World Cup qualifying continues as in Group C, the Germany national team face third-placed side the Czech Republic this Saturday (20:45 CEST) in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion. After winning their first match of the qualifying campaign convincingly against Norway in Oslo (3-0), Joachim Löw’s side occupy top spot in the group. The two nations have come up against each other seven times in a major tournament. The encounter which lives longest in the memory is of course the final of the European Championships in 1996, when current team coordinator Oliver Bierhoff scored the first golden goal in Euros history which handed Germany the title. Below, DFB.de provides you with all the need to know facts on Saturday’s game.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD: After Germany had gone 14 games from 1973 to 2000 without losing to Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic, the Czechs have actually come out on top in two of the three most recent fixtures between the two nations. For instance, on October the 17th 2007, the DFB Team lost a European Championship qualifier in the Allianz Arena 3-0 – this was Germany’s last home defeat in a competitive match. Since then however, Germany remain undefeated in their last 22 competitive games on home soil (18 wins, four draws). The 3-0 defeat was also the only time Germany failed to score a goal in 23 competitive matches, however, Germany did go into this game knowing that qualification had already been secured. Die Mannschaft’s highest win over the Czechs was a 5-1 victory in Prague on the 30th of April 1985, while in a 2-0 victory in Hannover on the 17th of November 1876, Heinz Flohe scored a landmark 1000th goal for the DFB Team against Czechoslovakia.
THREE CLASHES ON THE WAY TO SILVERWARE: The two nations have faced each other a total of seven occasions in World Cups and European Championships. Their first ever clash was in the 1934 World Cup, when Germany lost 3-1 in Rome. After drawing 2-2 in a 1958 first-round World Cup tie, Czechoslovakia again came out on top in a memorable European Championship final penalty shootout in 1976 in Belgrade. In that “Night in Belgrade”, Dieter Müller (28’) and Bernd Hölzenbein (90’) cancelled out the Czechoslovakians’ lead, which they had earned through Jan Svehlik (8’) and Karol Dobias (25’). Then, after seven converted penalties in the shootout, Uli Hoeneß unfortunately fired over the bar which meant Antonin Panenka became his country’s hero as he cheekily chipped the decisive penalty down the middle of the goal. This was of course the start of the footballing term a “panenka penalty”, which is currently still widely used. Until the present day, this remains Germany’s only defeat in a penalty shootout in a European Championship or World Cup tournament. This defeat also meant Franz Beckenbauer wasn’t able to celebrate his 100th cap in the way he would have liked. In 1980, Germany got revenge for the semi-final of the 1934 World Cup as they defeated Czechoslovakia 1-0 on their way to the title in the newly-created group stages of the Euros. The two nations met again in Italy in the quarterfinal of the 1990 World Cup but this time, Germany came out victorious in this encounter on Italian territory (1-0) thanks to a penalty from Lothar Matthäus. Yet again, Germany defeated Czechoslovakia on their way to a title. In the 1996 European Championship in England, the teams faced each other twice, firstly in Manchester in the two sides’ opening game. Germany won this clash 2-0 and then more significantly also won the final at Wembley. The Czech Republic took the lead in the 59th minute through a Patrik Berger penalty, however, substitute Oliver Bierhoff turned the game around, first equalizing in the 73rd minute and then scoring the winner and the first ever golden goal in European Championship history. The most recent big clash between the two nations was in the 2004 Euros in Portugal, as the Czech Republic came from behind to beat Germany 2-1 in the last game of the group stage, after Michael Ballack had put his country in the lead. A day after this game, Rudi Völler stepped down as DFB head coach.
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World Cup qualifying continues as in Group C, the Germany national team face third-placed side the Czech Republic this Saturday (20:45 CEST) in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion. After winning their first match of the qualifying campaign convincingly against Norway in Oslo (3-0), Joachim Löw’s side occupy top spot in the group. The two nations have come up against each other seven times in a major tournament. The encounter which lives longest in the memory is of course the final of the European Championships in 1996, when current team coordinator Oliver Bierhoff scored the first golden goal in Euros history which handed Germany the title. Below, DFB.de provides you with all the need to know facts on Saturday’s game.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD: After Germany had gone 14 games from 1973 to 2000 without losing to Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic, the Czechs have actually come out on top in two of the three most recent fixtures between the two nations. For instance, on October the 17th 2007, the DFB Team lost a European Championship qualifier in the Allianz Arena 3-0 – this was Germany’s last home defeat in a competitive match. Since then however, Germany remain undefeated in their last 22 competitive games on home soil (18 wins, four draws). The 3-0 defeat was also the only time Germany failed to score a goal in 23 competitive matches, however, Germany did go into this game knowing that qualification had already been secured. Die Mannschaft’s highest win over the Czechs was a 5-1 victory in Prague on the 30th of April 1985, while in a 2-0 victory in Hannover on the 17th of November 1876, Heinz Flohe scored a landmark 1000th goal for the DFB Team against Czechoslovakia.
