Soccer World Cup 1934 / Germany
This article deals with the German national soccer team at the soccer World Cup in Italy in 1934 .
qualification
Germany competed in Group 8 against Luxembourg and France . Since both group first and second qualified for the World Cup, the game against France, which would have determined the group winner, was no longer played out of irrelevance. At this point, Luxembourg was already third in the group. In the end, the German team only had to play one qualifying game to reach the finals. Germany competed in the following list:
Fritz Buchloh ( VfB Speldorf , 5th international match) - Eduard Hundt ( Schwarz-Weiß Essen , 3rd), Sigmund Haringer ( FC Bayern Munich , 8th) - Paul Janes ( Fortuna Düsseldorf , 5th), Fritz Szepan ( FC Schalke 04 , 4th), Richard Oehm ( 1. FC Nürnberg , 3rd) - Ernst Albrecht (captain, Fortuna Düsseldorf, 17th), Willi Wigold (Fortuna Düsseldorf, 4th), Karl Hohmann ( VfL Benrath , 8th), Josef Rasselnberg (VfL Benrath, 5th), Stanislaus Kobierski (Fortuna Düsseldorf, 12th)
Although only five of these players were there in Italy - Buchloh was on call as the third goalkeeper, Albrecht went with, but was not used - and four (Hundt, Oehm, Albrecht, Wigold) for the last time in the DFB that day -Elf stood, succeeded with a 9-1 victory against the selection of the Grand Duchy. Rasselnberg scored four goals, three went to Hohmann's account, Albrecht and Wigold contributed one each. Mengel scored a consolation goal for Luxembourg . It was the 100th official international match of the DFB.
| Pl. | team | Sp. | S. | U | N | Gates | Diff. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
 Germany
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9: 1 | +8 | 2-0 |
| 2. |
 France
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6: 1 | +5 | 2-0 |
| 3. |
 Luxembourg
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2:15 | −13 | 0: 4 |
Game results
| 03/11/1934 |
Luxembourg Municipal Stadium |
Luxembourg | - | Germany | 1: 9 (1: 5) | Goals: 0: 1, 1: 5, 1: 8, 1: 9 Josef Rasselnberg (3rd, 36th, 56th, 90th), 0: 2 Willi Wigold (12th), 0: 3 Ernst Albrecht (25th) .), 1: 3 Ernest Mengel (27th), 1: 4, 1: 6, 1: 7 Karl Hohmann (30th, 51st, 53rd) |
| Germany | - | France | omitted |
German contingent
- ↑ Munzenberg was nominated to replace Gramlich, who left early, for the game for 3rd place.
Note: The shirt numbers were not introduced in international football until 1939.
Three players would have been on call: Fritz Buchloh ( VfB Speldorf , goalkeeper), Franz Dienert ( VfB Mühlburg , defender) and Josef Streb ( FC Wacker Munich , runner).
With an average age of almost exactly 24 years, this first German World Cup line-up is the youngest to date. It is particularly noticeable that three players (Schwartz, Siffling and Zielinski) had not previously played a single official international match. Kreß, Kobierski and Albrecht alone had more than ten missions. However, the squad was originally selected from 38 candidates as part of a training camp in Duisburg, and there were also four test matches in different line-ups against the English professional team Derby County .
Games of the German team
Venues (red), district (blue) |
Germany achieved a respectable success at the 1934 World Cup. Unexpectedly they beat Belgium and Sweden, especially thanks to the performances of Edmund Conen and Karl Hohmann , before they were defeated in the semifinals by an outstanding Oldřich Nejedlý almost single- handedly . The surprise win against the significantly stronger Austrians in the game for third place ensured a successful conclusion.
Round of 16
| Sun., May 27, 1934 at 4:30 p.m. in Florence | |||
.svg){kind=small} Germany |
- |
 Belgium
|
5: 2 (1: 2) |
prehistory
In the round of 16, the German team met Belgium in their very first game at a World Cup. Overall, Germany has had a negative balance so far. In four games they had lost three times and so far only achieved one victory. However, this was only 7 months ago: On October 22nd, 1933, Germany had won 8: 1 against Belgium for the first time in Duisburg . Although only Janes, Hohmann and Kobierski played again in Florence, the DFB team was still considered a favorite and was therefore under corresponding pressure of expectation.
Course of the game
In the first half, Germany acted quite nervously and did not come up with a really well thought-out structure. In addition, trainer Otto Nerz had deliberately prescribed defensive tactics; Captain and center runner Szepan should mainly help the two defenders Haringer and Schwartz in preventing goals conceded and under no circumstances cross the center line to organize the offensive. The German back team subsequently caused danger in front of their own goal with cross passes and could hardly press the Belgians with their own attacks. The German strikers - with the exception of Edmund Conen , who was only 19 , had a rather agile stature - were initially regularly inferior to their opponents in duels. In addition, the Belgians liked to use the offside trap, which ultimately meant that the German team could hardly get in front of the opposing goal.
