AMD 3- German Football

If there's one thing to note about German sports, football (or American soccer) is by far the most popular of anything else. In the US, we have our own kind of football, which is vastly different from their football, and it could be argued that it is the most popular sport in the States. While we do play soccer on the international level just as Germany does, the sport gets much more attention overseas where everyone takes the sport to a whole different meaning. It is played on a competitive level that outweighs almost every sport we have in the US, as far as professional involvement goes. People come from all over the world to play in Germany because of the players that come from the country, and the prestige given to the teams within. I grew up playing football (American obviously), and so my interests as far as sports go are focused much more locally. I decided to do some research into the tradition of German football for this AMD to gain some appreciation for the country's accomplishments within this realm.

The German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball-Bund, or DFB) governs the sport nationally. This overseas all professional tiers, with the highest being the Bundesliga. The winner of this league is the German Football Champion. There are additional national cup competitions in the second Bundesliga. Both of these divisions consist of 18 teams. In 2008, the third Bundesliga was established with 20 teams, which pushed the semi-pro league to the fourth tier. This division is called Regionalliga, and consists of 3 groups of 18 teams. Each group is categorized by their home region in Germany.

On the international level, Germany has become known as a dominant force in the world of football. The German National Football Team has won 3 Wolrd Cups, and 3 European Championships, as the Women's National Football Team has also had success having won the Women's World Cup twice. This makes Germany the only country to have won both World Cups. Germany hosted the World Cup in 1974 and 2006, the European Cup in 1988, and most recently, the 2011 Women's World Cup. Germany has also proven its dominance by hosting many foreign players, which means that they are some of the best in the world because of how selective the teams are. I don't know if America will ever become as involved in the world of international football as Germany is, but it is always a possibility. However, I personally think the possibilities of American football making its way to Germany are quite slim, due to the fact that the Germans have had so much success in another kind of football.