THREE CLASHES ON THE WAY TO SILVERWARE: The two nations have faced each other a total of seven occasions in World Cups and European Championships. Their first ever clash was in the 1934 World Cup, when Germany lost 3-1 in Rome. After drawing 2-2 in a 1958 first-round World Cup tie, Czechoslovakia again came out on top in a memorable European Championship final penalty shootout in 1976 in Belgrade. In that “Night in Belgrade”, Dieter Müller (28’) and Bernd Hölzenbein (90’) cancelled out the Czechoslovakians’ lead, which they had earned through Jan Svehlik (8’) and Karol Dobias (25’). Then, after seven converted penalties in the shootout, Uli Hoeneß unfortunately fired over the bar which meant Antonin Panenka became his country’s hero as he cheekily chipped the decisive penalty down the middle of the goal. This was of course the start of the footballing term a “panenka penalty”, which is currently still widely used. Until the present day, this remains Germany’s only defeat in a penalty shootout in a European Championship or World Cup tournament. This defeat also meant Franz Beckenbauer wasn’t able to celebrate his 100th cap in the way he would have liked. In 1980, Germany got revenge for the semi-final of the 1934 World Cup as they defeated Czechoslovakia 1-0 on their way to the title in the newly-created group stages of the Euros. The two nations met again in Italy in the quarterfinal of the 1990 World Cup but this time, Germany came out victorious in this encounter on Italian territory (1-0) thanks to a penalty from Lothar Matthäus. Yet again, Germany defeated Czechoslovakia on their way to a title. In the 1996 European Championship in England, the teams faced each other twice, firstly in Manchester in the two sides’ opening game. Germany won this clash 2-0 and then more significantly also won the final at Wembley. The Czech Republic took the lead in the 59th minute through a Patrik Berger penalty, however, substitute Oliver Bierhoff turned the game around, first equalizing in the 73rd minute and then scoring the winner and the first ever golden goal in European Championship history. The most recent big clash between the two nations was in the 2004 Euros in Portugal, as the Czech Republic came from behind to beat Germany 2-1 in the last game of the group stage, after Michael Ballack had put his country in the lead. A day after this game, Rudi Völler stepped down as DFB head coach.
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A GOOD DAY TO PLAY: A year ago today, Germany lost a Euros qualifying match 1-0 to Ireland in Dublin. However, Germany’s record when playing on the 8th of October is overall positive with four wins in six games (two defeats). Also, Germany are unbeaten in Hamburg in seven games (five wins, two draws). The last defeat in Hamburg was, however, particularly bitter, as on the 21st of June 1988, Germany lost 2-1 to the Netherlands in the semi-final of the European Championship. Just as memorable is the loss to the East Germany, as a single goal from Jürgen Sparwasser on the 22nd of June 1974 was enough for the GDR to win in this World Cup group stage tie against their neighbours. Germany’s previous game in that tournament also took place in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion, but this match was somewhat less complicated, as Germany triumphed 3-0 over Australia. In the last 31 national games in Hamburg, Germany have only conceded five goals before the break, while scoring 25 goals themselves. The most recent DFB game in Hamburg was two years ago on the 13th of May, this game ended in a goalless draw against Poland. 12 Germany players also made their debuts in this game, they were: Kevin Volland, Sebastian Rudy, Oliver Sorg, Antonio Rüdiger, Leon Goretzka, Max Meyer, Shkodran Mustafi, Christoph Kramer, Maximilian Arnold, Christian Günter, Sebastian Jung and Andre Hahn.
