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The Football (Soccer) Miracle from Hoffenheim

spiegel.de — Few in Germany had ever heard of tiny Hoffenheim before this year. Now, though, the village club team is at the very top of the country's professional soccer league. On Friday night, they clash with powerhouse Bayern München.

Who dugg this? Made popular Dec 6, 2008

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KaiserArny Dec 6, 2008

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PullingTeeth, on 12/06/2008, -1/+16A bit late, but Hoffenheim have had an amazing run so far. Stood up very well to Bayern, although they still lost 2-1.
shimmi147, on 12/06/2008, -0/+12***** here
Spaceboy492, on 12/06/2008, -3/+13People with low attention spans like you don't watch soccer anyway.
reddevil3, on 12/06/2008, -1/+10I am a Bayern fan, but damn Hoffenheim put up such a good fight against Bayern on Friday. Felt bad for em
nox327, on 12/06/2008, -1/+9Vedad Ibisevic, the teams 24 year old striker, is the top scorer so far in the league, with 18 goals. He is one of the reasons for their success, along with a great coach, Rangnick, and other top players.
OfF3nSiV3, on 12/06/2008, -1/+8The same is happening in Portugal, with Leixões being the top team, ahead of Porto, Benfica and Sporting (the usual top 3 teams).
LupeFiasco, on 12/06/2008, -2/+9Kudos to Hoffenheim, always cool to see smaller clubs mess with the established order of things. I am also enjoying Hull City's great run this season in the premiership.
PullingTeeth, on 12/06/2008, -1/+6Hull City has had a similar year, although they've fallen in their matches against the Big Four. Still, some great stuff.
frontaxle, on 12/06/2008, -1/+5Achtung! Go get em little fellas.
mwc191, on 12/06/2008, -2/+6the game last night was amazing.. i'm glad bayern won though
Kevinok, on 12/06/2008, -0/+3I am glad Bayern won the game. But that was one of the most entertaining games I have seen in awhile. Hoffenheim are alot of fun to watch, and Ibisevic Vedad is have one of the best seasons ever. There is talk of him getting to the 40 goal mark.
moffie, on 12/06/2008, -1/+4Yes, and Hoffenheim remain at the top of the 1. Bundesliga because of goals. I lived very close to Hoffenheim and it's nearly incredible to hear of their success!
Phoetality, on 12/06/2008, -0/+3Saw this on Football Focus this afternoon. Good story.
dandonia, on 12/07/2008, -0/+3Hull City of the German league
carbonsulfite, on 12/06/2008, -0/+2Hoffenheim has bought unknown but talented players which will still rise in their market value. Europe's top clubs will be chasing Ibisevic next summer and the SAP guy will get his investments back.
sheldonnbbaker, on 12/06/2008, -0/+2Glad Bayern pulled out a win. Amazing story though - I had missed looking at the tables for a long while and was shocked to see them at the top.
Kevinok, on 12/06/2008, -0/+2I still can't believe how good Hull City is. It would be pretty cool to seem them in the UEFA cup nexter.
6oo63D, on 12/06/2008, -1/+3This is why I always root for the underdogs.
GavinZac, on 12/07/2008, -0/+2I read the article, and I knew everything in it before I did.

"It was just luck that our scouts found these players".

Yes, just luck that the 3rd division team in Germany is recruiting guys from Belgium and Norway. How inspiring, hey the guy pouring money into them is from the town, and played for them as a kid. And now kids from the town will never play for them! How lovely.

Money is ruining football. No al calcio moderno.
MrARPA, on 12/06/2008, -1/+3I'm surprised I haven't heard about them before. I suppose the question is whether they can sustain their performance in the long term since the money always runs out eventually.
VeryBoredNow, on 12/07/2008, -0/+2You damn right. If we could get all the talent from the former Yugoslavia together now they would be one of the best teams in the world.
GavinZac, on 12/06/2008, -5/+6These are not underdogs, and this is not a fairytale. This is the guy who owns SAP buying fantastic players for a team with no fans. It's about as heartwarming as Gretna's stay in the Scottish Premier League, and look where they are now.

Even the book stole its name from an actually underdog story, "The Miracle of Castel di Sangro", an amateur team in Italy's Serie B. Every football fan should read it.
fatas, on 12/07/2008, -1/+2sadly this club has a large Neo Nazi following.
EarlOfLade, on 12/06/2008, -2/+3American no doubt.

Attention span is equal to the time between to sets of commercials on TV.

And the Hoffenheim story is also something Americans don't understand as they have no sport were there are promotions from and relegation to lower divisions. In USA, even if you end up last, there are no consequences.
HRF1, on 12/07/2008, -0/+1Their match against VfL Wolfsburg a couple weeks back was probably one of the most exciting matches this year in the Bundesliga.
Napiertt, on 12/07/2008, -1/+2Please tell me you were being facetious :-\
kronix2, on 12/06/2008, -1/+2And in England, where Liverpool are 1st ahead of Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal.

These are crazy footballing times.
trezegol, on 12/07/2008, -0/+1from the username I thought u were a Man Utd fan ;)
byjimini, on 12/07/2008, -0/+1Fantastic story, and nice to know they're doing it with youth and potential.

Good luck to them.
sgtbutterscotch, on 12/07/2008, -0/+1If they're good enough they can play. Do you really think a kid would rather play on their sucky hometown team, or have an awesome team they can look forward to watching every week? Besides, I think in Germany they have multiple sports organizations in each city so that there probably is a soccer team in Hoffenheim or near Hoffenheim where the local kids can play on a team on the same level as the team that the SAP guy played on.

Also, I looked at some reviews of that book and it sound intriguing. I'll have to try to get my hands on a copy.
moffie, on 12/07/2008, -0/+1No, I'm certainly impressed! Perhaps my comment failed to convey.
anarcurt, on 12/07/2008, -0/+1Translation for my fellow Americans: This is like the Single A Fort Wayne Tin Hats (real name) getting promoted to the Major Leagues and stand within a game of the New York Yankees.
almir, on 02/26/2009, -0/+1Yes, its really the miracle. I am big fan of Hoffenheim, partly because Ibisevic and Salihovic, my fellow countrymen, but mostly because they are so small and made such a great success

http://www.mysoccerplace.net
http://premiershiphighlights.blogspot.com
http://www.matezap.com
http://www.foyz.com
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moffie, on 12/07/2008, -0/+1Glückwunsch an die Leute aus B-W!
chadgramling, on 12/28/2008, -0/+0Correction. Real name of the Fort Wayne Single-A Affiliate is the TinCaps http://www.tincaps.com. They are a San Diego Padres affiliate.
CrunkeD, on 12/07/2008, -0/+0Nearly? Not impressed easily huh?
Kevinok, on 12/06/2008, -1/+1I still can't believe how good Hull City is. It would be pretty cool to seem them in the UEFA cup next year.
sgtbutterscotch, on 12/06/2008, -2/+2Someone failed to read the article...
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DaffyDuck123, on 03/03/2009, -0/+0hoffenhiem are ahving teh year of their existance!!! really top team!

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ClockMaster, on 12/07/2008, -1/+0but they'll be five games behind the red sox
Show 51 - 52 of 52 discussions
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