Playing “Fussball” in Germany with IFX Soccer

While Germany is known as a country of peace and industry these days, the German people are not all smiles and sunshine. The German reputation for discipline, efficiency, and ruthlessness shines through in their national soccer team, and their hard-working play style has served them well over the years. Their focus is on endurance and precise positioning, with every player contributing to their structure on the field that is stronger than iron.

Germany’s abilities on the field and strength as a team has been demonstrated time and time again, and their recent victories show this as well. Germany’s national under-21 football team just won their second UEFA championship this year, adding to their first victory won in 2009. Their performance in other years has been stellar as well, taking them to the semi-finals in 2015.

FIFA’s Confederations Cup, a tournament played every four years by the winners of each regional championship, the current World Cup holders, and the host nation, was also just won by Germany’s team. For this year, the Confederations Cup was hosted in Russia, and Germany beat Chile 1-0 in the finals to bring home their country’s first victory.

Why Play Soccer in an International Academy

Soccer requires a set of skills just like any other sport, and these skills require constant training, honing, and practice to make sure you’re performing at the best of your ability. Due to soccer’s unique status as the world’s game, your potential for training is opened up in a way that no other sport can match.

Every country that loves soccer brings their own unique national character to the game, with training and play styles that are as varied, layered, and complex as their national cuisines. Soccer schools in Germany, for example, will teach you an entirely different set of skills, techniques, and plays than a school in Italy or the U.K. would.

Another benefit of training at an international soccer academy in Germany, or elsewhere, is the exposure you get to different cultures. Through studying and training alongside a foreign team, you not only gain access to their methods and training regimens that make them such good players to begin with, but you also get to become part of the international community of soccer.

With total immersion in the parent culture, and closely working with the team members and trainers of a different country, you form close ties and relationships that you would otherwise never have the opportunity to experience and create—ones that will last you your lifetime and serve you both on the soccer field and in your day-to-day life.

The Cultural Immersion Aspect

By immersing yourself in the parent culture that you’re training within, you learn so much more than you would if you simply trained at home. Being in the other country and training with the people who live there, under coaches who live and breathe that national identity of soccer, teaches you something that goes beyond the mere movements and exercises.

Every country brings their own national character and culture to the sport of soccer, and it shows from their training methods, even in the way they talk about football. Learning a specific country’s soccer slang terms can change the way you think about the game and increase your overall cultural awareness.

You also learn new and different soccer techniques and play styles directly, from the players and coaches that have developed and used them to great success. That kind of instruction is by far superior to anything you could teach yourself from reading about them or watching instructional videos.

International summer soccer camps and soccer training programs can truly take your game to the next level, by bringing a perspective to your training that you otherwise may have never encountered, and helping you to really master the techniques you’ve watched on display in the World Cup time and time again.

Playing Immersed on a German Team as Opposed to a Group of Americans in Germany

When playing and training in soccer in a foreign country, playing with a group of nationals makes far more sense than playing with a group of your fellow countrymen or expatriates.

After all, you wouldn’t go all the way to another country just to keep eating cheeseburgers and drinking Coca-Cola, would you? So, why go to Germany and play with Americans? You’d just be experiencing the same old American training methods and playing against the same old American styles of players.

Given that soccer is so popular everywhere else in the world, and so many foreign players and coaches work very hard on perfecting their skills and training, it would be a folly to stick with American training methods and training partners, especially if you’re already in another country where soccer is very popular.

The country and people of Germany are very focused on soccer. It is, far and away, their most popular sport, referred to as the “Volkssportart,” or People’s Sport. To the Germans, “fußball”
is much more than a hobby, and local clubs and neighborhood teams are more than a fun diversion; they’re de facto cultural centers, where fans, amateurs, and pros alike all come together to indulge in their national obsession.

This dedication to the sport shows through in Germany’s performance on the national stage. With thirteen appearances in the World Cup finals and four victories, there’s no doubt that Germany is a powerhouse on soccer’s world stage.

In playing with German nationals, you learn firsthand their playing style that emphasizes teamwork, with no weak links on the field, and every member understanding the role they play in the team’s performance. Germany is particularly well known for the outstanding performance of their goalkeepers, with former team captain Oliver Kahn widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers to ever play the game.

If you’re a student-athlete, an amateur footballer, or post-college and looking to go pro in the United States, and you’re truly passionate about the game of soccer, there’s simply no better experience for you than to experience it where the enthusiasm for it matches your own—in Europe.

To be surrounded by players who meet or exceed your skill level, with coaches and trainers who know the game and the methods inside and out and can truly push you and build upon your abilities, will bring your soccer skills to the next level.

While there are many different soccer camps out there in the world, from local to national ones, IFX Soccer believes that our network of international soccer programs offers something truly unique and outstanding. We maintain relationships with soccer clubs and teams all over the world, allowing us to offer a wide range of programs for young athletes of all skill levels, no matter what their eventual goals are for soccer.

Please call today at 510-599-4625 for more information about IFX Soccer, including programs offered, and what makes us the best choice when it comes to soccer camps and training programs.