Dear friends of football,
2014 – A year that will leave a lasting memory. From a global perspective, due to the many crises, wars and civil wars, the world seemed to almost come apart, as the Federal Foreign Minister once said; some worries from a global political perspective will follow us into the New Year. For example, I only need to think about Ukraine. Two years ago we played a match at the European Championship in Kharkiv. Now the Euro stadium in Donetsk, not too far away, has been destroyed due to a military conflict.
The situation in Germany is quite the contrast, as we can especially perceive the peaceful reunification as a unique gift despite many ordinary problems. In terms of football, a dreamlike year is coming to an end. It's dominated of course by winning the fourth star at the World Cup in Brazil. It was accompanied by waves of recognition, peaking on 10th November in the Bellevue Castle when the players and staff received honours from the Federal President and FIFA president at a ceremony attended by the German Chancellor and the Federal Interior Minister.
That day in Berlin will live as strongly in my memory as the 13th of July in Rio; especially because Joachim Gauck impressively emphasised the charisma of football during his very personal speech. Starting with the World Cup triumph in 1954, which he witnessed as a 14-year-old, he built a bridge to 2014. As a boy in the German Democratic Republic and this time as Federal President of a unified Germany he was accompanied by the deep feeling: "We are all World Champions."
It was a fitting context for the World premiere of our film "Die Mannschaft", which has been seen by a million people in the cinemas. Aside from that, the jersey with the fourth star, of which there have been nearly 800,000 sold to date, seems to be the most popular Christmas gift in Germany. It expresses how especially younger people can identify with this team and the football in general. And if you take into account the wonderful musical "Das Wunder von Bern", which was recently on show in Hamburg, you can see how lasting our football achievements are outside of the stadiums as well.
The immense significance of football compels us to live up to our responsibility with all of our strength in 2015 as well. As a team at DFB, at the regional associations, at the clubs, I would like to thank all staff members and each and every one of the volunteers for their efforts. "Die Mannschaft" (The Team) – that's the title of the film. Die Mannschaft – that's the motto of this year in football. Die Mannschaft – represents all of us who love and are attached to football.
Merry Christmas, and I wish happiness and health in the New Year to all of you.
Yours,
