in the UEFA amateur competition on June 29, 1966 in Bamberg against the selection of Turkey in the following line-up:

Norbert Nigbur ( Gelsenkirchen 06 ; Regional League Westphalia) - Erhard Ahmann (TuS Sundern; Regional League Westphalia / Arnsberg District), Josef Parzl ( TSV Straubing ; Amateur League Bavaria) - Peter Klepatz ( Blumenthaler SV ; Amateur League Bremen), Dieter Zorc ( TuS Eving-Lindenhorst ; Amateur League Westphalia, group 2), Friedrich Giegeling (SSV Heiligenhaus; Landesliga Niederrhein) - Wolf-Rüdiger Krause ( Eintracht Braunschweig ; Bundesliga), Heinz-Herbert Kreh ( 1. FC Haßfurt ; Amateur League Bavaria), Dieter Zettelmaier ( 1. FC 01 Bamberg ; Amateur League Bayern), Gerhard Faltermeier ( SSV Jahn Regensburg ; Landesliga Bayern, center), Horst Köppel ( VfB Stuttgart ; A-youth).

Peter Klepatz scored the 1-0 winning goal in his seventh and last international match for the amateur team of the DFB.

Goalkeeper Nigbur and left winger Köppel, both born in 1948, still represented the DFB in May 1966 in the dress of the youth national team at the UEFA youth tournament in Yugoslavia and made their debut in the amateur national team at the age of 18. Both signed license player contracts in the Bundesliga for the 1966/67 round and were eliminated from the amateur team.

In the spring of 1967, two international matches against the Netherlands and Italy were on the agenda. The career of future goalkeeper Friedhelm Schulte began with the 4-0 success in Gladbeck against the Netherlands . This did not apply to the two Abwehrasse from Hannover 96 , Peter Anders and Rainer Stiller . They preferred the professional career in the Bundesliga to the amateur national team. On May 25, the later record national player of the amateur selection, Egon Schmitt from Kickers Offenbach , started his career in the national team, which lasted until 1978, with the 0-0 win against Italy in Constance.

Olympic qualification 1968 and UEFA Amateur Cup 1969/70

The DFB amateurs played the preparatory game before the two qualifying games against Great Britain in October and November 1967 on September 20, 1967 in Regensburg against Austria (0-0). DFB coach Udo Lattek brought in the following players:

The home game against Great Britain was lost on October 25th in Augsburg with 0-2 goals and the game on November 8th in Hendon was won 1-0. This meant that the DFB amateurs were unable to take part in the 1968 Olympic Games, but the British also failed after two games against Spain. Bulgaria, France, Spain and Czechoslovakia qualified from Europe. Hungary took part in the 1964 Olympic Games as defending champions. The GDR, the NOK there was finally recognized by the IOC on October 8, 1965 in Madrid, could not prevail in the qualification against Bulgaria - 1: 4/3: 2 -. In the qualifying games of the DFB-Elf against Great Britain, Dieter Zorc acted as head of defense, Günter Keifler from Eintracht Frankfurt scored the winning goal on the island, and Werner Thelen and Dieter Zettelmaier also played against the Austrian game in the storm .

At the end of 1967 a trip to Asia was on the program of the amateur national team. From December 30, 1967 (0-0 in Rangoon against Burma) to January 17, 1968 (1-0 victory in Tokyo against Japan), the team supervised by Udo Lattek played six friendly matches and was also able to meet against Thailand, Malaysia , Hong Kong and the Philippines decide for themselves. In addition to the players in the qualifying games, Bernd Helmschrot and Horst Pohl were also on this tour.

After the Asian tour ended in January 1968, there were still four international amateurs on the program in the Olympic year. Bernd Nickel made his debut against Italy on May 1st and Hartwig Bleidick on July 2nd against Iceland in the DFB selection. In 1969 the second UEFA Amateur Cup was on the schedule. In the group games , the DFB amateurs faced Yugoslavia and Austria. With the 1: 2 defeat at the start in Vinkovici against Yugoslavia on September 21, the group victory was almost playful. This was followed by two draws against defending champion Austria in Konstanz and in the second leg against Yugoslavia in Hagen, so that the final success with 2-0 goals on April 7, 1970 in Vienna against Austria was no longer sufficient for group victory. Yugoslavia finished third in the final tournament. From a perspective, the newcomers Friedhelm Haebermann , Jürgen Kalb , Edgar Schneider , Hans-Jürgen Bradler and Reiner Hollmann at least managed to strengthen the squad for the amateur national team. They made it in their club career in the Bundesliga from 350 (Hollmann) to 44 (Bradler) appearances and represented the amateur national team in 48 (Kalb) to 13 (Hollmann) international matches.

1972 Summer Olympics in Munich

preparation

Convocation letter for the 1972 Olympic team, page 1
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Since Munich had already been chosen as the venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics by the IOC in Rome on April 26, 1966 , the stage after the last UEFA group game on April 7, 1970 can be considered the actual start of the direct preparatory phase of the amateur national team designate the 1972 Olympic Games.

