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DFB development plan of 2000 - Germany’s path to success in Brazil Germany’s 2014 World Cup success has not come overnight. The national team has been building towards this excellence since 2000, when it could not advance from the group stage in the European tournament. The result of the fall out was a development plan.  A plan, which has had been identifying and training athletic youngsters in 366 districts. The system produced the wave of players in their mid-20’s who excelled in Brazil. The German system is important because there is a direct line from the development plan of the German federation, DFB, and some of the celebrity coaches from Germany plying their trade elsewhere.   Germany rarely needs a renewal not with three world cup won, but that does not mean success will come on a platter, they had to work hard for it. Germany’s surges ahead taking its core from the DFB program. The wealthy national league, the Bundesliga, has kept most national players at ho...

The first of a five part history of the World Cup from Uruguay in 1930 up to the preparations for the 2014 finals in Brazil: Part One: The tournaments from 1930 to 1950:   Uruguay 1930 Final: July 30 1930: Centenario Stadium, Montevideo URUGUAY 4 ARGENTINA 2 Attendance: 93,000 FIFA, world soccer's governing body, had discussed holding a World Cup since the early days of its conception in 1904, but the Olympic soccer tournament adequately served the purpose of establishing the best team in the world in the opening decades of the 20th century. However, by the mid-1920s, with the growth of professionalism and the game establishing strong roots in Europe and South America, FIFA decided to go ahead with their own tournament which was awarded to Uruguay, the Olympic champions of 1924 and 1928. After some teething troubles and withdrawals, 13 countries entered and the European nations -- Belgium, Romania, Yugoslavia and France -- all travelled to South America on the same ...

All 32 World Cup squads fbl/WC/2014/Teams PARIS, June 11, 2014 (AFP) - Squads  for the 32 countries taking part in the World Cup finals from June 12, as announced by national federations (squad numbers in brackets): Group A Brazil Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Toronto FC/CAN)(12), Jefferson (Botafogo)(1), Victor (Atletico Mineiro)(22) Defenders: Dante (Bayern Munich/GER)(13), David Luiz (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA)(4), Henrique (Napoli/ITA)(15), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA)(3), Daniel Alves (Barcelona/ESP) (2), Maicon (Roma/ITA)(23), Marcelo (Real Madrid/ESP)(6), Maxwell (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA)(14) Midfielders: Fernandinho (Manchester City/ENG) (5), Hernanes (Inter Milan/ITA)(18), Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg/GER) (17), Oscar (Chelsea/ENG)(11), Paulinho (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG)(8), Ramires (16), Willian (both Chelsea/ENG)(19) Forwards: Bernard (Shakhtar Donetsk/UKR)(20), Fred (Fluminense)(9), Hulk (Zenit Saint Petersburg/RUS)(7), Jo (Atletico Mineiro)(21), Ne...