DFB-Pokal

Current season or competition: 2011–12 DFB-Pokal
144px
Formerly	Tschammerpokal
Sport	Football
Founded	1934
No. of teams	64
Country(ies)	Germany
Most recent champion(s)	Borussia Dortmund (3rd title)
Most titles	Bayern Munich (15 titles)

The DFB-Pokal (IPA: [ˈdeː.ɛf.beː poˈkaːl]) or DFB Cup is a German knockout football cup competition held annually. 64 teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga. It is considered the second most important national title in German football after the Bundesliga championship.

The competition was founded in 1935, then called Tschammer-Pokal. The first titleholder were FC Nuremberg. In 1937 Schalke were the first team to win the double. The Tschammer-Pokal was suspended in 1945 due to World War II and disbanded with the demise of Nazi-Germany. In 1952–53 the cup was reinstated as the DFB-Pokal, named after the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußballbund or DFB) and was won by Rot-Weiss Essen. Bayern Munich have won the most titles, with 15 wins. The most recent winners are Borussia Dortmund.

The trophy

Format[link]

The competition format has varied considerably since the inception of the Tschammer-Pokal in 1935.

Participation[link]

The DFB-Pokal begins with a round of 64 teams. The 36 teams of the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga, along with the top four finishers of the 3rd Liga are automatically qualified for the tournament. Of the remaining slots 21 are given to the cup winners of the regional football associations. The three remaining slots are given to the three regional associations with the most men's teams. They may assign the slot as they see fit but usually give it to the runner up in the association cup. As every team is entitled to participate in local tournaments which qualify for the association cups every team can in principle compete in the DFB-Pokal. Reserve teams like Bayern Munich II are not permitted to enter.^[1]

Seeding[link]

The pairings for the DFB Cup are not entirely random as the teams are split into two pots of 32 teams each. One pot contains all the amateur teams including teams from the 3rd Liga and the teams just being promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga. The other pot contains the teams from the Bundesliga and the teams of the 2nd Bundesliga, which have not just being promoted. Therefore in the first round of the cup each professional team plays an amateur team. Since 1982 the amateur generally plays at home when facing a professional team.

For the second round the teams are again divided into two pots according to the same principles. This time the pots don't have to be of equal size though, depending on the results of the first round. Amateur teams get paired with professional teams until one pot is empty. The remaining teams are then drawn from the nonempty pot with the team first drawn playing at home.

For the remaining rounds other than the final the teams are drawn from one pot. Since 1985 the final is every year held in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.^[1]

Match Rules[link]

Extra time will be played if the scores are level after 90 minutes with a penalty shootout following if needed.^[1]

History[link]

Historically the number of participants in the main tournament has varied between four from 1956 until 1960 and 128 from 1973 through 1982 resulting in tournaments of two to seven rounds. Since the inception of the Bundesliga in 1963 all clubs from the Bundesliga are automatically qualified for the DFB-Pokal as are all clubs from the 2nd Bundesliga since its inception in 1974. Reserve sides have for most of the time been allowed to participate in the DFB-Pokal but are excluded since 2008.

The final has been held at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin every season since 1985. Before 1985 the host of the final was determined on short notice. In the decision, the German Football Association took into consideration the ease with which supporters of both finalists could reach the site.^{[citation needed]}

Originally the cup games were held over two times 45 minutes with two times 15 minutes extra time in case of a draw. If the score was still level after 120 minutes the game was replayed with the home field right reversed. In the 1939 Tschammer-Pokal the semi-final between SV Waldhof Mannheim and Wacker Wien was a draw three times before the game was decided by lot. The German Football Association decided to hold a penalty shootout if the replay was another draw after a similar situation arose in the 1970 cup, when the match between Alemannia Aachen and SV Werder Bremen had to be decided by lot after two draws.

In 1971–72 and 1972–73 the matches were held over two legs. The second leg was extended by two times 15 minutes if the aggregate was a draw after both legs. In case the extension brought no decision a penalty shootout was held.

When in 1977 the final 1. FC Köln vs. Hertha BSC had to be replayed this led to great logistic difficulties. In the aftermath the DFB decided not to let cup finals to be replayed in the future instead holding a penalty shootout after extra time. Eventually this change was extended to all cup games in 1991.