Olympic team game program from August 1971
Olympic team game program in 1972

With the new DFB coach Jupp Derwall , who had replaced the former DFB coach Udo Lattek (April 1, 1965 to 1969) from 1970, the sporting responsibility for the DFB amateurs with the aim of the 1972 Olympics was realigned. The objective results from the number of international matches that have now been played: 39 amateur national matches were played from 1970 to 1972. From 1952 to 1969 there were a total of 74 international games in 18 years. This also includes the "creation" of the "Olympic amateurs" by the DFB. He pledged to the association to remain an amateur for a certain period of time - mostly until the next Olympic football tournament. But he could play for licensed teams without restrictions and was - apart from his salary - treated like a licensed player. The compromise negotiated by FIFA with the IOC on the admission regulations for the Olympic football tournament, "that only those players were admitted to the Olympic tournament who had not officially accepted payments and who had not been used in a World Cup final round" was the midwife of the construction "Olympic amateur" . The amateur rule, which was valid until 1971 and determined that professional athletes were not allowed to compete in Olympic competitions, was replaced by the Olympic admission rule, which no longer used the term amateur.

The Olympic soccer tournament should experience a successful amateur national team of the DFB, therefore the new admission rules were also used by the DFB in the broadest possible sense. The multi-week Africa tour at the end of 1970 / beginning of 1971 was a further component in the planned creation of a high-performance team for the games in Munich. It certainly served to test and introduce the team of players, to promote team spirit, but was also a clear indication to the players that the DFB gave the "Olympic team" a visible value and did not want to leave it to just words, also about the use of funds tried to move the project forward.

From March 25 to November 21, 1970, Jupp Derwall's team played eight international matches. Hans-Jürgen Bradler , Reiner Hollmann , Ewald Hammes and Roland Stegmayer made their debuts in the amateur national team. At the turn of 1970/71, the team flew to Africa and from December 27, 1970 to January 16, 1971 played friendly games against Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Senegal. From the Olympic qualifying games of 1967, Erhard Ahmann , Dieter Mietz , Dieter Zorc and Egon Schmitt only played four players, all the others (Bradler, Schauber , Semlitsch , Bleidick , Bitz, Sohnle , Haebermann, Edgar Schneider , Stegmayer, Nickel , Hammes, Helgert , Beichle , Kalb, Wunder) later joined the amateur national team and clearly showed the way to the Bundesliga, away from the amateur leagues, the regional league was still appropriate.

The national players Haebermann , Schneider and Kalb on September 7, 1971 before the international match for Bulgaria (3: 1)

From March 1971, the preparations for the 1972 Olympics continued with seven international matches. Dieter Zorc said goodbye to the amateur team with his 32nd appearance on April 28th in Santa Cruz against Spain. The formation of October 6th in the 1-1 draw in Nuremberg against the Soviet Union already had clear contours for a possible regular line-up for the 1972 Olympic Games:

Hans-Jürgen Bradler - Heiner Baltes , Friedhelm Haebermann , Reiner Hollmann , Egon Schmitt - Jürgen Kalb , Hermann Bitz , Bernd Nickel - Uli Hoeneß , Klaus Wunder , Roland Stegmayer

The preparatory marathon continued unabated in 1972. From January 5 to July 30, the DFB amateurs played ten more test matches. Apparently DFB trainer Derwall stood by the old footballer adage that "games are the best training tool" and believed that the frequency of the preparatory international games meant that he was well on the way to a successful Olympic tournament. In the ten international matches before the games in Munich, 31 players were used. The problem was: The advantage of playing a team through a series of test matches must not be negated by the disadvantage of the overly large team of players being deployed.

Among the 31 players used before the games in Munich, only goalkeeper Hans-Peter Schauber was recruited from the amateur camp. He played in the 1972/73 round with Rot-Weiss Frankfurt in the amateur league of Hesse. In terms of personnel, goalkeeper Günter Wienhold , defender Manfred Kaltz and the two strikers Ronald Worm and Ottmar Hitzfeld joined the Olympic team in the 1972 test matches . Worm, born in 1953, played in the final of the UEFA youth tournament for Germany in Spain on May 22nd and, like the striker Hitzfeld, who is active at FC Basel in Switzerland, was supposed to score goals at the Olympic tournament. The last two games before the Olympic tournament on July 28th in Flensburg against Sweden (juniors) and on July 30th in Lübeck against Finland brought two bitter defeats with 1: 5 and 1: 2 goals respectively, which for morale and self-confidence were not beneficial in the circle of players, but also could not provide the necessary support for the German fans spoiled by success (the national team won the European Championship from June 14th to 18th, 1972). But there were also personal consequences: after the international match against Finland on July 30th in Lübeck, on the bus ride to the Malente sports school , Olympic amateur Edgar Schneider was downgraded from the "direct 19-man squad" to the group of seven players "On call" players available. Ottmar Hitzfeld took the place of the Bayern striker.

