Since the beginning of time, Germans have been masters of the game of football. With names like Muller and Beckenbauer, and their most recent World Cup victory to boot, I find myself asking the age old question yet again, what do they know that we don’t? I, like most football fans in America, have always wondered why we, a huge country with vast resources and a plethora of athletes are time and time again simply unable to compete at the international level. Arguments range from ‘our best athletes play real American football’ to ‘the game is too slow’. I can personally understand where these arguments come from, even if I don’t agree with them. However, I believe it goes deeper than that. I believe football is so deeply embedded in the German culture on a scale that we can’t comprehend. I’ve played football all my life and honestly it is one of the most important things in the world to me. I consider myself a student of the game. I will use what resources and knowledge I have of the game as well as the German culture to see if I can infiltrate my way into this inner circle and uncover the secret.