SoccerNews - Continental Tires

SoccerNews
Issue # 5, 09th September 2015
Continental/Division Tires
Alexander Bahlmann
Head of Media & Public Relations PLT
Buettnerstraße 25 | 30165 Hannover
Phone: +49 511 938 2615
E-Mail: alexander.bahlmann@conti.de
www.contisoccerworld.de
Soccer News # 5/2015 2
News
Loew’s especial
delight – “The
team have surprised me”
Everything is fine again. The
World Cup champions are back
at the top. A stressful situation
has been overcome and the weak
pre-season has been corrected.
Just one point is still required
to ascertain participation at the
2016 European Championship.
The aim is a fourth title for the
German Football Association
(DFB), says Joachim Loew, who
showed his extreme happiness
in Glasgow.
When Lufthansa flight LH 343 took off for
home, the German national coach looked
back on the intensity of the past few days – 3-1
against Poland, 3-2 against Scotland. He had
not only expected six points to gain first place
in the qualification group for EURO 2016, but
he had demanded it as a matter of course
from the national team. Hampden Park, the
The joy of World champions: Jerome Boateng, Toni Kroos, Bastian Schweinsteiger, scorer Thomas Müller, Mats Hummels, Mesut Özil (from left) celebrate a goal during
the 3-2 over Scotland. Photo: Imago
world’s oldest stadium, greatly impressed him
with its unique atmosphere and deafening
level of Scottish chants. But Glasgow was not
just a simple competitive international match,
although the conclusion was as planned ticked
off, duty done.
“The Germans are rightly world champions, for
they play a fantastic passing game, even when
under pressure”. The praise from his coaching
opposite number Gordon Strachan triggered
satisfaction with Loew, because it characterised
his team’s special hallmark so well, and it
came from a former world-class player. But the
national coach also had a special moment of
pleasure. The 55-year-old was astonished by
his team; totally amazed how good it was –
especially without the customary weeks of
training as prior to major tournaments.
“I am really surprised how quickly the team
translated the specifications within two, three
days”, Loew said. He had not reckoned with
that after the scruffy season which followed
the winning of the title in Rio. “But when all
are together, everything happens faster than
I thought”. A week ago at their get-together
in Frankfurt Loew had straightened out ‘two,
three things we must urgently correct’. But
the German national team, the World Cup
champions, simply are a representative team
Soccer News # 5/2015 3
France with a win in Dublin and first place in
the group”, Loew explained. Three days later
the European Championship qualification will
be concluded with the match against Georgia
in Leipzig. Loew talks about winning the
fourth European title for the DFB in Paris next
summer. “We want to emboss a new era”, said
Jerome Boateng. The central defender, who
has been in top form for more than a year,
reiterated Loew. Spain, the 2008 and 2012
European and 2010 World champions, are the
example for the German national coach with
these three successive titles. But with one allimportant difference: the German triple title
haul would be World-European-World.
Tough battle for the German team during the 3-1 win against Poland: Mats Hummels “handles” Robert
Lewandowski (centre). Jerome Boateng and Jonas Hector watch spellbound. Photo: Getty Images
with, particularly in the past season, regular
changes in the squad and without permanent
training sessions together.
Loew is striving for the title hat-trick
World-European-World
As against Poland, they intermittently showed
in Scotland their offensive strength with extraclass combinations, but still lacked the killer
punch, however. And in defence, there are still
many problems, particularly with set-pieces.
However, the enthusiasm shown by the national team in Frankfurt and Glasgow proved
that the World Cup champion team still lives.
One point is still needed to automatically
compete in France between June 10 and July
10, 2016. “A draw in Ireland in October will do,
but our aim is of course to book the ticket to
In Glasgow Loew emphasised however, that
the current team are still far from being ideal.
“I never plan with that at such an early time”,
he said. He still has ten months until the start
of the European Championship. He wants
to see Sami Khedira and Marco Reus in his
regular team. And he made it clear that Emre
Can was just “cast” in the last two matches,
which means a screening test for him in the
unusual position of right defender under
competitive conditions. The Liverpool FC midfielder passed tolerably against Poland, but
against Scotland he was the weakest player.