competition

Letter from the DFB to convene the final contest, page 1
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The German amateur national team started the Olympic football tournament with a 3-0 win against Malaysia on August 27th in Munich . Due to the further successes against Morocco (3: 0) and the USA (7: 0) the team moved into the intermediate round without conceding and with the maximum number of points . Opponents were now Mexico, Hungary and the GDR. Due to the well-known strength of the Eastern Bloc teams (senior national teams) a success against Mexico was absolutely necessary in order to be able to use it as a starting position against Hungary and the GDR. On September 3, it was only enough to draw a 1-1 draw against Mexico in Nuremberg. The dreams of a successful Olympic tournament finally came to an end in the second group I match against the 1968 Olympic champion, Hungary, on September 6th in Munich. The players around Antal Dunai and László Bálint prevailed over the DFB-Elf with 4: 1 goals . Since the prestigious encounter two days later in front of 80,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium against the GDR with 2: 3 goals, the tournament was ended for the team around European champion Uli Hoeneß with 1: 5 points in the second round. Eberhard Vogel scored the winning goal in the 83rd minute of the game . Before that, after goals from Jürgen Pommerenke and Joachim Streich for the GDR and Hoeneß and Hitzfeld for the Derwall team, it was 2-2 draw. The team started in the following line-up:

Hans-Jürgen Bradler - Heiner Baltes , Egon Schmitt , Reiner Hollmann (75th Rudolf Seliger ), Friedhelm Haebermann - Jürgen Kalb , Hermann Bitz , Bernd Nickel , Uli Hoeneß - Ottmar Hitzfeld , Klaus Wunder (59th Ronald Worm )

In terms of sport, the formation of the Olympic champion Poland around the aces Kazimierz Deyna , Włodzimierz Lubański , Robert Gadocha , Jerzy Gorgoń and Grzegorz Lato in third place at the 1974 World Cup - where Poland competed without the injured star striker Lubanski - has to measure the traditional strength of Hungary at the Olympic tournaments (Olympic champions 1952, 1964, 1968) also came into play in Munich, as well as the high-performance teams of the Soviet Union ( Oleh Blochin and Evgeni Rudakow ) and the GDR (1974 World Cup: on June 22, 1974 in Hamburg 1-0 win against the DFB-Elf) would have been serious opponents for the senior national team. The player names of the Danes who also failed in the second round , Per Røntved and Allan Simonsen , also indicate the superiority of the "state amateurs". The first four places were occupied by Poland (gold), Hungary (silver), the Soviet Union and GDR (together bronze). To be fair, however, it must be noted that with the "Olympic amateurs 1972" a Bundesliga selection was available for the first time that could no longer be compared with the DFB predecessor teams of the traditional amateur teams.

The following players were used at the Olympics:

Surname active in the association Division position Deployments 1972/73
Günter Wienhold Eintracht Frankfurt Bundesliga goalkeeper 4th
Hans-Jürgen Bradler VfL Bochum Bundesliga goalkeeper 7th
Heiner Baltes Fortuna Dusseldorf Bundesliga defender 7th
Reiner Hollmann Rot-Weiß Oberhausen Bundesliga defender 34
Egon Schmitt Kickers Offenbach Bundesliga defender 26th
Friedhelm Haebermann Eintracht Braunschweig Bundesliga defender 32
Hartwig Bleidick Borussia Monchengladbach Bundesliga defender 9
Manfred Kaltz Hamburger SV Bundesliga defender 33
Dieter Mietz Spfrd victories Regionalliga West defender 33
Hermann Bitz 1. FC Kaiserslautern Bundesliga midfield 33
Uli Hoeneß FC Bayern Munich Bundesliga midfield 34
Bernd Nickel Eintracht Frankfurt Bundesliga midfield 26th
Jürgen Kalb Eintracht Frankfurt Bundesliga midfield 29
Rudolf Seliger MSV Duisburg Bundesliga attack 29
Ronald Worm MSV Duisburg Bundesliga attack 33
Klaus miracle MSV Duisburg Bundesliga attack 34
Ewald Hammes SG Wattenscheid 09 Regionalliga West attack 32
Ottmar Hitzfeld FC Basel National League Switzerland attack 24-16 (1971/72)

Amateur European Championships 1973/74 and 1977/78

The team from the Federal Republic of Germany was declared European champions in 1974 in the competition for the UEFA Amateur Cup in Rijeka, together with host Yugoslavia. The final could not be played on April 28, 1974 due to heavy rainfall (unplayable place). In the group games, the DFB-Elf had prevailed against Malta and England, with the 3-1 home win on March 13, 1974 in Bielefeld against England the decision for Germany (with 6 points each Germany scored 10: 2 goals compared to 7: 3 England) meant. The team line-up was:

Jürgen Muche ( 1. FC Saarbrücken ; RL Südwest) - Heiner Baltes ( Fortuna Düsseldorf ; Bundesliga), Egon Schmitt (1. FC Saarbrücken; RL Südwest), Charly Körbel ( Eintracht Frankfurt ; Bundesliga), Ernst Traser (1. FC Saarbrücken; RL Südwest) - Heinz Traser ( 1.FC Saarbrücken; RL Südwest), Werner Schneider ( MSV Duisburg ; Bundesliga), Uli Stielike ( Borussia Mönchengladbach ; Bundesliga) - Rudolf Seliger (MSV Duisburg; Bundesliga), Walter Krause ( Hamburger SV ; Bundesliga ), Ewald Hammes ( SG Wattenscheid 09 ; RL West)

The semi-finals were played on April 26, 1974 in Rijeka. Germany drew 1-1 with Holland after extra time and prevailed on penalties (4-2). Host Yugoslavia won the second semi-final against Spain with 2-1 goals.

