A sneak peek at Germany's World Cup film
"Die Mannschaft" shows the German team during their famous World Cup win in Brazil. The movie hit cinemas in Germany in November, 2014. High time for a look at some of the film's best scenes!
Getting close-up
The German Football Federation (DFB) produced the "Die Mannschaft" film all on its own. Even in the team training camp, their video crew was always there, filming away. Some of the pictures in the film come from FIFA, others are from private recordings on mobile phones - like the footage of striker Thomas Müller in a dirndl and other short films from the dressing rooms.
A 24 year wait
They came close so many times. In 2002, Germany lost in the final against Brazil. Four years later, the tournament was held in Germany, with a young team and buoyant fans, waving black, red and gold flags. The team lost to Italy in the semi-finals and they were still almost celebrated as world champions at home. Now, the dream of a World Cup win has finally come true.
Lonely night shift
In the coaches room at Germany's World Cup base Campo Bahia, Joachim Löw works late into the night. On the wall hangs a magnetic board with tactical formations. The film shows Löw's work methods as he wrote down almost everything about Germany's opposition, like possible team formations and plays.
Backstage with Basti
Bastian Schweinsteiger has just answered questions from journalists, but now he listens in the background to what Joachim Löw has to say. For the perpetually injured 30-year-old Schweinsteiger, Brazil will probably be his last World Cup.
Kicking in the dust
"The team lives, not just on the pitch, but off the field," says Per Mertesacker in the film. For one whole day, the players visited a school in a local village. The kids loved it - especially when it came to a random game of football on the street.
Time for reflection
Mesut Özil sits alone in the Germany changing rooms ahead of a game. The quieter moments, away from the media and all the World Cup fanfare, are shown regularly in the film.
Sticking together
While other country’s teams brought big names to the tournament like Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar, Germany thrived at the World Cup because of their team play. Here, a pre-game pep talk in the film ends with the words: "We are a team. We work together. Then we will brush our opponents aside."
Friends for life
Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger both starred regularly in Sönke Wortmann's film "Sommermärchen" in 2006. After the final on July 13, 2014 in the Maracana stadium both of them finally had time to celebrate. Although "Poldi" now plays in England in Arsenal, and "Schweini" is at Bayern Munich, both of them are still great friends.
The boy called Müller
Thomas Müller (right) first played for the German national team in 2010. Right from the start he showed little respect for his opposition, scoring one cheeky goal after another. During the 2014 World Cup he turned some heads in the match against Algeria when he fell over during a free kick. The film shows that this 'accident' was actually planned.
Finally. Goal achieved.
We seldom see him as relaxed as this: this picture of Joachim Löw was taken on the return flight from Rio de Janeiro, heading back to Berlin. In the 2006 World Cup Löw was still assistant coach, under Jürgen Klinsmann. When he took over Klinsmann's job, he started to build up a new team. Some of his decisions were controversial, but now, his work is baring fruit.