His mistakes led to both conceded goals, but
he assisted with the goal for 2-1. “Naturally
there is room for improvement, and of course
we must attend to him”, said Loew. It seems
clear that other candidates such as Matthias
Ginter, Sebastian Rudy and Tony Ruediger will
be tested again in the future. On the left side,
however, Jonas Hector continued to collect
points for a regular place with his respectable,
safety-intent game. The battle for the places
1-14 has started in the team. A good example
is the recovery of Ilkay Guendogan who is-
sued a warning, especially for World Cup
champions Mesut Oezil and Bastian
Schweinsteiger, who no longer perform on
their previous level, that regular places must
be constantly defended.
News
Friendly in Hanover on
November 17 without Holland?
“We are going to the European Championship
without Holland!” The German fans chanted
their favourite slogan in Glasgow during the
World Cup champions’ 3-2 victory over Scotland, but the issue entails some complications
for the German Football Association (DFB).
An international friendly between the German
national team and the Netherlands has been
scheduled for November 17 (Tuesday) in
Hanover. But the Dutch may well be unavailable on that date, as they could have to contest the play-offs.
It depends on whether the currently fourthplaced in their group win their last two matches against Kazakhstan and the Czech
Republic. So the Czechs, as well as the Icelanders, with both already qualified for EURO
2016, would have to assist the Dutch with
wins against Turkey. Consequently the decision whether the international in Hanover can
be held against the requested opponents, will
have to wait until October 13. Only if the “Oranje”
team, a year ago the World Cup bronze medallists, cannot exploit their opportunity to
finish in third place in the group, will the prestigious game against Germany take place.
Soccer News # 5/2015 4
ALLEZ BOOM!
Limp, limp, limp
Your correspondent discovers absurd similarities between Mannheim, Iceland and
Asterix. And he’s also realized the true
meaning of “nether lands”.
by Freddy Boom
We interrupt this PDF program to bring you some breaking
news that’s just occurred to me. And I crave your indulgence
if you don’t get my drift right away. Fancy a few lines on Germany’s performance? Or England’s qualification? Right, then:
Götze, one-nil; Rooney, two-nil; blah, blah, rhubarb, rhubarb.
That’s all I have time for on that front today, but bear with
me – you won’t regret it. Because the news is that Waldhof
Mannheim have qualified for the 2016 UEFA European Championship in France. “Waldhof who?” I hear our readers from
outside Germany say. By way of explanation, I’ll just don my
hat as Professor of Sports Sciences at the University of Soccer
News Editorials and conduct an instant seminar on “German
football culture in the 1980s, as reflected in the harsh reality
of the lower amateur divisions”.
No, please don’t switch channels or download a different PDF,
for what you are about to receive is the kind of exclusive knowledge that will guarantee you free drinks all night at the next
trivia pub quiz. As you may or may not be aware, SV Waldhof
Mannheim 07 are now languishing in a division called Regionalliga Südwest, which is the fourth tier of German football, having previously sunk as low as – and won promotion from – the
fifth tier. You should also know that Waldhof Mannheim are the
nodding dachshund on the parcel shelf of German football’s
family saloon. A symbol of homeliness, bourgeois bliss, self-
The fans in Iceland (population: 300,000 humans and 80,000 horses) have plenty to smile about: they’ve booked their tickets to France for next
year’s Euros! Photo: Visit Iceland
congratulatory provincial smugness – pardon my French, dear
natives of Mannheim – and above all, of footballing mediocrity
“par excellence”, as those of us with French grandmothers like to
say. In days of old, when Mannheim – pronounced “Mannem” by
the locals – were still playing in the lofty heights of the Bundesliga, back in the dim and distant Eighties, their trainer was a
certain Klaus Schlappner, nicknamed “Schlappi” (roughly translatable as “The Limp One”), whose rotund, ruddy visage topped
by his trademark tartan trilby put one in mind of nothing so
much as an amateur angler, heading for a quiet day by the river.
If you’d seen the guy, and know your Asterix, then you couldn’t
help thinking of the seriously paunchy Roman prefect Surplus
Dairyprodus from “The Golden Sickle”, who we see reclining on
a chaise longue (those French words are everywhere!), slurping
at a roast chicken leg and, bored out of his mind, uttering the
legendary words (with a little translator’s license): “I feel so limp,
oh limp, oh limp.”