In 1975 the two Olympic qualifying games against Spain in April and May were on the schedule. On April 16, the first leg in Bielefeld ended in a 0-0 draw. Four weeks later, on May 15th in Barcelona, ​​Spain narrowly prevailed with 3-2 goals.

The entire squad played in the 1974/75 season either in the Bundesliga ( Werner Schneider , Jürgen Kalb , Uli Stielike , Heinz Wilhelmi , Lorenz-Günther Köstner , Frank Schäffer , Walter Krause , Rudolf Weiler , Rudolf Seliger ) or in the 2. Bundesliga ( Manfred Behrendt , Gernot Rohr , Ernst and Heinz Traser , Egon Schmitt , Ewald Hammes , Hans-Otto Hiestermann ). The term amateur national team was already far-fetched at this point, at least with the player material of the amateur leagues within the responsibility of the DFB, this "amateur national team" had nothing to do with. The administrative framework conditions were applied in the same way with the Spanish competitor. There, too, young talents from the Primera División were deployed. Goalkeeper Pedro María Artola , field players Francisco Javier Aguilar, Julio Cardeñosa , Santiago Idigoras, Jesús María Satrústegui and Daniel Solsona were all teams from the professional camp in the 1974/75 season.

This was followed in 1976 by five international matches against Austria, Denmark (one game each against the juniors and the U21s), Yugoslavia and Israel. All games were won. The later senior national players Matthias Herget , Hans-Peter Briegel , Hansi Müller , Uli Stein and Karlheinz Förster made their debut in the amateur national team this year.

In 1977 the team played four group games in the European Amateur Championship against Belgium and France. With 12: 0 goals and eight points, the first place in group four was won. In May 1978 the finals took place in Athens. The semi-final game of the DFB amateurs against Yugoslavia ended 0-0 after extra time and the German team lost 3-1 on penalties. Two days later, on May 15th, the game for third place was won with a clear 3-0 win over Ireland. The team line-up on May 15th:

Heinz-Josef Koitka ( Eintracht Frankfurt ; Bundesliga) - Karl-Heinz Geils ( Werder Bremen ; Bundesliga), Matthias Herget ( VfL Bochum ; Bundesliga), Egon Schmitt ( 1. FC Saarbrücken ; Bundesliga), Rainer Nicot ( 1. FC Cologne ; Bundesliga) - Karlheinz Förster ( VfB Stuttgart ; Bundesliga), Josef Weikl ( Fortuna Düsseldorf ; Bundesliga), Norbert Eder ( 1. FC Nuremberg ; 2. Bundesliga South), Hans-Peter Briegel ( 1. FC Kaiserslautern ; Bundesliga) - Ronald Borchers (Eintracht Frankfurt; Bundesliga), Werner Dreßel (Werder Bremen; Bundesliga)

From November 12, 1975 - 1-0 against Luxembourg A - to October 26, 1977 - 2-0 against Belgium - the amateur national team did not concede a goal in ten international matches and won all games. DFB coach Jupp Derwall played over 35 players during this period. Ewald Hammes and Egon Schmitt, the corset poles of an otherwise young line-up, each came to nine missions.

With his 79th appearance in the amateur national team, Egon Schmitt ended his career in the national team after the international match on September 26, 1978 in Bielefeld against China A (2: 1), in which he had been an indispensable factor for eleven years.

With the game in Bielefeld, the DFB also ended the attempt to compete with the so-called "Olympic amateurs" from the Bundesliga and the second division against the "state amateurs" from the Eastern Bloc, who since 1952 - largely with senior national teams - won all Olympic gold medals. The conception had always been controversial and was on the verge of amateur legality. The intellectual fathers of the bold construction justified themselves with the fact that the Eastern bloc exhibited far fewer inhibitions and that other sports were not exactly picky about the interpretation of the amateur term.

1979 - the final year of the amateur national team

From March 20 to November 14, 1979, the DFB amateurs carried out nine more international matches under the responsible DFB coach Erich Ribbeck . 37 players were used. There was no longer a player who had won third place at the European Championship of Amateurs / UEFA Amateur Cup in Athens in May 1978. In the final year of the amateur national team, 1979, the players came back from the amateur leagues. The clubs from which the majority of the players were recruited - SV Kuppenheim, ASV Wuppertal, VfL Wolfsburg, Hagener SV, SpVgg Erkenschwick, FC Villingen, TuS Neuendorf, FC Eislingen, Atlas Delmenhorst, FV Offenburg, ESV Ingolstadt, SC Fürstenfeldbruck, VfB Eppingen , VfR Bürstadt, VfR Heilbronn, VfR Mannheim, FC Rastatt 04, SC Union 06 Berlin , 1860 Rosenheim, MTV Gifhorn - stand for it. The four Olympic qualification games against Finland and Norway were the sporting climax of summer / autumn 1979 for the newly formed team.

