30.03.1955: Germany v Italy 1-2 (in Stuttgart) (F)
Referee: Zsolt (Hungary), attendance: 82,000
Despite the 3-0 in Portugal, the performance was one of the worst, actually worse than against France and England. Thus Herberger was relieved that for the first game of 1955 he could again draw on the 1954 World Cup winners except Ottmar Walter. Hence only Ottmar Walter and Turek were missing. The biggest surprise was that Fritz Walter, who had originally intended to step down from international duties and who had also suffered from jaundice, was back in the team. And also Erich Retter, the right back from Stuttgart, had a comeback after his injury right before the World Cup in 1954. A week before the game Liebrich and Eckel had to be dropped due to injuries. But still seven players of the 1954 World Cup were part of the roster. The only newcomer was Baureis who would never get capped.
German roster:
GK: Herkenrath, Kubsch
DF: Kohlmeyer, Juskowiak, Baureis, Posipal
HB: Mai, Harpers, Erhardt
FW: Rahn, Morlock, Seeler, Fritz Walter, Hans Schäfer, Waldner, Stürmer, Röhrig
Germany: 1 Herkenrath – 2 Juskowiak, 5 Posipal, 3 Kohlmeyer – 4 Mai, 6 Harpers – 8 Morlock, 10 F.Walter (c) – 7 Rahn (46. Waldner), 9 Seeler, 11 Schäfer
Italy: 1 G.Viola – 2 Magnini, 5 R.Ferrario, 3 Giacomazzi – 4 Chiapella, 6 Moltrasio – 8 Menegotti, 10 Pivatelli – 7 Pandolfini, 9 C.Galli, 11 Frignani
Scorers: 0-1 Frignani (9.), 1-1 Juskowiak (29., pen.), 1-2 Pivatelli (40.)
28.05.1955: Germany v Eire 2-1 (in Hamburg) (F)
Referee: van der Meer (Netherlands), attendance: 50,000
The game against Italy had clearly shown that after Turek also the international career of Kohlmeyer had to come to an end. He lacked pace and freshness. The game against Ireland offered another opportunity to test new players and because parallel the final round of the German championship was staged, players from Kaiserslautern, Essen, Hamburg, Sodingen and Offenbach were all not part of the roster. This was the last time Toni Turek would be featured in the squad but he would not play. People were delighted to see Robert Schlienz in the team, the one-armed playmaker/forward of Stuttgart, who debuted at the age of 31, to make up for the loss of players with leading qualities. Further newcomers were Weilbächer and Rudolf Hoffmann, while the other newcomers Link, Buchenau and Haase would never play in the first team.
German roster:
GK: Kubsch, Turek
DF: Retter, Erhardt, Juskowiak, Rudolf Hoffmann
HB: Schlienz, Mai, Link
FW: Waldner, Weilbächer, Biesinger, Röhrig, Hans Schäfer, Haase, Buchenau
Germany: 1 Kubsch – 2 Retter, 5 R.Hoffmann, 3 Erhardt – 4 Schlienz, 6 Mai – 8 Weilbächer, 10 Röhrig (c) – 7 Waldner, 9 Biesinger, 11 Schäfer
Eire: 1 O’Neill – 2 Donovan, 5 Martin, 3 Lawlor – 4 Ganneon, 6 Farrell – 8 Cummins, 10 Fitzsimmons – 7 Gavin, 9 Fallon, 11 Eglington
Scorers: 1-0 Waldner (13.), 2-0 Mai (63.), 2-1 Fitzsimmons (67.)
21.08.1955: Soviet Union v Germany 3-2 (in Moscow) (F)
Referee: Ling (England), attendance: 80,000
After Turek and Kohlmeyer were finally dropped, the only other notable players missing for the first game ever against the Soviet Union were Ottmar Walter and Uwe Seeler, both of them centre forwards. In their absence, inside right Max Morlock had to act as centre forward. The USSR was rated among the best teams on the continent. Of the nine international games the Soviets had competed in since 1952, they had only lost against Yugoslavia (1-3), while recording routs against Sweden (7-0 and 6-0) and a respectable 1-1 against Hungary.
German roster:
GK: Herkenrath, Kwiatkowski
DF: Liebrich, Juskowiak, Retter, Posipal, Rudolf Hoffmann
HB: Eckel, Mai, Harpers
FW: Rahn, Fritz Walter, Morlock, Röhrig, Hans Schäfer, Schröder
Soviet Union: 1 Yashin – 2 Porchunov, 5 Bashashkin, 3 Ogonikov – 4 Maslonkin, 6 Netto – 8 Isayev (70. Kuznetsov), 10 Salnikov – 7 Tatushin, 9 Parshin, 11 Ilyin
Germany: 1 Herkenrath – 2 Juskowiak, 5 Liebrich, 3 Posipal – 4 Eckel, 6 Harpers – 8 F.Walter (c), 10 Röhrig – 7 Rahn, 9 Morlock (73. Schröder), 11 Schäfer
Scorers: 1-0 Tatushin (16.), 1-1 F.Walter (29.), 1-2 Schäfer (53.), 2-2 Maslonkin (70.), 3-2 Ilyin (74.)
