Germany’s World Cup Victory of 2014 was the culmination of an incredible journey from early this century when the national team were at a very low ebb to the glorious victory over hosts Brazil and the final against Argentina. A determination that things had to change led to a review of German football from top to bottom and Honigstein’s engaging book tells that story with interviews with many of the protagonists of the success and earlier failures. How did they do it? This book provides the answers. Fanatastically written as you would expect from a great football journalist like Rafa Honigstein it is a mine of information and stories from the game. One of the best football books of 2015.

It's not easy to provide a contemporary sports analysis so soon after the event, in this case the winning of the World Cup in 2014. But Honigstein pulls it off with seeming ease. The story flows and one can't help but draw parallels with Winner's "Brilliant Orange", which set the bar for this genre. Winner remains unsurpassed, but Honigstein has produced something that comes close. I would have liked a little more on German culture and a parallel or two with contemporary German history, but all-in-all, a very good read.