The qualifying series against Finland began in Oberhausen with a home game on September 13th. The start against the Finns was successful with 2-0 goals. 14 days later, on September 26th, the amateurs lost to hosts Norway with the same result in Trondheim. With the following 0-0 draw in Helsinki and the final 0-1 defeat on November 14th in Baunatal against Norway, the amateur national team lost the chance to qualify for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. In the Norwegian team, the later Bundesliga professionals Jan Einar Aas and Arne Larsen Økland attracted attention. Kicker editor Werner Schilling ended his match report from Baunatal with the following words: “It was the end of the era of an illusion to be able to pay homage to an old-fashioned amateur madness without loss of image, which apart from a few unworldly IOC men nobody takes seriously anymore . “The story of the amateur football team ended with the 154th international match against Norway in Baunatal. The team line-up:

Valentin Herr ( Bayer 04 Leverkusen ; Association League Middle Rhine) - Hans-Jörg Stiller ( Fortuna Düsseldorf ; Association League Niederrhein / Bundesliga: 1 game), Dieter Bernhardt ( SC Fürstenfeldbruck ; Landesliga Süd / Bayern), Karl Richter ( FC 08 Villingen ; AOL Baden- Württemberg), Roland Dickgießer ( SV Waldhof Mannheim ; 2nd Bundesliga South) - Uwe Eplinius ( SpVgg Erkenschwick ; AOL Westphalia), Dieter Kohnle ( SSV Ulm 1846 ; 2nd Bundesliga South), Ralf Obermüller ( VfB Stuttgart ; AOL Baden-Württemberg) - Michael Grünewald ( Kickers Offenbach ; 2nd Bundesliga South), Klaus Gahr ( MTV Gifhorn ; AOL North), Arno Wolf ( 1st FC Kaiserslautern ; Bundesliga / 11 games). Substitutes were: Günter Franusch (Kickers Offenbach; 2nd Bundesliga South) 66th st for Bernhardt, Hermann Sixt ( TSV 1860 Rosenheim ; AOL Bayern) 46th st for Wolf

After the boycott (the USA banned the participation of the American Olympic team after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, whereupon other nations joined the boycott), Finland stepped in for the Olympic football tournament for Norway, which had qualified in sports.

Equipment, motivation and public awareness

equipment

Since the beginning of the amateur national team in 1952, the DFB has been responsible for the dress and footwear of the amateur national players. Visually, the equipment did not differ from that of the senior national team. Until the soccer world championship in Chile in 1962 , the DFB teams wore the classic white and black jersey with a federal eagle on the chest and lacing on the chest and neck area. The matching black pants and socks, with the socks on the knee area being set off in white. It was not until the 1966 World Cup in England that the T-shirt shape with a round or V-neck and white socks was used. In the amateur national team, the equipment contract between the DFB and Adidas was first clearly visible at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Fashionable training and leisure suits completed the excellent accommodation and training conditions at the company headquarters in Herzogenaurach. In the early years it was the rule for the players to travel to the Federal Railroad and stay in the association sports schools.

motivation

The introduction of the German championship of amateurs in 1951, the founding of the German national football team of amateurs and participation in the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952 represented an elementary course for amateur football within the DFB . The DFB thus created top-level football to train in amateur a platform in which it paid well in terms of performance and play and at least from time to time, the lure of the contract offer from the league area to resist. After the failed Olympic qualification for the 1960 Games in Rome, the DFB felt compelled to break new ground in addition to the sole attraction “Olympic Games” in order to be able to continue to mediate the amateur national team as a worthwhile goal for the mostly sought after talents from the amateur leagues . From 1963, the DFB amateurs took part in international tournaments (England tournament from May 15th to 22nd) and made spectacular long-distance trips. In October 1963 the team took part in the “Pre-Olympic Tournament” in Tokyo, in May 1964 in Italy in an international amateur tournament, in 1966 for the first time in the UEFA Amateur Cup , at the turn of the year 1967/68 followed a trip to Asia with international matches against Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong , Philippines and Japan. Before the 1972 Olympics in Munich, the DFB carried out a trip to Africa with the stations Lagos, Lome, Accra, Abidjan, Monrovia, Freetown and Dakar from December 24, 1970 to January 18, 1971. These events always served two purposes: on the one hand to deepen and consolidate the team spirit, on the other hand also as a "lure" for aspirants of the amateur teams and as a reward for long-term performers of the team.