25.09.1955: Yugoslavia v Germany 3-1 (in Belgrade) (F)
Referee: Zsolt (Hungary), attendance: 56,000
After the good performance and unlucky defeat in Moscow, Herberger’s team faced another high-quality eastern European ensemble: The Yugoslavians were eager to get their revenge for the unlucky loss to Germany in the 1954 quarter final. Just like the German team, the Yugoslavians also had changed many players, as only six players remained from the last meeting. Herberger still had eight players from 1954 in the team. Among them Ottmar Walter, who was fit again after having suffered badly from jaundice and injuries. Notable was that no second goalkeeper was nominated (there was the option of drawing on the goalkeeper of the b-team though, but officially there was no second goalkeeper, a novum). If not for Rahn having not been completely fit, this game would have been the first to feature the complete forward line of the 1954 World Cup final. Debuting were Karl Schmidt and Berti Kraus.
German roster:
GK: Herkenrath
DF: Retter, Liebrich, Posipal, Juskowiak, Höfer, Karl Schmidt
HB: Eckel, Erhardt, Harpers, Röhrig
FW: Rahn, Morlock, Ottmar Walter, Fritz Walter, Hans Schäfer, Waldner, Kraus
Yugoslavia: 1 Beara – 2 Belin, 5 Horvat, 3 Zekovic – 6 Boskov, 4 D.Kristic – 8 Milutinovic, 10 Veselinovic – 7 Rajkov (69. Ognyanov), 9 Vukas, 11 Vidosevic
Germany: 1 Herkenrath – 2 K.Schmidt, 5 Liebrich, 3 Posipal – 4 Eckel, 6 Röhrig – 8 Morlock, 10 F.Walter (c) – 7 Waldner (74. Kraus), 9 O.Walter, 11 Schäfer
Scorers: 1-0 Milutinovic (31.), 2-0 Rajkov (36.), 3-0 Veselinovic (83.), 3-1 Morlock (89.)
16.11.1955: Germany v Norway 2-0 (in Karlsruhe) (F)
Referee: Seipelt (Austria), attendance: 50,000
The defeat in Belgrade was deserved yet a bit unlucky as two goals were ruled out due to off-side and the post was hit three times. For the next game Herberger refrained from calling up Rahn, Morlock and Ottmar Walter who were all not fit enough after various injuries. The high number of forwards showed that Herberger emphasised attack for this game.
German roster:
GK: Herkenrath, Kwiatkowski
DF: Posipal, Karl Schmidt, Sandmann, Liebrich
HB: Eckel, Mai, Harpers, Rudolf Hoffmann
FW: Kraus, Waldner, Fritz Walter, Biesinger, Seeler, Stürmer, Röhrig, Hans Schäfer, Schröder, Haase, Nocht
Germany: 1 Herkenrath – 2 Posipal, 5 Liebrich, 3 K.Schmidt – 4 Eckel, 6 Harpers – 8 F.Walter (c), 10 Röhrig – 7 Kraus, 9 Biesinger (80. Schröder), 11 Waldner
Norway: 1 A.Hansen – 2 Bakker, 5 Svenssen, 3 Falch – 4 Hernes, 6 Gundersen – 8 Legernes, 10 K.Kristiansen – 7 P.Knudsen, 9 Dybwad, 11 Kure
Scorers: 1-0 F.Walter (24.), 2-0 Röhrig (27.)
18.12.1955: Italy v Germany 2-1 (in Rome) (F)
Referee: Ellis (England), attendance: 100,000
After the more or less disappointing performance against Norway, in the final game of 1955 for the first time since July 1954, nine World Cup winners were part of Herberger’s roster of which seven were playing. That alone raised the expectations of the media and public.
German roster:
GK: Herkenrath, Kwiatkowski
DF: Liebrich, Karl Schmidt, Juskowiak, Posipal
HB: Eckel, Harpers, Mai
FW: Rahn, Morlock, Ottmar Walter, Fritz Walter, Hans Schäfer, Stollenwerk, Röhrig, Richard Herrmann
Italy: 1 G.Viola – 2 Magnini, 5 Rosetta, 3 Cervato – 4 Chiapella, 6 Segato – 10 Pivatelli (46. Burini), 8 Montico – 7 Boniperti, 9 Virgili, 11 Frignani
Germany: 1 Herkenrath – 2 Posipal (18. Juskowiak), 5 Liebrich, 3 K.Schmidt – 4 Eckel, 6 Mai – 9 Stollenwerk, 10 Röhrig – 7 Rahn, 8 F.Walter (c), 11 Schäfer
Scorers: 1-0 Mai (38., o.g.), 2-0 Boniperti (83.), 2-1 Röhrig (88.)
