Josef Herberger

Josef “Sepp” Herberger was a professional football player and manager who was born on March 28, 1897 in Mannheim, Germany, and died on April 28, 1977 in Weinheim-Hohensachsen, Germany. Herberger is best known for being one of the early managers of the West German national team that was able to win the FIFA World Cup in 1954.

Herberger was the youngest in a family of six children. While Herberger was sent out to work at the young age of 14, he was already very interested in football. He showed skill in playing the game, and soon enough, he was able to make his senior debut for a local club called the “Waldhof Mannheim” by the time he reached 17. This, however, was cut temporarily when he was drafted into the military sometime in 1916. He served two years before going back to play football.

From 1914 to 1930, Herberger played for a number of clubs including VfR Mannheim and Tennis Borussia Berlin. He was also able to play for the German national team from 1921 to 1930 by appearing in 3 games and scoring 2 goals. After the poor participation of the German team at the 1936 Olympics, Herberger succeeded the first coach of the national team, Otto Nerz.

As a coach and manager, Herberger was able to rebuild the German team, and was finally victorious. In addition, Herberger became recognized as a shrewd tactician, and with his odd methods and logic, he was able to make a solid defensive national team.