Soccer in Germany
Soccer is the most popular and liked sport in Germany and is therefore the national sport (Germany Soccer).
In 1874 the first modern football club was founded by Englishman in Dresden. In the following 20 years the sport spread all over the country and cities like Berlin, Hamburg and Karlsruhe.
But the first league, called “Bundesliega”, was not formed until 1963 and has 18 teams in it. Germany has now one of the best soccer leagues of the world. The Union ofEuropean Football Associations (UEFA) placed the German league in 2005 in 5th place (Football (Soccer)). The record holder is Bayern Munich with 20 national championships and four European Champions titles. Other well-known clubs are Hamburger SV, Borussia Dortmund, FC Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen (Football in Germany).
 Germany also has a very good and successful national team and it is in the international competition since 1908. They had their first big success in 1954 and won the world cup against the good Hungary team in Bern, Switzerland. They won two other world cups, 1974 in Germany and 1990 in Italy. At this time Germany is placed on second place of the FIFA ranking system (Germany national football team).
Germany hosted the last FIFA World Cup in 2006, it was held from 9 June to 9 July. Germany ended the cup in third place. This World Cup counts as one of the most watched events in television history, about 26.29 billion non-unique viewers watched it and almost every game was sold out (2006 FIFA World Cup).
All in all Germany is a country of soccer.
"Germany Soccer." mapsofworld. 2009. 22 Mar 2009 <http://www.mapsofworld.com/germany/germany-sports/germany-soccer/>.
"Football (Soccer)." wikipedia. 2009. 22 Mar 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_in_Germany#Football_.28soccer.29>.
"Football in Germany." wikipedia. 2009. 22 Mar 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_in_Germany#Bundesliga>.
"Germany national football team." wikipedia. 2009. 22 Mar 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany_national_football_team#Nickname>.
"2006 FIFA World Cup." wikipedia. 2009. 23 Mar 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_FIFA_World_Cup#Hosting>.
|
