Bottle, apple pie and being crazy: Secret behind Germany’s World Cup hero Danneberg

The emotion of the achievement is writ large on German goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg’s face as it quivers while saying the words, ‘It’s amazing... I have no words to describe it.”

This was Danneberg’s second success in the shootouts. | Photo Credit: AFP

Moments after the World Cup was lifted, Jean-Paul Danneberg, Germany’s hero in the final of the penalty shootout, is still buzzing. The emotion of the achievement is writ large on his face as it quivers while saying the words, ‘It’s amazing... I have no words to describe it.”

This was Danneberg’s second success in the shootouts. He first came on in the quarterfinal against England to make two saves. Here, again, five days later, his three saves gave Germany a third World Cup crown. At just 20, the youngest member of the squad, who had seven senior caps prior to his game, made the decisive touch. Once victory was confirmed, Danneberg sprang up to his feet, took off his helmet and was wide-mouthed in disbelief.

His coach Andre Henning, teammates Christopher Ruhr and captain Mats Grambusch all use the word ‘crazy’ while describing Danneberg. Danneberg, too, has no hesitation in agreeing with them. “Yea, sure, of course! Goalkeepers are amazing people, goalkeepers are crazy,” he says with a smile.

And Danneberg has a ‘crazy’ secret, which even Henning isn’t aware of, involving his bottle and an apple pie recipe, which helps him gain an advantage in shootouts.

“It’s a trick, one of my tricks. Sometimes it’s a cake. Sometimes, it’s a tactic,” he says. Danneberg explains that his extensive scouting of the penalty strikers helps him come up with a plan A or plan B but it also sometimes, ‘comes together as a recipe for a cake.’

In the shootout, for two of the saves, including the one in the sudden death of Tanguy Cosyns, Danneberg makes exaggerated moments to his left straight away to try and put the strikers off their game.

“On my bottle, I write Plan A or Plan B or… I write the recipe for an apple cake. Nobody knows what is on my bottle when I am looking at it. The strikers are thinking about this [wondering what I am going to do] and then I win,” he says pointing his index finger to his head.

His skipper Grambusch describes him as being mentally strong and believing in his routine. From warming the bench for the majority of the tournament to going in goal for crunch situations in front of 15,000 people, Danneberg feels that he has what it takes to play the role of a specialist shot-stopper in shootouts. “It’s difficult. You cannot learn this. it’s something you are born with. I am the lucky one. It feels crazy,” he says.

But it’s not just about luck. Danneberg was drawn towards goalkeeping as a kid because he thought that the goalkeeping gear looked like a ‘robot’ or a ‘machine’ and said to himself ‘that was the coolest thing’ he saw. He has also developed his skills over time playing indoor hockey and credits his coach at Mannheimer HC.

“He is a specialist in the shootout,” says Henning. “He was extremely good at the U-21 World Cup. It’s probably good that he is also an indoor goalkeeper where you do that a lot. It’s just a strength we saw early and we gave him all the trust and confidence he needed.”

He was a shootout specialist for Germany in the 2021 U-21 World Cup in Bhubaneswar where he pulled off three saves against Spain on penalties in the quarterfinal. Unfortunately for Danneberg then, he and his team went down in the final. Now he will go back home as a World Champion.