Public perception

In 1952, when the amateur national team started, the regional leagues, the final round of the German championship , the representative games of the regional associations and the senior national team were clearly the focus of the public. There the crowds poured into the big stadiums. With the establishment of the Bundesliga from the 1963/64 season and the European Cup competitions for club teams, there were two other top-class spectator magnets in addition to the senior national team. For the amateur national team, this did not apply from the start. In the shadow of top football in Germany, the amateurs had to eke out a “niche” existence. This is also clearly reflected in the number of spectators at the final of the German amateur championship:

When the DFB organized the final of the amateurs in the early years with that of the contract players in 1951 (viewers: 70,000), 1952 (viewers: 80,000), 1956 (viewers: 25,000-50,000), 1957 (viewers: 30,000) and 1961 ( Audience: 70,000) as a prelude, the amateurs were granted an immense audience. In the Oberliga era, the finals in 1953 in Wuppertal with 35,000 and 1958 in Dortmund with 20,000 spectators also stand out. From 1964 onwards there were no more finals for the German championship - the champions were played in the Bundesliga season - but now the amateurs competed with the DFB Cup final and the promotion rounds to the Bundesliga in June of the respective year. In addition, there were tournaments for the soccer world championship in 1966, 1970, 1974 and 1978 and the finals for the soccer championship in 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980. Last but not least, there was additional competition from 1974 onwards from the final for the women's championship . While 10,000 spectators came to the final in Hagen in 1964, the number of spectators in the final year of the amateur national team, 1979, fell to 3,000 in Ingolstadt and 3,600 in Zehlendorf.

The venues for the amateur international games also provide an indication of the position of the amateur national team in public. From 1963 to 1971 the home games were played in the cities of Siegen, Bamberg, Heilbronn, Wiesbaden, Koblenz, Gladbeck, Konstanz, Regensburg, Augsburg, Hamm, Frechen, Hagen, Meppen and Flensburg. At the time of the amateur international match, no major league or even a Bundesliga club was playing in any city. The stadiums there were also not comparable with the arenas of the top clubs, neither in terms of capacity nor in terms of equipment. The DFB deliberately went to the “soccer province” in order to let the amateur national team play in front of a “hungry” audience, where support for amateur soccer could still be expected. If you could come up with the greats of amateur football, such as Herbert Schäfer and Gerhard Neuser from Siegen and Dieter Zettelmaier from Bamberg, then the bonuses of these players in their region were also bet. The attendance record in the Bamberg Stadium results from the game of the amateur national team on May 2, 1964 against France with 27,000 spectators. Zettelmaier was the center forward and Heinz-Herbert Kreh from Bavarian rival 1. FC Hassfurt was called up as a half-forward. On June 5, 1963, 15,000 spectators saw the 4-0 success against the Japanese, who were supervised by Dettmar Cramer , in Siegen / Westphalia. The final in the amateur regional cup of 1963 in Bayreuth between Bavaria and Hesse saw 4,500 spectators. The test match before the German-German elimination games in Karl-Marx-Stadt and Hanover in September of the DFB amateurs in the Oberwerth stadium in Koblenz against the Rhineland selection was watched by 3,000 spectators. At the preliminary round game for the UEFA amateur competition on November 22, 1969 in Hagen / Westphalia, 15,000 spectators witnessed the 2-2 draw of the team of DFB coach Udo Lattek in the Ischeland stadium there.

Players and Statistics

Outstanding players

Early years

Players like Herbert Schäfer ( Sportfreunde Siegen ; 24 games from 1952 to 1960), Fritz Semmelmann ( SpVgg Bayreuth ; 11 games from 1953 to 1958), Matthias Mauritz ( Fortuna Düsseldorf ; 13 games from 1952 to 1959), Alfred Post ( Rheydter SV / Eintracht Nordhorn ; 10 games from 1952 to 1955), Johann Zeitler ( VfB Bayreuth ; 11 games from 1952 to 1956), Georg Stollenwerk ( SG Düren 99 ; nine games from 1952 to 1953), Hermann Höfer ( Eintracht Frankfurt ; six games from 1954 until 1957) and Willi Gerdau ( Heider SV ; eight games from 1956 to 1960) shaped the first section of the amateur national team. In the debut year 1952, national coach Sepp Herberger relied on a core of the players Schönbeck, Eberle, Jäger, Post, Sommerlatt, Schäfer, Stollenwerk, Zeitler, Schröder, Hinterstocker, Mauritz, Ehrmann and Klug in the seven international matches played.