The Belgians, on the other hand, usually played long passes to take advantage of their physical advantages in an aerial duel. Even the German leadership - Stanislaus Kobierski was unable to find a free pass after Otto Siffling's presentation and surprised goalkeeper Vandeweyer with a shot from an unfavorable angle - did not provide any reassurance. The Belgians equalized after just five minutes. A bad header defense by Fritz Szepan in his own penalty area succeeded the Belgian Voorhoof, who scored the first goal in German World Cup history from close range. Shortly before the break, Belgium took the lead: The Germans lost the ball again in their own half, Heremans on the left conquered it, and Voorhoof headed his precise cross again.
Under the impression of this shock, Reich coach Otto Nerz responded to Edmund Conen, who complained about the overly rigid tactics during the break: "Do what you want!" The second half started for Germany in the 47th minute with the 2-2 through Siffling after a cross from Ernst Lehner . The Belgians now responded with a quarter-hour urge phase, which led to a series of corners, but resulted in no goals. The renewed German lead after an hour resulted from a Kobierski shot that may have already crossed the goal line when he was fisted away by Vandeweyer. So the ball flew to Conen, who only had to hold out his foot to make it 3-2 and is also named as a goalscorer in the official statistics. The same players also made the decisive 4: 2 three minutes later. Kobierski passed Conen, who shot the leather under the crossbar from an acute angle. After that, the Belgians could hardly do anything in the attack. Even in the defense, which they had dominated for a long time, they now deteriorated. Germany had a number of good scoring chances in the final quarter of an hour, but only one of them led to success. Five minutes before the end, Conen scored the final score with a covert force shot from the spin and thus the first flawless hat trick in World Cup history. A possibly wrongly refused penalty after fouling Karl Hohmann ultimately no longer made the difference.
Quarter finals
| Thursday, May 31, 1934 at 4:30 p.m. in Milan | |||
| Germany |
- |
 Sweden
|
2: 1 (0: 0) |
prehistory
In the quarterfinals there was a game against Sweden, who had prevailed 3-2 in the first game against the Argentines . The runner-up world champion from 1930 had only come with an amateur national team, although the professionalism had been introduced shortly before in the domestic premier league. Germany's international match record against Sweden was again negative. In ten games there were five defeats, three wins and two draws. However, just recently they had been successful against the Swedes. There had been no defeat in three games, the last one in 1928. The last game so far was played on September 25, 1932. After a 3-0 and a 0-0 win, Germany prevailed 4-3 in Nuremberg .
Course of the game
That day it rained in Milan, so the audience was correspondingly low. On the German side, Otto Nerz replaced Hans Schwartz , who was not convincing against Belgium, and the ailing Paul Janes with Willy Busch and Rudolf Gramlich . The basic tactical order, however, remained the same; Szepan was given the task of eliminating the Swedish striker Jonasson. This time the back team acted more consistently, so that the Swedes hardly played out opportunities. However, the Germans did not develop clear scoring chances in the first half and only dared a few long shots without being able to overcome goalkeeper Rydberg.
Only in the second half did the DFB-Elf play more committed and were rewarded with the opening goal after just under an hour. After Gramlich's free kick, which had only come into the team after Janes' failure, Hohmann won the header duel. The following ball fell at the feet of Conen, who fitted it back directly to Hohmann. The VfL Benrath player finally only had to push him in in the 57th minute. Already 17 minutes later it was 2-0, so that the game seemed decided. Gramlich had sent Conen with a through pass, which was followed by a pass to Hohmann. Goalkeeper Rydberg rushed towards him, but Hohmann had already shot, so that the ball ran over the inside post into the goal. During this action, however, the German striker suffered a knee injury. Since changes were not yet allowed, he then played on, but fell out for the semifinals against Czechoslovakia.
Inspired by the goal, the Germans created several opportunities, which they did not use. Then it came to a surprising goal in which goalkeeper Willibald Kreß let a shot by right winger Dunker pass. In the last eight minutes there was a tremendous game in the final phase due to a few smaller chances for the Swedes. However, the Swedes could no longer create a compelling situation.
Semifinals
| Sunday, June 3, 1934 at 4:30 p.m. in Rome | |||
 Czechoslovakia |
- |
Germany |
3: 1 (1: 0) |
prehistory
In the semi-finals, the German team met Czechoslovakia, against whom they played an international match for the first time. Germany was no longer the favorite this time, even if their opponents had only narrowly won against Romania (2: 1) and Switzerland (3: 2) after being 0: 1 behind. In the German team there was Jakob Bender from Düsseldorf instead of Rudolf Gramlich . Gramlich had voluntarily returned to Frankfurt out of solidarity with his Jewish employer, who was exposed to increasing reprisals from the Nazi regime. The official version gave professional constraints as the reason and at the same time sang a song of praise for the amateur status of German players, as professionalism was still frowned upon at the time. For the injured Hohmann, Siffling took over the position of the half-right striker, which he also held at his club Waldhof. As a half-left Noack moved into the line-up.
