Germany Greatest All-Time Team after Beckenbauer
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| World Cup 2014 |
Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
Germany All-Time Team
North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria.
East German Players after 1990
German Americans/American Germans
German Turks
Germany All-Time Team before 1972
German-born Players Capped by Other National Teams
East Germany
This is my selection of a 23 member all-time German team after Franz Beckenbauer's retirement from international football in 1974 The number 23 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the World Cup Finals.
West Germany won its World Cup in 1954. However, West Germany or Germany did not earn respect from the world until the emerge of Franz Beckenbauer and the Golden Generation. After the World Cup 1974, they are finally considered one of the best footballing nations in the world.
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| Euro 1980 |
Team
GK: Oliver Kahn
His heroic performance helped Germany to finish 2nd at Korea/Japan 2002. He was the Gold Ball winner in that WC. He played for Bayern Munich between 1994 and 2008. He won the Champions' league in 2001. He was the hero in a penalty shootout at the Final.
GK: Toni Schumacher
Schumacher won the 1980 European Championship in Italy and came second at the World Cup finals, in 1982 and 1986. He was best remembered for a highly controversial incident in the 1982 World Cup semifinal against France when he collided with and seriously injured French defender Patrick Battiston. He spent the prime of his career with Koln.
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| Toni Schumacher |
Neuer established as Germany's number 1 before the World Cup Finals in 2010. Since then, he has been considered one of the best keeper in the world. He helped Germany winning their 4th World Cup in 2014. In 2014, Neuer finished third in the voting, behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award. He started with Schalke 04, but moved to rival Bayern Munich in 2010. He is the second most expensive keeper of all-time.
RB/LB/DM: Philipp Lahm
Lahm was the captain of the 2014 World Cup winning team. He had 113 capos for Germany from 2004 to 2014. For club football, he played his entire career with Bayern Munich, except for a loan spell with VfB Stuttgart. He also won the treble in 2013 when Bayern Munich won the Champions' League, the German Cup and the Bundesliga on the same year. He was included in the World Cup team of the tournament in 2006 and 2010.
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| Philipp Lahm |
Kaltz was one of the finest crosser of the ball in the history of the game. He was famous with his partnership with striker Horst Hrubesch at Hamburger SV. They won the European Cup in 1984. Capped 69 times. He was a key player for West Germany in the 1980's and was considered one of Germany's greatest fullbacks.
CB: Jurgen Kohler
Kohler was regarded one of the best defenders in the 1990's. He earned 105 caps for West Germany/Germany between 1986 and 1998. He won the World Cup in 1990 and the European Championship in 1996. For his club career, he played with Koln, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund. He won the Champions' League in 1997 with Borussia Dortmund.
CB: Karl-Heinz Forster
With West Germany, Forster earned 81 caps. He won the European Championship in 1980, and came 2nd at the WC in both 1982 and 1986. He was regarded one of the best defenders in the 1980's. He played with VFB Stuttgart and Marseille. With Stuttgart, he won a Bundesliga in the 1983–84 season. He won two league titles in France.
SW: Matthias Sammer
With Borussia Dortmund as a player, Sammer won the Bundesliga and DFL-Supercup in 1995, the Bundesliga, DFL-Supercup, and European Footballer of the Year in 1996, and the UEFA Champions League and Intercontinental Cup in 1997. He also played for Inter Milan and Dynamo Dresden. With Germany as a player, Sammer won the UEFA Euro 1996, where he was named the tournament's best player, and was subsequently awarded the Ballon d'Or later that year. Sammer retired with 74 total caps, 23 for East Germany and 51 for the unified side.
CB/SW: Ulrich Stielike
Stielike is one of a small handful of players to have played in all 3 European club finals (the European Cup/Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup), the World Cup Final and the European Championship Final. He was part of the Mönchengladbach team that won the Bundesliga titles in 1975, 1976 and 1977, the UEFA Cup in 1975 and gained a runner-up medal in the European Cup in 1977. He joined Real Madrid in 1977, where he won the UEFA Cup. Capped 42 times, winning Euro 1980.
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| Ulrich Stielike |
He is best remembered for his career with Kaiserslautern and Inter Milan. He was the Serie A Foreign Player of the Year in 1989, in an era where the best players played in Italy. He had 86 caps. He was an important player for West Germany in the 1990 WC Finals, where he scored the winning goal in the Final. He also played in 1986 and 1994 World Cup Finals, and three European Championship.
LB/CB/DM: Hans Peter Briegel
Briegel's original sport was Decathlon. From 1975 to 1984, he played with FC Kaiserslautern before he moved on to Hellas Verona in Italy. With Hellas Verona, he surprisingly capturing the Serie A title in 1985. The same year Briegel was named Footballer of the Year in Germany, remarkable as he was the first foreign-based awardee in the history of the award. With West Germany, he won the European Championship in 1980. He played in the WC Finals of both 1982 and 1986.
