Every time a World Cup is about to kick-off, the Germans are somehow said to be among the favourites. While some teams were great, many German or West German teams were simply lucky: the team of in 1982 that beat France on penalties in a semi-final which was overshadowed by Toni Schumacher’s criminal assault on Battiston. The team in South Korea and Japan 20 years later were at best plucky but bloody minded enough to reach another final, the seventh in total. Ever since being re-admitted onto world football’s grandest stage in 1950, West Germany managed to secure a semi-final place in all tournaments but 4: 1962, 1978, 1994 and 1998. This is an impressive record. Add to that 3 victories, several runners-up and third place finishes and one has to consider Germany as the most consistent team in World Cup history since 1950. The other Germany, the GDR meanwhile often played well in friendlies but when matters became serious, the East Germans bottled it. Always. Except once: 1974.
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40 Years – 7 Tears: Transition 2007 – 2012
After missing out on promotion by mere 5 minutes in 2007, the club once more failed to keep the momentum and stumbled. It did not fall. Another period of unrest ensued with heavy rotation on the coaching position as well as the playing staff. This period came to an end in 2012 when Andreas Petersen was signed as coach. Read more →
Guttmann’s Curse
Benfica’s presence in this year’s Europa League Final is for many a right response to last year’s disappointment when they lost their final against Chelsea in injury time. Conspiracy theorists however, saw themselves confirmed. And their thoughts have been confirmed. Read more →
40 Years – 7 Tears: Fly Me to the Moon 2006-07
The fate of FC Magdeburg told in 7 posts. After the previous ones looked at off pitch failures, this looks at a season that ended in tears as Magdeburg missed out on promotion once more. The history of the club is one of few ups and a few more downs. Sadly, there are more downs to write about. Read more →
40 Years – 7 Tears New Millennium + New Money = Success?
In the previous posts of this series the focus was on the history of FC Magdeburg during the 1970s and early 1990s. Arguably, between 1976 and 1989 almost 13 years have passed without major crises. The 90s however, saw the club tumbling from crisis to crisis. This decade began with a huge breakup in East German football and it concluded almost likewise. Once more false promises were the cause, paired with megalomania and it brought the club to the brink of extinction. Read more →
FC Magdeburg – VFC Plauen Match Report
Magdeburg’s chances for promotion have received a knock last week when they were defeated by Neustrelitz, who deserve to be top of the league. The visitors, Plauen, had nothing to lose as they are safe from relegation and have nothing to do with promotion either. Nonetheless, it was an entertaining match on a wonderful sunny afternoon in Germany.
Breathtaking 25
The home team were caught on the wrong foot: 2 minutes were played and they were 1 goal down already. A misplaced pass on the right wing saw 2 Plauen attackers quickly combining and finishing. The aftershock of last week’s defeat was very much visible. Matters were made worse only 2 and a half minutes later when a corner was headed into the net by Christian Beck, Magdeburg’s top scorer this season. It could not get worse. Read more →
40 Years – 7 Tears: Magdeburg Pay double Penalty
It was all set: The champagne in the fridge, the venue for the after match party. The sun was doing her best on this early May weekend. The veterans from Rotterdam 1974 played the warm-up game for the men’s team. Albeit, all this turned out to be premature. Read more →
40 Years – 7 Tears: The Fall of the Berlin Wall 1990
1964 – 1974 – 1994 – 2004 – 2014 These 5 dates stand for important dates in the history of FC Magdeburg’s history, one of East Germany’s most popular and successful clubs, before and after 1990. After 1990 with an altered omen. In a series of articles, An Old International recounts the history of ‘The Greatest of the World’ from Magdeburg. Part 2 looks at historical events in 1990 that affected the whole of the GDR. Read more →
France – Holland Match Report
After 2 weeks of Champions League football, the international break provided some interesting insight in the state of the French and Dutch soccer teams at this early stage of the World Cup year. The insights can be summarized very quickly: France seem to have the core of a team that will surprise some while the Dutch looked bleak and will have to re-think. Read more →
Knowing your Audience
Writing about football can be fascinating. Yet, the readers remain a species largely unknown. Using google analytics gives a valuable insight into how many people click in general on any blog post in any given time frame. Additionally, those tools help to see who has shared the content where. The backend at WordPress allows to see figures of how many people have subscribed to rss-feeds and which feedreaders are mostly used. Last but not least, the most popular posts of the last 30 days are displayed. This is all very nice and very helpful. It aides to place the blog and its impact – if there is such a thing for a one man business such as An Old International – in the wider space of the internet and football blogger and writer sphere. Read more →