Sepp Herberger

Sepp Herberger

Personal information
Full name	Josef "Sepp" Herberger
Date of birth	(1897-03-28)28 March 1897
Place of birth	Mannheim, Germany
Date of death	28 April 1977(1977-04-28) (aged 80)
Place of death	Weinheim Hohensachen, Germany
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1914–1921	Waldhof Mannheim
1921–1926	VfR Mannheim
1926–1930	Tennis Borussia Berlin
National team
1921–1925	Germany	3	(2)
Teams managed
1930–1932	Tennis Borussia Berlin
1932–1936	Germany (assistant coach)
1936–1964	Germany
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Josef "Sepp" Herberger (March 28, 1897 in Mannheim, Germany — April 28, 1977 in Weinheim-Hohensachsen, Germany) was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West German national team which won the 1954 FIFA World Cup – The Miracle of Bern.

Herberger played three times for the German football team between 1921 and 1925 before becoming assistant to Dr. Otto Nerz in 1932. Herberger succeeded him as national coach after Germany's uninspired loss to Norway at the 1936 Olympics. After the war he had a short club spell with Eintracht Frankfurt. He remained national coach until 1964, when he was succeeded by Helmut Schön. He died of pneumonia in Mannheim aged 80.

Famous Quotes

Herberger was noted for his ability to sum up the essence of the game in short phrases, many of which survive to this day, such as:

The game lasts for 90 minutes (Das Spiel dauert 90 Minuten)

After the game is before the game (Nach dem Spiel ist vor dem Spiel)

If you don't know where to pass the ball, just put it in the goal. (Wenn man nicht weiß wohin mit dem Ball, dann muss man ihn einfach in's Tor schießen!)

The next game/opponent is always the toughest one (Das nächste Spiel/Der nächste Gegner ist immer das/der schwerste)

The ball is always in better shape than anyone (Der Ball hat immer die beste Kondition)

Probably his most famous quote is

The ball is round (Der Ball ist rund)

While this is the most-often cited version, the full quotation is actually

The ball is round so that the game can change direction

Three of these sayings are quoted in the 1998 film Run Lola Run. 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).

Honours

Club

VfR Mannheim

• South German Championship:
  • 1925

International

Managerial

Germany

• FIFA World Cup:
  • 1954

Filmography

• Das Große Spiel (1942)

References

• Sepp Herberger at eintracht-archiv.de
• Profile at FIFA website

Preceded by Juan López

FIFA World Cup winning managers 1954

Succeeded by Vicente Feola