Germany and Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil announced his retirement from international soccer on Sunday, citing racism from fans, criticism of a photo he took with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and unfair scapegoating by German’s top soccer officials. For no obvious reason, Bayern Munich president and 1974…
Mesut Özil retired from German international soccer Sunday, in a lengthy statement released on Twitter. Özil says the fallout from a photo he took with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in May lays bare a kind of racism he’s subjected to as a German with Turkish heritage, and that “enough is enough.”
If there’s one thing that will really stick with me from this morning’s World Cup action, it isn’t Mexico spending 90 minutes stress-barfing all over themselves. Neither is it the shock of defending champion Germany failing to get out of the group stage. What I’ll most likely remember long after this World Cup crowns…
After looking commanding in an opening-day beatdown of the World Cup’s defending champs, then slick and deadly in an easy victory over South Korea, Mexico proceeded to completely shit the bed today. All they needed to do against Sweden was not lose by multiple goals, which seemed like something between a manageable…
Germany, the reigning champions of world soccer and one of the three huge favorites to win this World Cup, have been knocked out of the tournament at the group stage for the first time in history after losing to South Korea by a score of 2-0. This is absolutely insane.
The angles at which soccer games are broadcast can often make free-kick opportunities look much simpler than they actually are. From way up in the sky, the wall of defenders looks much less imposing, the distance from ball to goal much more manageable, and the target much easier to hit.
Germany were perilously close to seeing their chances of making it out of their group dwindle to almost nothing. Tied at 1-1 against Sweden, down to ten men with only seconds remaining in regulation, Germany needed a miracle. Then Toni Kroos did what you see above.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernández was not the best Mexican player on the field in Sunday’s World Cup match against Germany. That honor probably belongs to goal-scorer Hirving Lozano, or any of El Tri’s defensive midfielders and center backs who spent the game stoning Germany’s attacks. Hernández was not the reason Mexico…
Defending World Cup champs Germany were upset in their opener Sunday by a gutsy and tough-as-nails Mexico side, 1-0. There have been some surprising results in the tournament so far—Iceland drawing Argentina, Portugal drawing Spain—but this is the first holy shit upset.
National identities in soccer are real. Mostly they emerge from the styles of play and the youth coaching methods that predominate in any given country’s soccer setup, and the values those styles and methods reflect. There is a reason why Brazil are almost always led by graceful and expressive attackers, and why…
Doesn’t some language have a word for feeling joy at others’ failure?
Stefan Loibl of the Straubing Tigers was just giving a routine interview in the second intermission of a 4-2 loss to fellow German hockey club Kölner Haie. But just when you’re feeling safe—that’s when Der Eismaschine will strike.
Today’s men’s singles final at the German Open in Hamburg suffered a bit of an inverted-umbrella delay, and pity the poor Körperklaus who was tasked with trying to resolve it.
Christian Pulisic spent this season with Borussia Dortmund tearing it up on the right flank and establishing himself as a vital cog of one of the best offenses in the world. The 18-year-old had four goals and 10 assists for the club in the Bundesliga and Champions League, and put forth the best season by an American…
With Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund tied 2-2 late in their German Cup semifinal match, Dortmund’s teenage star (no, not that one) blasted the game-winning goal from behind a screen of defenders. Ousmane Dembele’s late winner sent his club to their fourth consecutive German Cup final, leaving Germany’s greatest…
A week ago, the participation of the U.S. women’s hockey team in the IIHF World Championship was uncertain, as they were struggling through contract negotiations with USA Hockey in hopes of ensuring equitable pay and treatment. But two days before the tournament started, the sides reached an agreement. Now, after…
In Lukas Podolski’s last appearance for Germany’s national team, the former Arsenal man, corner kick extraordinaire, and guy known for absolutely crushing the ball launched a rocket into the top right corner in the 69th minute to beat England 1-0 in the friendly. It was the perfect final goal for the 31-year-old…
The USTA has apologized to Germany for performing the antiquated first verse of that country’s national anthem—the “Deutschland, Deutschland Über Alles” one, last used by the Nazis—before yesterday’s Fed Cup match between German Andrea Petkovic and American Alison Riske.
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,” Jesus Christ once remarked, “than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” He continued, “But if a soccer man doth line up and crack a sweet shot on goal, and find himself denied by the crossbar, yet resist the weapons of Lucifer as disappointment and…
