Breslau Eleven

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Breslau Eleven
Battle of Breslau
Exhibition game
Germany Denmark
Nazi Germany Denmark
8 0
Date16 May 1937
Venue
Breslau
RefereeAugustin Krist (Czechoslovakia)
Attendance40,000

The Breslau Eleven (

Hermann-Göring-Sportfeld in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) on 16 May 1937. Coached by Sepp Herberger, the German side is generally regarded as one of the most famous teams in German football history.[1] Likewise, the defeat has been characterized as the lowest point for Danish football.[2] In Denmark, the game became known for posterity as the Battle of Breslau (Danish: Slaget i Breslau).[3]

Background

The Olympic Stadium in Wrocław was the venue for the match

The core players of the Breslau Eleven were first assembled during the

Schalke 04, but the club's style of play, a quick passing game known as the Kreisel, was not suited to the more physical and direct tactical approach used by Nerz from observing English football. Consequently, only Fritz Szepan
was a regular for both Schalke and the national team.

Nerz's tactics were initially successful, with Germany achieving a surprise third-place finish at the World Cup. Nerz had opted to make several changes to the side in the third-place playoff against

inside forward
.

The success at the World Cup resulted in high expectations for the side during the

Rudi Gellesch and Adolf Urban
soon became regulars for the national side.

The match

(Left): Both starting line-ups on the field; (right): a moment of the match with Germany attempting to score
Germany 8–0 Denmark
Lehner 7'
Siffling 33', 40', 44', 48', 65'
Urban 70'
Szepan 78'
Czechoslovakia
)
GK Hans Jakob
DF Paul Janes
DF Reinhold Münzenberg
MF Andreas Kupfer
MF Ludwig Goldbrunner
MF Albin Kitzinger
FW Ernst Lehner
FW Rudolf Gellesch
FW Otto Siffling
FW Fritz Szepan (c)
FW Adolf Urban
Manager:
Germany Sepp Herberger
GK Svend Jensen
DF Poul Hansen
DF Oscar Jørgensen
MF Carl Larsen
MF
Henry Nielsen
MF Poul Jensen
FW Helmuth Søbirk
FW Eyolf Kleven
FW Pauli Jørgensen (c)
FW Kaj Uldaler
FW Eigil Thielsen
Manager:
?

Aftermath

Coached by Sepp Herberger, the German side went undefeated in all eleven matches they played in 1937, winning ten of them.[4] The Breslau Eleven was broken up following the Anschluss with Austria in March 1938. Due to political pressure, Herberger was forced to include Austrian-born players in his team for the upcoming 1938 World Cup. The team failed to live up to expectations, and was defeated in the first round of the tournament by Switzerland.

For the Danish national team, the loss is still the largest in team history. The loss would have been even deservedly bigger, had goalkeeper

Edward Magner was hired in 1939 did the Danish amateurs undergo sufficient physical conditioning and were properly schooled in the WM tactic.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Hesse-Lichtenberger, Ulrich (2003). Tor! The story of German football.
  2. ^
    ISBN 87-7245-132-7
    .
  3. ISBN 87-989914-7-7
    .
  4. ^ Muras, Udo (16 May 2007). "Nur Hitler konnte sie stoppen" (in German). Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  5. ISBN 87-7245-132-7
    .
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