Do you catch my drift, O students of footballing culture? For
this is the last bend in the long and winding road we have
traveled together to catch up with recent events in the EURO
2016 qualifiers. As anyone who has ever played football knows,
it isn’t always possible to take the direct route to goal. But be
that as it may, Mannheim has a population of about 300,000,
a modest pool of talent from which Waldhof manages to recruit
a team that can hold its own in the twilight zone between
the fourth and fifth divisions. Iceland, meanwhile, is a country
short on trees and with temperatures that rarely reach double
figures, but long on diminutive horses, hot springs (“geysers”),
the world’s largest natural blast-furnaces (“volcanoes”) and a
Soccer News # 5/2015 5
Quote of the day
A beer tonight would
be nice.
Iceland’s national trainer Heimir Hallgrímsson after their 1-0 victory in the Netherlands.
rugged lava-strewn landscape that NASA, Neil
Armstrong and some other geezers (sorry)
used as a training ground for the first moon
landing. Like Mannheim, Iceland too boasts a
population of about 300,000 (plus 80,000
horses), and it is a team drawn from this modest pool of talent that has inflicted defeat not
once, but twice, on Holland – the team rated
number three in Europe – in the current series of Euro qualifiers. The 1-0 home defeat
in Amsterdam dumped the Netherlands in
the nether-lands of the group table (excuse
the politically incorrect play on words, seevoo-play). This was also the first time in 52
years that Holland had come off worse in a
European Championship qualifier at home.
So after pillaging a 0-0 draw against Kazakhstan, the plucky band of Vikings from near
the Arctic Circle will be joining the party in
Paris next summer. Which is a bit like Waldhof
Mannheim thrashing Real Madrid in the final
of the Champions League, or qualifying for the
UEFA Euros, come to that. Vive le sport!
Oh, and talking of Real, or rather Real Life: the
plain truth these days seems to be that footballers are worth more than the stadia whose
hallowed turf they grace. Even Belgians are
now being bought and sold for the kind of
money that extra-terrestrials like Messi or Ronaldo would fetch in an intergalactic end-of-theuniverse sale. And while we’re on the subject
of vast sums of cash, here’s a journalistic gem
I unearthed recently and can’t resist sharing
with you. Following the official announcement
that, if Cristiano Ronaldo should ever leave
Real Madrid, the contractually agreed transfer
fee would be a staggering one billion euros,
The reality speaks
for itself.
Danny Blind, after Holland lost to Iceland in his first game as Bondscoach – probably thinking the same
thing as his Icelandic counterpart, but for different reasons.
it was calculated that the value of 1 Ronaldo
at today’s exchange rate is equivalent to 18.4
tonnes of 50-euro bills, 4 Airbus 380 airliners,
9,090 Porsche 911 Targas or 100 million
tubes of hair gel, depending on your personal
requirements. And this piece of priceless information brings a quantum of solace, if not to
Holland’s new Bonds-coach Danny Blind, then
at least to your friendly local football fan, Monsieur Freddy Boom. What a relief it is to know
that an ordinary but well trained bunch of lads
descended from the Vikings and with a collective market value equivalent to five trawlerloads of mackerel, can have the rest of Europe
quaking in their (football) boots.
As if that were not enough, here’s yet another
exclusive scoop for you: at the edge of the
microphone range, following an interview not
given to SoccerNews after the Netherlands’
3-0 drubbing by Turkey, Danny Blind – admittedly not slurping at a roast chicken leg, but
probably seeking a potent source of Dutch
courage – was heard to say: “I feel so limp, oh
limp, oh limp.”
PS: Sorry, I almost forgot to mention that San
Marino’s goal in their 2-1 defeat at the hands of
Lithuania on Tuesday evening marked the first
time in 14 years that they had found the back
of the net in an away game, ending a run of 37
goalless (at least for San Marino) matches on
foreign soil. It was also their first goal in their
current bid to qualify, pushing up their goal
difference to a mere minus 26. Whatever next,
I hear you say? I’m backing them to qualify for
the 2018 World Cup in Russia. But only they
get drawn in the same group as Holland.
