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Melting pot: new blood in the German national team Israel today

2022-11-20T10:12:50.622Z


German football and the national team have changed beyond recognition since the victory in 1954 which raised the morale of the citizens after the World War • The trend of immigration caused problems of identity and racism, but also introduced new blood and an attractive style to the Mannschaft • At the World Cup in Qatar we will see the results on the field


In 1874, a group of English industrial workers who lived in Dresden founded the first football club founded on German soil, and probably also the first of its kind in the world outside the British Isles.

The football industry began to gain momentum mainly among the working class, coal miners and steel industry workers in the industrialized Ruhr region.

Already at the beginning of the 19th century, Polish immigrants arrived in the industrialized areas of Germany in order to find work in the industrial market.

Their integration into the German workforce at the time resulted in their assimilation over the years into the local population.

The Jewish population also contributed its share to German football in Central Europe when Jews such as Julius Hirsch, Gottfried Fuchs or Walter Benzmann played in the early years of the 20th century.

In its second World Cup tournament, held in Italy in 1938, the German team, which was established after the annexation of Austria to Germany in the same year, failed.

The Germans chose to represent the two countries (which were considered two of the best in the world at the time) with a schematic division of 6 Germans and 5 Austrians in the lineup, regardless of their professional ability.

The other post-war Germany sought to rehabilitate its image.

Mesut Ozil.

Double identity, photo: from Facebook

The miracle of Bern and the World Cup won by West Germany in 1954 against all odds lifted the depressed German morale, only nine years after the end of the World War, and symbolized the return of Germany to the bosom of the family of nations.

Many believe that this victory helped restore Germany's economic position.

In some of the reconstruction programs after the war, tens of thousands of foreign workers were brought to Germany, mainly from Turkey, with the aim of rebuilding Germany.

The Germans encouraged the arrival of migrant workers, and the initial intention was that they would be temporary.

The winning team of 1954 included three players who were the sons of immigrants from Poland and Romania.

In the mid-1970s, Erwin Kustad played for the first time, the striker who was born a year after the end of World War II and was the son of an African-American father and a German mother, was the first brown-skinned player to play in the national team.

Ilkay Gundoan. Also supports Erdogan, photo: Reuters

The reunification of Germany resulted in the integration of East German players in the national team, and there were also quite a few with Polish roots.

The midfielder from Metz Schul, the son of a Turkish father and a German mother, was born in Karlsruhe and won the 1996 Euro with the team. The Polish Dariusz Vosch joined the team in 1997 and made his debut with a goal against the Israeli team at the RG Stadium, and together with Miroslav Klose brought in the integration of many players of ethnic origin A Pole like Lukas Podolski from Cologne and others.

In 1998, Bertie Vogts called up the two Leverkusen players for the first time - the Swiss Oliver Neuville and the Brazilian-born Paulo Rink, whose grandfather emigrated from Germany to Brazil at the beginning of the last century.

The top scorer of the World Cup games and of the German national team, Klose, was born in Poland to a father with German roots and to a Polish mother - who immigrated to Germany.

Foreigners in the German national team became a fait accompli on the eve of the new millennium, but also gave rise to phenomena of racism that seemed to have disappeared from German football.

Was the integration successful?

Depends on who you ask

With the reunification of Germany, the attitude of the Germans towards the foreign immigrants became more extreme in the West as well, and especially in the East.

Phenomena of hatred led to the fact that the Turkish population, which has already raised second and third generations of immigrants, recognized that their integration into society is not perfect.

This was expressed as always in football, and those immigrants identified with players of Turkish origin and even with Turkish football clubs, more than a connection to the sympathy patterns of the general population in Germany who identified with the local team and the national team.

German national team.

Changed beyond recognition, photo: AP

The Turkish national team qualified for the Euro games for the first time in its history in 1996, which drew an open wave of sympathy towards it from Turks in Germany, while in the very same tournament Mehmet Schull won the European Cup.

The Turkish players, similar to other football stars from immigrant communities in other European countries (for example Zinedine Zidane in France), have become over the years the representatives of the proud Turkish-German identity.

The identification of the two stars of Turkish origin, Mesut Özil and Ilkay Gundoğan, with Erdoğan's rule sparked the debate regarding the success of the integration, and is there a double identity in the German national team?

Ozil even withdrew from the national team following this storm.

Kay Harbetz celebrates in the uniform of the German national team.

Hopes to conquer in the upcoming tournament as well, photo: AP

Immigrants from outside Europe also joined the circle.

Thus, players of North African, Central African or South American origin also became an integral part of the German national team.

For example, the story of the brothers Jerome and Kevin-Prince Boateng, sons of an African father and a German mother, who chose to play separately - Jerome in Germany and Kevin-Prince in Ghana.

Sami Hadira, son of immigrants from Tunisia, played for the team for many years and even won the World Cup with them in 2014.

Penetration drugs.

He played in the national team for many years and even won the World Cup with it in 2014., Photo: AP

Currently, at least eight players with immigrant roots are playing in Germany.

Alongside Boateng and the Turkish Gondwan, there are also players of Nigerian, Cameroonian and Senegalese origin.

The team certainly reflects the tolerant policy that exists in the country regarding the reception of foreigners, and the work done in the last generation is especially evident on the eve of the opening of the games in Qatar 2022.

Gnabry.

Born in Stuttgart to a father from the Ivory Coast and a German mother, photo: Reuters

However, the German Football Association has no regular programs dealing with eradicating racism from the pitches.

Nor does the identity of the businessmen and decision makers in football represent the minorities in the population.

The association appoints ambassadors to bring together foreign players in Germany (such as the striker of the national team Kakao) to spread the news of integration and the importance of football as a tool for social mobility and integration.

At the same time, the Germans believe in creating an existing reality.

For evidence - in recent years, the team has lost a little of the image of the efficient and powerful German machine and has become a tolerant team that contains cultures and plays attacking and positive football, which gains more sympathy among football fans around the world.

* The writer is an expert on German history and Israel-Germany relations in Rai HaSport

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Source: israelhayom

All sports articles on 2022-11-20

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