Course of the game
Even if it was read in the press that the result of the game was primarily due to the performance of the two goalkeepers - Kreß was never again allowed to play an international match in Germany - it was overall a deserved victory for Czechoslovakia. It was clearly noticeable that the team, which consisted exclusively of players from Prague's top clubs Slavia and Sparta , was better coordinated than the German team that was put together in a training camp especially for this tournament. The Prague people were more imaginative, more mentally flexible and often only slowed down by fouls, while the actions of the Germans mostly seemed hasty. They were unable to play a combination game that would pose serious problems for the opposing defense. The wing play in particular was neglected too much, in the attack the face-off stations were missing because there was too little movement in the basic formation. It is telling that the first two goals conceded as dust goals after too short attempts to clarify by Willibald Kreß, while in the Czechoslovak penalty area there was never a striker to benefit from one of the few insecurities of the Czechoslovak goalkeeper František Plánička .
The first goal resulted from a cross Juneks , the Kreß reached with his fist, but from there the ball landed directly on the head of the future top scorer Oldřich Nejedlý , who eventually headed him into the goal. Then Plánička thwarted the equalizer three times before half-time. Only in the 60th minute was he powerless when the ball over Conen and Siffling reached the free-standing Noack, who equalized the result with a forceful shot into the right corner of the goal. A hopeful urge phase followed by the Germans, which however remained without further success. The renewed residue then finally brought the end. Kreß had let Antonín Puč's shot ricochet forward, and before he could follow up, Nejedlý was there again. When the Dresden player let the ball from the penalty area fly over his right shoulder into the goal at 1: 3, Nejedlý scored his fifth tournament goal and the game was decided.
3rd place match
| Thursday, June 7, 1934 at 6:00 p.m. in Naples | |||
| Germany |
- |
 Austria
|
3: 2 (3: 1) |
prehistory
Germany and Austria , at that time one of the great football powers in Europe , played for third place at the World Cup . Against Austria, Germany once again had a clearly negative record. In nine games there were six defeats and two wins. There was also a draw. Precisely because of the last two games, in which Germany was literally shown, they still had an unresolved score with the Austrians. In 1931 the DFB-Elf had suffered two major defeats against Hugo Meisl's “ Wunderteam ” - on May 24th Austria won 6-0 at the Berlin German Stadium and on September 13th at the Hohe Warte stadium in Vienna 5-0.
From the Austrian squad at the time, Smistik , Zischek and Braun were also in Naples , but the two most important top performers, Matthias Sindelar and goal scorer Anton Schall , were absent due to injuries that they had sustained earlier in the tournament. Nevertheless, the professionals from the Vienna league , who lost 1-0 to hosts Italy in a very controversial game after victories over France and Hungary in the semi-finals, were expected to play a strong game in advance.
DFB coach Otto Nerz completely rebuilt his formation. Janes returned and took over the position of Haringer in the German defense - the man from Munich had been caught red-handed by Nerz with a bottle of beer. Substitute goalkeepers Jakob , Münzenberg and Heidemann came to their only World Cup appearance instead of Kreß , Noack and Kobierski . Nerz had the middle runner from Aachen who had been ready at home especially for this game - Munzenberg even had to postpone his wedding date. There were no regulations back then that would not allow this today. In this game, Nerz had given his captain Fritz Szepan a new task: as an advanced "second middle runner", he was supposed to interfere with the Austrian Josef Smistik at an early stage, but also to get involved in building up the game himself.
Since both teams traditionally played in white shirts and black shorts and away shirts were not yet common at that time, it was very difficult to tell the teams apart. This problem was solved by the fact that the Austrians, who were determined by lot, put on the blue jerseys from SSC Napoli shortly before kick-off .
Course of the game
An unexpected surprise happened in the game. The German team played very aggressively right from the start, Ernst Lehner's opening goal after just 24 seconds spurred self-confidence, and Szepan became the best man on the pitch. After a quarter of an hour, Edmund Conen , who was voted the best center forward of the tournament by journalists, increased to 2-0 with his fourth tournament hit with a violent shot. Until the break, the German team had a large number of scoring chances, but they lacked the right goal closure to decide the game early. Johann Horvath , who was the only Austrian striker left unmarked , scored the next goal after half an hour. However, shortly before the end of the first half, Lehner was able to restore the old distance when he hit the lower right corner of the goal with his left foot while falling.
In the second half, the Germans were primarily concerned with managing their lead, and so the predominance of game shares switched to the side of the Austrians, where Karl Sesta and Georg Braun had swapped positions after the break. But the German back team also had a particularly good day and dominated the opposing attackers for long stretches. Only 3: 2 fell when the view of the German goalkeeper Hans Jakob was blocked by a shot fired by Sesta from over 30 meters away, so that the ball went through the goalkeeper's legs into the goal. Germany thus achieved third place in its first World Cup participation.