In the 1960s

Surname Period International matches active in the association
Erhard Ahmann 1962-1972 44 TuS Sundern / Lüner SV / SVA Gütersloh
Paul Alger 1967-1970 17th 1. FC Cologne / SC Viktoria Cologne
Helmut Bergfelder 1966-1971 22nd 1. FC Cologne / Bonner SC / SC Fortuna Cologne
Walter Birkhold 1963-1966 18th VfL Heidenheim
Gerhard Faltermeier 1965-1968 13 SSV Jahn Regensburg
Friedrich Giegeling 1964-1966 11 SSVg Velbert / SSV Heiligenhaus
Franz-Josef Hönig 1963-1964 11 FV 08 Geisenheim
Heinz-Herbert Kreh 1962-1966 19th 1. FC Hassfurt
Horst Kunzmann 1958-1966 20th 1. FC 08 Birkenfeld
Walter Liebich 1963-1964 13 Lüner SV
Günther Maass 1966-1968 11 Borussia Fulda / VfR Pforzheim
Dieter Mietz 1967-1972 42 Borussia Dortmund / Sportfreunde Siegen
Gerhard Neuser 1960-1965 20th Sports fans victories
Horst Pohl 1966-1972 18th FC Wacker Munich
Klaus Schmidt 1967-1969 11 SV Alsenborn
Friedhelm Schulte 1967-1970 20th TuS Eving-Lindenhorst / SG Wattenscheid 09
Werner Thelen 1967-1970 17th 1. FC Cologne
Dieter Zettelmaier 1961-1967 20th 1. FC 01 Bamberg
Rainer Zobel 1967-1970 18th SC Uelzen 09 / Hannover 96
Dieter Zorc 1966-1971 32 TuS Eving-Lindenhorst / Lüner SV
Wilhelm Zott 1963-1964 12 FC Wacker Munich

In the 1970s

Surname Period International matches active in the association
Heiner Baltes 1971-1974 23 Fortuna Dusseldorf
Hermann Bitz 1970-1972 23 1. FC Kaiserslautern
Hartwig Bleidick 1968-1972 32 Soester SV / Borussia Mönchengladbach
Hans-Jürgen Bradler 1970-1972 20th TB Eickel / VfL Bochum
Friedhelm Haebermann 1969-1972 37 Eintracht Duisburg / Eintracht Braunschweig
Ewald Hammes 1970-1988 46 Germania Metternich / SG Wattenscheid 09
Uli Hoeneß 1969-1972 22nd TSG Ulm 1846 / FC Bayern Munich
Jürgen Kalb 1969-1975 48 Eintracht Frankfurt
Walter Krause 1972-1976 18th Hamburger SV / Kickers Offenbach / Rot-Weiß Oberhausen / MSV Duisburg / SG Wattenscheid 09
Bernd Nickel 1968-1972 41 Eintracht Frankfurt
Egon Schmitt 1967-1978 79 Kickers Offenbach / 1. FC Saarbrücken
Edgar Schneider 1969-1972 22nd VfR Pforzheim / FC Bayern Munich
Werner Schneider 1973-1977 24 MSV Duisburg
Rudolf Seliger 1971-1976 25th MSV Duisburg
Roland Stegmayer 1970-1972 22nd FC Augsburg / 1. FC Nürnberg / Arminia Bielefeld
Ernst Traser 1972-1988 23 Kickers Offenbach / 1. FC Saarbrücken
Heinz Traser 1972-1977 20th Kickers Offenbach / 1. FC Saarbrücken
Klaus miracle 1970-1972 20th SV Arminia Hannover / MSV Duisburg

Record players and goal scorers

Of the 306 players used, 100 scored one or more goals; four goals were scored by players of the opposing team.

Record player
Games player Period Gates
79 Egon Schmitt 1967-1978 4th
48 Jürgen Kalb 1969-1975 6th
46 Ewald Hammes 1970-1988 17th
44 Erhard Ahmann 1962-1972 1
42 Dieter Mietz 1967-1972 -
41 Bernd Nickel 1968-1972 18th
37 Friedhelm Haebermann 1969-1972 1
32 Dieter Zorc 1966-1971 3
Hartwig Bleidick 1968-1972 2
25th Rudolf Seliger 1971-1976 10
Record goal scorers
Gates player Period Games
18th Bernd Nickel 1968-1972 41
17th Ewald Hammes 1970-1988 46
13 Dieter Zettelmaier 1961-1967 20th
10 Rudolf Seliger 1971-1976 25th
8th Gerhard Neuser 1960-1965 20th
7th Johann Zeitler 1952-1956 11
6th Willi Schröder 1952-1953 7th
Jürgen Kalb 1969-1975 48
Klaus miracle 1970-1972 20th
5 Ottmar Hitzfeld 1972 8th

A complete list of the players used can be found under List of German national football players of the amateurs .

