Sepp Herberger

Sepp Herberger

Herberger in 1957
Personal information
Full name	Josef Herberger
Date of birth	(1897-03-28)28 March 1897
Place of birth	Mannheim, German Empire
Date of death	28 April 1977(1977-04-28) (aged 80)
Place of death	Mannheim, West Germany
Position(s)	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1914–1921	Waldhof Mannheim	127	(101)
1922–1926	VfR Mannheim	66	(55)
1926–1930	Tennis Borussia Berlin	43	(30)
Total		236	(186)
International career
1921–1925	Germany	3	(2)
Managerial career
1928–1929	SV Nowawes 03
1930–1932	Tennis Borussia Berlin
1932–1933	Western Germany
1932–1936	Germany (assistant coach)
1936–1942	Germany
1945–1946	Eintracht Frankfurt (interim)
1950–1964	West Germany
Medal record Representing  West Germany (As manager) FIFA World Cup Winner 1954 Switzerland
Signature
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Josef "Sepp" Herberger (28 March 1897 – 28 April 1977) was a German

Born in Mannheim, Herberger grew up in a poor, Catholic family of farmers, which moved to Mannheim in order to work in the local Saint-Gobain glass factory.

He later played three times for the German football team between 1921 and 1925^[1] before becoming assistant to Otto Nerz in 1932. Herberger succeeded him as national coach after Germany's uninspired loss to Norway in quarter finals at the 1936 Olympics.^[2] After the war, he had a short spell as interim coach with Eintracht Frankfurt, before being recalled as national team coach in 1950. He remained the position until 1964, when he was succeeded by Helmut Schön. He died of pneumonia in Weinheim-Hohensachsen (de), aged 80.

1954 World Cup win, "The Miracle of Bern"

Hungary was the overwhelming favourite to win the 1954 World Cup. Its legendary Golden Team, also known as the Mighty Magyars, had not lost a match in four years. They were the reigning Olympic Champion and had won the Central European International Cup in 1953. Once the World Cup started, Hungary had been dominant, outscoring their opponents 17–3 in their two group games while West Germany had been outscored 9–7. In their match against each other, Hungary had won 8–3. The final was played in heavy rain. Hungary scored an early goal and minutes later doubled their lead. Germany pulled one back within two minutes, and equalized eight minutes after that. Hungary had more chances the rest of the way, but was unable to score. West Germany scored with six minutes left in the match to win 3–2. Among Herberger's moves credited with helping the team in the final are: fielding a below strength and largely out-of-position team in the first match against Hungary, to disguise the team's strengths; giving Fritz Walter defensive help, so he could concentrate his energies on attacking; and instructing his team to attack the Hungarian penalty area from the wings, instead of down the middle.

References in popular culture

Three of Herberger's popular sayings are quoted in the beginning of the 1998 film Run Lola Run. The first is at the very beginning of the film (Nach dem Spiel ist vor dem Spiel, "After the game is before the game"). The second quote is "Der Ball ist rund und das Spiel dauert 90 Minuten"," says a character later introduced as a security guard at the bank in which Lola visits her father. Both of which is a commonly used amalgamation of two separate famous quotes.

The 2003 film, The Miracle of Bern, following Herberger and his team's path to victory in the 1954 World Cup, also features a number of these quotations including the amalgamation of two of the above, "The ball is round and the game lasts for 90 minutes" (Der Ball ist rund und das Spiel dauert 90 Minuten).

Controversy

Herberger joined the Nazi Party in 1933.^[3] His nomination to the Germany's Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 caused some criticism because of his Nazi past.^[4]

Coaching record

Honours

As a player

VfR Mannheim

• South German Championship: 1925

As a manager

West Germany

• FIFA World Cup: 1954

Individual

• World Soccer 20th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2013^[6][7]

Filmography

• The Big Game (1942)

References