International Qualification[link]

Since 1960 the winner of the DFB-Pokal qualified for the European Cup Winners Cup. If the Cup winner qualified for the European Club Champions Cup, the losing finalist moved into the European Cup Winners Cup.

After the season 1998–99 the winner of the DFB-Pokal moved into next season's UEFA Europa League (called the UEFA Cup until 2009). If the winner qualifies through the Bundesliga for the Champions League, the losing finalist gets the spot. If both finalists qualify for the Champions League, the best placed team of the Bundesliga which is not already qualified for at least the Europa League gets the spot.^[2]

Tschammerpokal[link]

The first German cup was held in 1935. It was then called von Tschammer und Osten Pokal, or short Tschammerpokal, named after Reichssportführer (Sports Chief of the Reich) Hans von Tschammer und Osten. The first final was contested between the two most successful clubs of that era, the 1. FC Nuremberg and Schalke 04, with Nuremberg winning 2 – 0.^[3] After the last Tschammerpokal was held in 1943 the cup was not held for almost 10 years, being re-introduced by the German Football Association in 1952 under its current name DFB-Pokal. In 1965 the original trophy, Goldfasanen-Pokal, was substituted by the trophy which is still awarded today, because the original reminded DFB President Peco Bauwens of the Nazi era.^[4]

Giant killing[link]

Originally, the DFB-Pokal was a competition open to clubs from the top divisions of German football only. This continued after the establishment of the Fußball-Bundesliga in 1963. Semi-professional and amateur clubs could only enter the competition from 1974 onwards, when it was enlarged. Up until 2008, only the top two divisions of German football, the Bundesliga and 2nd Fußball-Bundesliga, were fully professional but from 2008, with the establishment of the 3rd Liga, the third tier also became fully professional.

From the start, the new match ups Bundesliga versus amateurs, most usually third division clubs, became a source of surprises. Often titled the "mother of all cup sensations" (German: Die Mutter aller Pokalsensationen),^[5][6] was Hamburger SV's second round loss to VfB Eppingen in 1974, the first instance of an amateur side knocking out a Bundesliga club. It took until 1990 for a fourth division side to achieve the same, when SpVgg Fürth took Borussia Dortmund out of the competition. Further milestones were the reserve side of Hertha BSC, Hertha BSC II, reaching the cup final in 1993, a first for a third division club and a reserve team. In 1997 Eintracht Trier proved too strong for both the UEFA-Cup and Champions League winner, knocking FC Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund out of the competition. In 2000, the 1. FC Magdeburg became the first fourth division side to eliminate two Bundesliga clubs in one season.^[7]

Surprise results in the cup attract a strong media covarage in Germany and, at times, abroad. When TSV Vestenbergsgreuth took out FC Bayern Munich, coached by Giovanni Trapattoni at the time, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported on its front page "Club di dilettanti elimina Trapattoni".^[7]

Records[link]

Having won 15 titles, Bayern Munich has been the most successful team in the cup since they won their fourth title in 1969. Fortuna Düsseldorf established a record for consecutive German Cup match victories (18 straight victories between 1978 and 1981, taking the trophy in 1979 and 1980). Schalke 04 holds the record for the biggest win in a DFB-Pokal final. They won 5–0 against Kaiserslautern in 1972 and 5–0 against Duisburg in 2011.

Finals[link]

Tschammer-Pokal[link]

DFB-Pokal[link]

Performance by club[link]

East German Cup (1949–91)[link]

East Germany also had its own national cup: the FDGB Cup, the cup of the Freie Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund, the association of the East German trade unions. It was introduced in 1949 and awarded annually until 1991 after German reunification in 1990 led to the merger of the football leagues of the two Germanys.

Women's German Cup[link]

Since 1981 women's football clubs have competed for the Women's DFB Cup. An East German women's cup was also held from 1987 to 1991.

Media coverage[link]

In Australia the DFB-Pokal was broadcast by Setanta Sports until the 2009–10 season.