literature

  • Jürgen Bitter : Germany's football. The encyclopedia. Sportverlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-328-00857-8 .
  • German Football Association (ed.): Football Yearbook 1980 . 43rd year. Limpert Verlag, Bad Homburg vdH 1980, ISBN 3-7853-1304-7 .
  • Hardy Greens : Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 7: Club Lexicon . AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2001, ISBN 3-89784-147-9 .
  • Hardy Greens: Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 1: From the Crown Prince to the Bundesliga. 1890 to 1963. German championship, Gauliga, Oberliga. Numbers, pictures, stories. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1996, ISBN 3-928562-85-1 .
  • Hardy Greens: Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 2: Bundesliga & Co. 1963 to today. 1st division, 2nd division, GDR Oberliga. Numbers, pictures, stories. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1997, ISBN 3-89609-113-1 .
  • Karl-Heinz Heimann , Karl-Heinz Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989 . Copress-Verlag, Munich, ISBN 3-7679-0245-1 .
  • Ludolf Hyll (Ed.): Southern Germany's football history in tabular form 1897–1988 . Karlsruhe 1989, without ISBN.
  • Rupert Kaiser: Olympia Almanach 1896–2000 . AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2000, ISBN 3-89784-182-7
  • Volker Kluge : Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle . Volumes I - IV, Sportverlag, Berlin 1997-2001, ISBN 3-328-00738-5 .
  • Jürgen Leinemann : Sepp Herberger A life, a legend . Rowohltverlag Berlin, 1997, ISBN 3-87134-285-8 .
  • Fritz Walter : Games I will never forget . Copressverlag Munich, 1955, 5th edition.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Jürgen Bitter: Germany's football. The encyclopedia. P. 19.
  2. ^ Jürgen Bitter: Germany's football. The encyclopedia. P. 21.
  3. ^ Jürgen Bitter: Germany's football. The encyclopedia. P. 667.
  4. ^ Jürgen Bitter: Germany's football. The encyclopedia. P. 121.
  5. ↑ a b Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, p. 216.
  6. ↑ Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, p. 104.
  7. ↑ Karl-Heinz Jens: The omniscient football. Sport-Magazin, Nuremberg 1966, p. 199.
  8. ↑ Karl-Heinz Jens: The omniscient football. Sport-Magazin, Nuremberg 1966, p. 209.
  9. ^ German Olympic Society (ed.): The Olympic Games 1952. Special edition European Book Club. Hans Körfer: p. 208.
  10. ↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. Chronicle II, p. 325 (note 446)
  11. ↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. Chronicle II. London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. p. 172.
  12. ↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. Chronicle II. London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. p. 173.
  13. ↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. Chronicle II, p. 323 (note 436)
  14. ↑ a b c Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, p. 117.
  15. ↑ a b Volker Kluge: Summer Olympic Games. Chronicle II. London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. p. 277.
  16. ↑ a b c d Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, p. 118.
  17. ↑ Note 491 on p. 473 of the Olympia Chronik II by Volker Kluge about Olympia 1956.
  18. ↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. The Chronicle II, p. 420.
  19. ↑ Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, p. 55.
  20. ↑ Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, p. 56.
  21. ↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. Chronicle II, p. 472 (note 484)
  22. ↑ Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, p. 57.
  23. ↑ a b c Volker Kluge: Summer Olympic Games. Chronicle II, p. 650 (note 511)
  24. ↑ a b c d Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, p. 119.
  25. ↑ Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, p. 105.
  26. ↑ Sport Magazin, 1963, Nuremberg, issue 21 of May 27, p. 23.
  27. ↑ a b Michael Horn / Gottfried Weise: The great lexicon of GDR football. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89602-536-8 , p. 407.
  28. ↑ Sport-Magazin, 35 / A, September 2, 1963, p. 14.
  29. ↑ Chronicle of German Football. The national team games from 1908 to the present day. Chronik Verlag, Gütersloh / Munich 2005, ISBN 3-577-16409-3 , p. 119.
  30. ^ The large lexicon of GDR football, pp. 259/260.
  31. ↑ Football Lexicon, Copress-Verlag, Munich, pp. 292/293.
  32. ↑ Werner Skrentny (ed.): The big book of the German football stadiums. Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-89533-306-9 , p. 25.
  33. ↑ a b Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1987, p. 117.
  34. ^ A b Jürgen Bitter: Germany's football. The encyclopedia. P. 18.
  35. ↑ a b c Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, p. 120.
  36. ↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. The Chronicle III. P. 28.
  37. ↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. The Chronicle III. P. 203 (note number 499)
  38. ^ DFL German Football League (ed.): Bundesliga Lexikon. Sportverlag Europa Medien. Zurich 2003. ISBN 3-9522779-0-8 . Pp. 95-262
  39. ↑ Heimann, Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, pp. 126-132
  40. ↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. The Chronicle III. P. 214.
  41. ↑ Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, p. 121.
  42. ^ Jürgen Bitter: Germany's football. The encyclopedia. P. 473.
  43. ↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. The Chronicle III. S, 429 (note number 630)
  44. ^ Josef Zindel: FC Basel. Emotions in red-blue. Opinio Publishing House. Basel 2003. ISBN 3-03999-002-0 , S, 117.
  45. ↑ Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, p. 124.
  46. ↑ Heimann / Jens, KICKER-Almanach 1989, p. 125.
  47. ↑ Kicker sportmagazin, No. 78, September 25, 1978, p. 16.
  48. ↑ Kicker sports magazine. No. 94/47. Week. November 19, 1979. p. 66.
  49. ↑ Heimann / Jens: Kicker Almanach 1989, p. 126.
  50. ↑ Werner Skrentny (ed.), Verlag Die Werkstatt, Fußball-Stadien, 2001, p. 25, ISBN 3-89533-306-9 .
  51. ↑ Sport-Magazin, Nuremberg, June 10, 1963, p. 21.
  52. ↑ Sport-Magazin, Nuremberg, June 24, 1963, p. 18.
  53. ↑ Sport-Magazin, Nuremberg, September 2, 1963, p. 14.
  54. ^ FAZ, Frankfurt / Main, November 24, 1969, p. 9.
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on September 26, 2007 .