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE REENCOUNTER: The 3-0 loss against Czech Republic in a European Championship qualifier in Munich on 17th October 2007 was Joachim Löw’s biggest defeat as Germany head coach. Oliver Bierhoff scored a brace for Germany against Czech Republic in the 1996 European Championship final as well as the 3-2 victory in a friendly on 3rd June 2000 in Nuremberg. He scored four goals in three matches against Czech Republic in only 66 minutes worth of game time. Czech Republic manager Karel Jaroli lost to Germany in a friendly whilst playing for Czech Republic on 14th April 1982 in Cologne. He was taken off in the 56th minute in this fixture. Jaroslav Drobny (Czech Republic) will return to the city of his former club Hamburg, where he made 76 Bundesliga appearances before transferring to his current club Werder Bremen. Jerome Boateng is also a former Hamburger SV player. He made 75 appearances for the club between 2007 and 2010. Shkodran Mustafi was part of the Hamburger SV academy between 2006 and 2009.
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STREAKS AND TRENDS: Germany have only ever lost two of their 85 World Cup qualifying fixtures (65 victories, 18 draws). They lost to Portugal 1-0 in Stuttgart in 1985 and to England 5-1 in Munich in 2001. Germany are unbeaten in their last 24 World Cup qualifying fixtures. They have won six of their last nine international fixtures, drawing two and losing one. They have won five of their last seven home matches. Germany have scored in ten of their last twelve matches. They have only failed to score in one of their last 38 fixtures in the 0-0 against Poland in Hamburg on 13th May 2014. Czech Republic have only won one of their last six matches, drawing two and losing three. However they haven’t conceded in their last two matches, something they haven’t achieved since November 2013. Czech Republic have scored in all of their last seven away fixtures.
CELEBRATIONS AND RECORDS: It will be Joachim Löw’s 140th game in charge of Germany against Czech Republic on Saturday. He overtakes Helmut Schön. Sepp Herberger holds the record number of matches in charge of the Germany first team (168 times). If Germany lose, it will only be their 50th loss in 354 competitive fixtures.
THOMAS MÜLLER: Thomas Müller’s current goal scoring record is slightly better for the national team than it is for FC Bayern München. Müller hasn’t scored in five matches for his club. However he scored twice (15’, 60’) in Germany’s first World Cup qualifying fixture against Norway and provided an assist for Bayern teammate Joshua Kimmich. “We had a bit of luck to go 1-0 up,” said Müller after the match against Norway, “however it was still nice to get on the scoresheet again.” The 27-year old striker ended his run of seven games without a goal for the Germany national team. Müller has scored 34 goals and provided 22 assists in his 79 international appearances. The Bayern player has scored at least one goal in 24 international fixtures and Germany haven’t lost a single match when he has scored. 28 of his 34 goals were in competitive fixtures. Müller scored his eighth brace for Germany against Norway, all of them have been in competitive fixtures. With his 34th goal for Germany, Müller is even closer to getting in the top ten of all-time top goalscorers. He only needs to score three more goals to equal Oliver Bierhoff’s record.
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EVER PRESENT HECTOR:The national side also started their last World Cup qualifying campaign with a 3-0 win over the Faroe Islands in Hamburg. Could this be a good omen for the title defence? The Czech Republic had to settle for a 0-0 draw in their opening home qualifier against Northern Ireland. The hosts had more than twice as many shots on goal as the visitors (17 to 7), but had only one of those shots on target (Northern Ireland had three on target). The Czechs won more tackles than the Northern Irishmen (57%) and had significantly more possession (65%), yet they still couldn’t find a breakthrough. Jonas Hector is the only German player to have played a part in all of Die Mannschaft’s games since the beginning of 2015. The 26-year-old has started all of those games. Germany have conceded just three goals in their last nine games, with the side keeping seven clean sheets in that time. In those nine games, Joachim Löw’s side have conceded just one goal before half-time, when France’s Antoine Griezmann converted his penalty in the semi-final of EURO 2016.
GUARENTEED GOALS: In the last six internationals between Germany and the Czech Republic, there have been at least two goals in every game. The two sides have never played out a 0-0 draw.
GÜNDOGAN RETURNS: Ilkay Gündogan was forced to miss both the 2014 World Cup and last summer’s EUROS through injury. The last of his 16 appearances for the national side came in the 2-0 win against France in November 2016. This particular fixture was overshadowed by the Paris terror attacks on the same evening as the game. Following Bastian Schweinsteiger’s retirement from the Die Mannschaft, there are places in midfield up for grabs. “I have always thought myself capable of taking over this role,” said the Manchester City midfielder. Gündogan has the opportunity to fill the former captain’s big boots and establish himself in the side.