CB/CM: Guido Buchwald
The best game of Buchwald's career was probably the final of the 1990 FIFA World Cup where he effectively marked the skilled footballer Diego Maradona, earning him the nickname "Diego". He was also part of Germany's disappointing 1994 FIFA World Cup squad and collected in his career 76 caps.
CM: Bastian Schweinsteiger
He was an important player for both club and country. He was capped 121 times. He went to three European Championships and as many World Cups, including their victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Schweinsteiger is the youth product of Bayern Munich. He won the 2013 Champions' league title with Bayern Munich. Late in his career, he played for Manchester United and Chicago Fire.
CM: Lothar Matthaus
Captaining the West German team in winning the WC in 1990. He was the European Player of the Year and the first ever World Player of the year in 1990. He played in five FIFA World Cups (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998), a record for an outfield player, and holds the record for the most World Cup matches played by a single player (25 games). He also won the Euro 1980 in Italy, and played in the 1984, 1988, and 2000 European Championships.
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| Lothar Matthaus |
A member of Bayern Munich's first team at the age of 17, Kroos played in a 18-month loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen, before going back to Munich and winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles and the 2012–13 Champions League. After winning the FIFA World Cup in 2014, he joined Real Madrid on a six-year contract. In Madrid, he won the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League and was elected to the Team of the Season in all his last three Champions'. In 2014, he was elected to the UEFA Team of the Year and the FIFPro World XI, as well as the IFFHS World's Best Playmaker. He was a key player for Die Mannschaft since 2010. He won the WC in 2014 as one of Germany's star players.
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| Toni Kroos |
Born in East Germany, Ballack was the best German player of his generation. first made his name with Bayer Leverkusen, helping them to the Final of the Champions' League in 2002. On the same summer, he helped Germany reaching the Final of Japan/Korea 2002. He moved to Bayern Munich after the WC Finals. he also played for Chelsea before his retirement.
AM: Mesut Özil
Mesut Özil is a third generation German of Turkish decent. He played for Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen before making a dream move to Real Madrid after South Africa 2010. He moved to Arsenal in 2013, which was then a transfer record for German players. For the national team., he was a part of Germany's World Cup winning team in 2014. At the time of writing, he has over 90 caps.
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| Mesut Özil |
A major star in the 1980's. He played in three WC Finals with Germany reaching the Final all 3 times. He won his final cup in 1990. He spent most of his career with Koln.
FW: Thomas Muller
Thomas Muller made his professional debut the season before South Africa 2010 with Bayern Munich. In South Africa, he won the Golden Boot as the top scorer. Between the two World Cup Finals, Bayern Munich won one Champions' league and went to the Final two other times. At Brazil 2014, he won Silver Boot by scoring 5 goals after helping Germany to win their first World Cup since 1990.
FW: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
He was one of the best players in the world during the 1980's. He was the European Player of the Year in 1980 and 1981. He won the European Championship in 1980 and was part of the squad that finished runner-up at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain and at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He was a young star in Argentina 1978. He spent the best parts of his club career with Bayern Munich and Inter Milan.
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| Karl-Heinz Rummenigge |
Völler started his career with TSV 1860 Hanau, before joining Bundesliga club Werder Bremen in 1982, winning his first cap for West Germany in the same year. Following a successful season, in which he became the Bundesliga's top scorer. In 1987 he was transferred to A.S. Roma. In 1992, Roma decided to sell Völler to Olympique Marseille, where he won the Champions League in 1993. He joined Bayer Leverkusen in 1994. Capped 90 times. He was a key player as West Germany won the World Cup in 1990.
ST: Miroslav Klose
Klose is best known for his performances with the German national team. He was part of the German squad that won the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He is the top goalscorer in the history of the FIFA World Cup, having scored 16 goals. Klose is also the top scorer of all time for Germany.
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| Miroslav Klose |
ST: Jurgen Klinsmann
Klinsmann won the WC in 1990 and then, captained the 1996 European Championship winning team. He played in all major international tournaments from 1988 until his retirement in 1998. He had successful club spells with Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspurs. He was a popular player while in England, despite a lot of negative press at the time of his signing. He won both the FWA Footballer of the Year and PFA Player of the Year in 1995.
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| Jurgen Klinsmann |
Honorable Mention
Jens Lehmann, Eike Immel, Oliver Bierhoff, Bodo Illgner, Thomas Berthold, Klaus Augenthaler, Sami Khedira, Bernd Schuster, Stefan Effenberg, Thomas Hassler, Horst Hrubesch, Felix Magath, Andy Moller, Karl-Heinze Riedle, Stefan Reuter, Mehmet Scholl, Mats Hummels, Jérôme Boateng.
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| West Germany 1990 |
-- Toni Kroos was sensational as Germany won the World Cup in 2014. He was also a key player for Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
-- Rummenigge played with Beckenbauer, but not in a World Cup Finals.
-- Michael Ballack and Mesut Özil were selected over Bernd Schuster and Stefan Effenberg because they had played more games for Germany. Both Schuster and Effenberg did not want to represent Germany. Loyalty was considered when I have to choose between the four players. Mesut Özil was also the best attack midfielder.
Formation
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