References[link]

External links[link]

• DFB Pokal German Cup page from DFB (German)
• DFB Pokal German Cup page from DFB (English)

Christian Streich (German pronunciation: [ˈkʁɪsti̯an ˈʃtʁaɪ̯ç]; 11 June 1965 in Weil am Rhein) is a former German footballer and current manager of SC Freiburg of the Fußball-Bundesliga, the top level of German football. On 29 December 2011, he was named manager following the release of former manager, Marcus Sorg.^[1] Because of his immediate success at the club and his enigmatic and, oftentimes, energetic personality, Streich has been called a "cult figure"^[2] , a "firebrand"^[3], and a "football philosopher".^[4]

Career[link]

Playing[link]

Streich began his youth career in 1983 with Freiburger FC in the second division of Baden-Württemberg. In his first season with the club, Freiburg won the championship, but was defeated in the promotion round to reach the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga. After a further season with FFC, Streich was transferred to the Stuttgarter Kickers in 1985. He left a little over a year later to play for SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga, the highest level of football in Germany.

After a season with SCF in which he made 22 appearances and scored 2 goals, Streich left the club and went to the second-division team FC 08 Homburg, with which he obtained the vice championship and promotion into the top national league in 1989. In the 1989–90 season, Streich made ten appearances for Homburg. In 1991, Streich transferred back to Freiburger FC and played there until his playing career was cut short by a broken metatarsal in 1995.^[3]

Coaching[link]

Streich returned to SC Freiburg in 1995 as a youth trainer. With the youth squad, he won the 2006, 2009, and 2011 junior DFB Cup and the Under 19 Fußball-Bundesliga championship in 2008.^[3] After Robin Dutt was named manager of the Freiburg's first team in the summer of 2007, Streich served as a co-trainer, attending mainly to the youth squad, however. Under his direction, many youth players made the leap to the pros including: Dennis Aogo, Jonathan Pitroipa, Daniel Schwaab, Eke Uzoma, Ömer Toprak, and Oliver Baumann.

At the beginning of the 2011–12 season, Streich became assistant manager of SC Freiburg's first team with the new trainer Marcus Sorg after Robin Dutt left the club to become manager of Bayer Leverkusen. Following a poor first half of the 2011–12 Bundesliga season which saw Freiburg in the relegation zone, Streich became head coach on 29 December 2011 after Marcus Sorg was released.

Following the winter break, SC Freiburg played its first Bundesliga match under Christian Streich against fellow relegation battlers FC Augsburg. SCF won 1-0 off of an 88th minute goal by Matthias Ginter, a player who trained under Streich at the youth levels at SCF and who was brought to the senior squad by Streich himself. The goal came off of a free-kick by the newly-signed Danish defender Michael Lumb, another of Streich's own signings during his first transfer period with the club.^[5] With the victory, Streich became the first Freiburg manager to win their Bundesliga debut. Volker Finke lost his debut in 1991 while his immediate successors, Robin Dutt and Marcus Sorg, both drew in their debuts. The win also lifted Freiburg off of the bottom of the league table, passing Augsburg in the process.^[6] Despite being viewed as a club that would certainly be relegated before Streich took over, following an unbeaten streak of 9 matches, Freiburg secured their place in the Bundesliga for the upcoming season on matchday 32 with a 0-0 draw against Hannover 96. The team finished the season with a club record of a 10-match unbeaten streak before losing on the final matchday of the season to league champions Borussia Dortmund.^[7] After the season, Streich was named Coach of the Year by Goal!, the official Bundesliga magazine.^[8]

Personal[link]

Streich is the son of a butcher and grew up working in his father's shop. He attributes his welcoming personality to his parents and their nature towards customers at the shop. After the abrupt end to his playing career, Streich completed his studies of German and also studied sport and history and eventually became a qualified teacher. Streich is known for his heavy southwestern German dialect and has been called a firebrand by many because of his energetic personality. Currently, Streich has two children and has described himself as, "...just a normal guy, no tattoos, no piercings". Streich also pedals to the stadium on his bicycle for Freiburg's home matches.^[8]

Coaching record[link]

As of 14 May 2012

Honors[link]

Managerial[link]

SC Freiburg-Youth

• Junior DFB Cup (3): 2006, 2009, 2011
• Under 19 Fußball-Bundesliga (1): 2008

SC Freiburg

• Coach of the Year by Goal! Official Bundesliga Magazine: 2011-2012^[8]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Christian Streich at fussballdaten.de (German)