WHO IS MISSING:Mario Gomez will be unable to train for a few days with a gluteal injury and so has withdrawn from the squad. Gomez’s last game for Die Mannschaft came in the EURO 2016 quarter-final against Italy, when he had to be substituted in the 72nd minute. Karel Jarolim will have to do without Hertha’s Vladimir Darida, who is out with an ankle injury. Meanwhile, Milan Skoda is also nursing an injury, which the 30-year-old striker picked up in the derby against Sparta Prague. Petr Cech and Tomas Rosicky will also not feature after their retirements from Czech national side.
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NEW CZECH REPUBLIC COACH:Karel Jarolim took over as the new Czech Republic coach in August 2016. He already has a 3-0 win over Armenia and a 0-0 draw against Northern Ireland under his belt. Germany, however, are on a completely different level, according Jarolim, father of the former HSV player David Jarolim. “It’s good that we are in the spotlight. But on the other hand, we are coming up against a team who are very rarely beaten.” Jarolim follows the Bundesliga regularly and is well aware of the Germans’ quality. “The more I see these guys play, the more it stands out just how good they are.”
THE OPPOSITION:Czechoslovakia played their first international fixture on 28th August 1920, winning 7-0 in the Olympic Games in Antwerp. The team subsequently made their way to the final. With the score at 2-0 to Belgium, the match was abandoned in the 39th minute, after the Czechoslovakians left the pitch in protest against a refereeing decision. They were stripped of their silver medal. The Czechs have never won a game with a bigger margin than seven goals, with their fifth and, until now, final victory of that margin came against San Marino in September 2009 (7-0). The Czechs have lost four games by a margin of 5-0 (twice against Hungary), with the last such defeat coming in the 1954 World Cup against Austria. After the separation from Slovakia, the Czechs biggest margin of defeat has been by three goals, with the last of these results coming in the loss to Denmark in March 2013 (0-3). The team’s biggest success came when they won the 1976 European Championships against Germany, with second place being their best ever World Cup finish. The Czechs lost 2-1 to hosts Italy in the 1934 World Cup final and were runners-up again in 1962, when Brazil won 3-1. However, since separating from Slovakia, the Czech Republic has only qualified once for the World Cup in five attempts. In the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Czechs were eliminated at the group stages. They also left the group stages at this summer’s EURO 2016, finishing last in their table. In a group consisting of Croatia, Spain and Turkey, the Czechs could only manage a fortunate solitary point, when they drew 2-2 against Croatia. Having been 2-0 behind for 75 minutes, the Czech’s scored an 89th minute penalty to bring the scores level. With 124 caps, goalkeeping legend Petr Cech holds the record number of appearances for the Czechs. Former Borussia Dortmund and 1. FC Nürnberg striker Jan Koller is the country’s record goalscorer, scoring 55 times in 91 appearances. Czech coach Karel Jarolim played most of his football in his homeland, turning out for Prague clubs Slavia, Dukla and Bohemians, among others. He became a league champion with Dukla Prague in 1979. Jarolim made 13 appearances for his national side, scoring twice. As a head coach, he won back-to-back titles with Slavia in 2008 and 2009 and then in 2011, won the double with Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia. After three years with Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli and Al-Wahda in the UAE, Jarolim spent two and a half seasons managing Mlada Boleslav, before becoming the national team head coach on the 1st August this year. In Germany, Karel Jarolim is not as well known as his son David, who scored 17 goals in 318 Bundesliga appearances for Bayern, Nürnberg and HSV. He holds the record for the most amount of Bundesliga appearances for a Czech. Jarolim’s other son Lukas made six appearances for Greuther Fürth in 2. Bundesliga. The Czech Republic’s record goalscorer Jan Koller, scored 61 times in 152 Bundesliga appearances for Borussia Dortmund and Nürnberg. The reigning league champions in the Czech Republic are Victoria Pilsen. The Czechs occupy 33rd place in the FIFA world rankings, 30 places behind 3rd placed Germany.
CZECH BUNDESLIGA PLAYERS:Jarolim goes into tomorrow night’s game against Germany with three Bundesliga players. Bremen duo Jaroslav Drobny and Theodor Gebre, as well as Hoffenheim’s Pavel Kadeřábek, are in the squad for Saturday’s game in Hamburg. Milan Petrzela has some Bundesliga experience, having played twelve times for Augsburg in the 2012/13 season. Vacla Kadlec played 30 times for Eintracht Frankfurt between 2013 and 2015, scoring six goals.