Soccer News # 5/2015 6
News
format. British nations in particular for, in addition to England, Wales and Northern Ireland
may also start planning. The Welsh, centred
around 100-million-man Gareth Bale, had to
delay their European Championship party
after a goalless draw with Israel. But the top
team in Group B should gain the needed
point in their concluding home match against
Andorra.
England celebrate EURO
participation and Rooney record
More than 75,000 fans made the pilgrimage to
the great EURO party at the revered Wembley
Stadium, and celebrated a new goal-scoring
record by Wayne Rooney & Co. during the unimportant match against Switzerland (2-0) on
Tuesday evening. Euphoria has returned to the
home of football, England, as the team of team
manager Roy Hodgson had already booked
the ticket to the European Championship in
France three days earlier when beating San
Marino 6-0 and achieving the optimum with
seven wins from seven matches.
A year ago such enthusiasm was hardly in
the mind. The elimination of the “Three Lions”
after the first round at the World Cup in Brazil
was accompanied by scoff and mockery in
the over critical press, and ticket sales for international matches plummeted. Now comes
the reconciliation, with Rooney playing a major
part. The star Manchester United striker scored
seven goals in the current qualification. His last
goal was his 50th in a national shirt, overtaking
legend Sir Bobby Charlton as the record goalscorer. And Rooney immediately declared his
love for team England: “I will play for England
as long as the coach wants me”.
The footballers of Iceland have also earned
legendary status. They ascertained their place,
together with the Czech Republic in Group
A, among the 24-team field at the European
Championship. A rather unspectacular goalless
draw with Kazakhstan was sufficient to qualify
The initial position for Northern Ireland in
Group F is similar, as they hold a four-point
advantage over third-placed Hungary. A late
equaliser by Kyle Lafferty to make it 1-1 against
the Magyars in added time was very valuable.
“Kyle who?”, they will ask at Norwich City. The
striker has not yet played a single minute with
the Premier League club this season, but he
has scored seven goals for Northern Ireland.
A fourth team could join the three teams from
the British Isles. In Group D, topped by Germany,
either Scotland or neighbours Ireland might
reach at least a play-off place.
England will compete at EURO 2016. Wayne Rooney scored his 50th international goal from the penalty spot
past Yann Sommer during the 2-0 win over Switzerland at Wembley. Photo: Imago
the team representing the 330,000 Icelandic
people for a major tournament for the first
time ever. The head of government Sigmundur
David Gunnlaugsson even considered declaring that red-letter day of September 6 a national holiday. But the 1-0 win over the wobbling
World Cup bronze medallists Netherlands was
much more remarkable. The hot favourites suffered even worse with a follow-up 3-0 defeat in
Turkey, meaning the Oranje can’t even reach a
play-off place on their own.
Attention is drawn to the qualification of the
so-called small nations. Such as Austria, who
in Group G actively qualified for a European
Championship for the first time, with an exhilarating 4-1 victory in Sweden. In 2008 the
Alpine republic was a co-host so automatically
qualified for their first ever European Championship participation.
And further outsiders are knocking on the
EURO door – also thanks to the new 24-team
And the big ones? Title holders Spain need no
longer worry after a 1-0 win in Macedonia, and
the same holds true for European runners-up
Italy, even though the “Squadra Azzurra” did
not overly impress their own fans with two
below par 1-0 wins against Malta and Bulgaria.
As long as 37-year-old veteran goalkeeper
Gianluigi Buffon, who earned his 150th cap,
continues to save the day, the minimalist tactics may well work out in the future – possibly
also in France. It’s quite certain that World
Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, and World Cup
champions Germany, will also be there. After
a 1-0 win in Albania his Portugal need just one
more point.
Soccer News # 5/2015 7
Did you know ...
tested, eleven proved sub-standard: “Tubular
frames folded into just so much scrap metal
or simply broke and smashed into the front
seat, child and all,” wrote the testers.
... that in Luxembourg child car seats are
mandatory even for 17 year-olds?
By the way, Luxembourg is not the only EU
member with, let’s say, unusual road traffic
regulations. In Spain, dogs traveling by car
must also belt up. Truth to tell, however, local
driver’s pay little attention to this piece of
legislation. If you’ve ever taken to the road
between Asturias and Andalusia, the chances
are you won’t have seen many harnessed
hounds en route.
It’s tough being a teenager in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, but only if you happen to measure less than 150 cm
from head to toe and want to travel by car. „Children up
to the age of 17 who are less than 150 cm tall may only be
transported in an appropriate child safety seat,” write German
automobile club AvD, warning their members heading for Luxembourg. Just short of voting age but strapped into a child car
seat? It sounds so incredible that car hire firms like Sixt make a
point of spelling it out to their customers, referring to “special
regulations” that apply in the EU’s second-smallest member
state: “Even up to the age of 17, children require a suitable child
car seat if they are smaller than 150 cm.” Fortunately, not every
European country makes traveling by car so potentially embarrassing for adolescents. In Germany, for example, Section 21
of the Road Traffic Act prescribes that children up to the age
of 12 and less than 150 cm tall may only be transported by car
in “child retention systems (child safety seats)”.
It was in Germany, incidentally, that the world’s first child safety
seat was created. Called “Niki”, the seat launched by manufacturer Storchenmühle in 1963 had little in common with
modern day child retention systems – not in terms of design
and certainly not in terms of safety. Long before the advent of
the Isofix or Latch era, Niki, which had no head restraint, relied
on twin metal brackets that hooked over the back of the rear
seat. Black humor it may be, but the choice of names like “Astronaut” and “Astro Jet” for later models may not have been too
far off the mark. Because in the event of an accident there was
no guarantee that the whole contraption, including the child,
would not fly off the back seat. In 1973, German consumer
watchdog Stiftung Warentest subjected all child safety seats
of the day to a comparative test and published the results under the headline “From Safety to Scrap Metal”. Of the 15 seats
In 1963, Storchenmühle launched “Niki”, the world’s
first child car seat. Photo: Recaro
In 1973, consumer watchdog Stiftung Warentest published the findings of the first ever
child car seat test. No wonder the young man in the mock-up photo is wearing a helmet –
most of the seats were only good for scrap metal after the test. Photo: Test
Soccer News # 5/2015 8
SOS
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SOS
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Surfing via streetlight: Streetlights that act as WiFi hotspots would make for widespread Internet access. Photo: EnBW
Did you know ...
... that in Germany you can use a
streetlight to surf the Net?
The smart streetlight of the future will be
a real all-rounder, capable of just about
anything, except perhaps making a cup of tea.
At the upcoming International Motor Show
(IAA) in Frankfurt, energy utility EnBW will be
presenting a smart streetlight concept by the
unlikely name of “Sm!ght”. Behind the name
is a streetlight that can do a whole lot more
than light up a dark roadway. During daylight
hours, the base of the actual lantern, lowered
to shoulder height, acts as a WiFi hotspot, offering public access to the Internet. The lower
section of the mast will feature a conventional
domestic-style power socket and a three-phase
charging point with rapid-charging functionality at up to 22 kW, enabling both electric cars
and e-bikes to top up with power. There will
also be an emergency call button with which
to contact the nearest emergency services
dispatcher for rapid assistance. At the same
time the top of the mast will start glowing
like a beacon to guide the rescue services. At
night the lantern itself comes into its own. As
dusk begins to fall the mast telescopes to its
full height and two LED panels unfurl, providing the necessary light sources. If required,
the lantern can also be fitted with sensors
that measure noise, particulates, barometric
pressure, humidity or temperature. This new
streetlight concept is currently being tested in
several German towns.
Right now there are some 20,000 electric
cars on Germany’s roads and according
to government forecasts there should be
one million of them by 2020. The biggest
obstacle to achieving this goal at present is
the inadequate recharging infrastructure. By
2025 some 7,000 charging stations will be
needed in Berlin alone. And instead of setting
up these charging points in town centers at
€10,000 a shot, the multifunctional streetlight
could hold the key. Most streetlights are located
right where cars are parked – by the side of
the road. So what could be more obvious
than to recharge them with energy straight
from the lampposts? Berlin-based start-up
Ubricity originally came up with the idea of
using streetlights as charging points back in
2007. And the additional functionalities of the
Sm!ght concept, not least its WiFi connectivity,
could also help drive forward other topical
issues such as automated driving.