Goal.com looks back on two decades in German football as October 3 marks the 20-year anniversary of the reunification of Germany...

We look at the highlights, triumphs and tragedies that have punctuated German football since the reunification in 1990.1997 was a golden year for German football in continental football. Thanks to Borussia Dortmund and Schalke, the Bundesliga supplied the winners of both the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. BvB, led by Ottmar Hitzfeld, overcame Juventus in the final 3-1 with Karl-Heinz Riedle netting a brace. Huub Steven's Schalke ousted Italian opposition too in the shape of Roy Hodgson' Inter. A pair of 1-0 wins for either side meant penalty kicks decided the tie. Marc Wilmots, who scored the only goal of the first leg, was among the spot kick scorers too.The 2006 World Cup was shaping up to be a diaster for the Germans. The team was at a low ebb and starved of competitive football. A pre-tourament hammering by Italy meant confidence in the national team was as low as it had been since 2000. However, Juergen Klinsmann's electrifying team powered their way through the group stages and stirred the national spirit along the way. Germans were happy to fly the flag and paint their faces all around the country as Lahm, 'Schweini' and 'Poldi' became the darlings of the nation.The footloose Nationalmannschaft went all the way to the World Cup semi-finals, where they were edged heartbreakingly by the Italians in extra-time. Nonetheless, the tournament reaffirmed Germany's standing on the global scene and opened a new generation to supporting the side.Kaiserslautern's 1997-98 Bundesliga title triumph represents a unique achievement in German football. Otto Rehhagel took the side up from 2. Bundesliga and stormed all the way to the top league summit. Two wins over Bayern Munich during the course of the season helped provide a cushion for King Otto's team. The victory was made all the sweeter for Rehhagel; he took on the Kaiserslautern job after being shown the door at Bayern following a short, unhappy spell at the Olympiastadion. Olaf Marschall fired in the goals while a burgeoning Michael Ballack picked up his first senior honour.German football was rocked to its very core in January 2005 when it emerged that the referee Robert Hoyzer was accused of match-fixing. The official was initially suspected of betting on the Paderborn - Hamburg DFB Pokal match, an upset which saw Paderborn win 4-2 after a highly controversial game. Hoyzer sent off Emile Mpenza for HSV in the first half and awarded Paderborn two dubious spot kicks. It emerged through investigations that Hoyzer had links with a Croatian syndicate and the number of potentially guilty parties, including referees and, allegedly, players, reached a total of 25. Hoyzer resigned as a referee and he was given a lifetime ban from the game in April. Hoyzer was eventually given a two-year jail sentence. The disgraced official claimed that the illegal betting ring reached all the way to UEFA headquarters.As well as Germany have done in big tournaments, there has been a fair few disappointments along the way too. None more so than Euro 2000 when a team in terminal decline were disgraced in competition. The Germans finished bottom of a group containing Portugal, Romania and England, claiming only a solitary point along the way. A draw with Romania provided the only succour while England defeated the Nationalmannschaft for the only time in competition since the World Cup final in 1966. The humiliation was complete when a second-string Portugal team knocked three past the hapless Germans; Sergio Conceicao netting a hat-trick. The German fans in De Kuip resorted to cheering on the Portuguese as the demise of their team was confirmed. Erich Ribbeck, who presided over the worst run of results of any Germany manager, resigned soon after.After the Euro 2000 disaster the DFB and German clubs restructured coaching schemes across the country in order to maximise the potential of youngsters. Centres of excellence were established and emphasis was placed on the promotion of the national under-age teams. The entire project reached a peak between 2008 and 2009 when Germany were crowned champions of Europe at under-17, under-19 and under-21 level. The under-19s kicked off the plundering of continental booty by beating Italy 3-1; the under-17s followed that up with a dominance of The Netherlands. The icing on the cake was to be the 4-0 defeat of England in the under-21 final in the summer of 2009. No less than six of that squad went on to represent the senior side at the World Cup. Europe looks to Spain and Germany for the most fruitful form of youth development and with good reason too.Sir Alex Ferguson's words following the 1999 Champions League final will live long in the memory. The Manchester United manager had just witnessed the most remarkable comeback in the competition's history as Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer struck in injury time to wrest the cup out of German hands. Mario Basler had given Bayern Munich an early lead and United were second best for long periods until two David Beckham corners precipitated a FCB collapse at the death. Bayern's players were devastated as the Red Devils wildly celebrated. The most enduring image of the night was Sammy Kuffour, the Ghana defender, thumping the turf in frustration and emotion following the defeat. FCB would have their revenege two seasons later though, eliminating United en-route to beating Valencia in the 2001 final.Giovanni Trapattoni's battle with the English language since taking over the Ireland job has been well documented but he had similar struggles in German while coach of Bayern Munich. His term in Bavaria reached a crescendo in March 1998 when he exploded during a press conference. He turned on his own players, most notably Thomas Strunz (How dare Strunz?!). The video can be seen below with subtitles.The Croatia forward, Ivan Klasnic, conducted a Bundesliga first in November 2007 when he became the first man to play following a kidney transplant. The-then Werder Bremen front man suffered kidney failure in January of that year and received a donated organ from his mother. However, his body rejected it and another kidney, from his father, was sourced. After recovery, Werder doctors initially refused to sanction the player to return to action but he managed to force his way back into the team by November. He started his first match in 11 months and played 65 minutes against Energie Cottbus. In December he scored twice in a 5-3 over Bayer Leverkusen. Klasnic then re-established himself on the international scene in time for Euro 2008, where he was a scorer of two goals.Germany were not factored into the band of favourites for the World Cup in 2002 after qualifying through the play-offs against Ukraine with a team short on star quality. Indeed throughout the tournament the Die Elf were increasingly reliant on two players, Michael Ballack and the formidable Bayern Munich goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn. Ballack provided the goals and inspiration from midfield while Kahn was nigh-on impenetrable. Only Robbie Keane had scored past the Germans through to the final match, in which the Germans had to compete with Brazil without the suspended Ballack. The injured Kahn's sure touch deserted him as he spilled a routine Rivaldo drive to allow Ronaldo to put the South Americans ahead about 20 minutes from the end. Things just would not click into synch for Germany, who eventually lost 2-0 but exited the tournament with their stock risen. Kahn was awarded the gongs for best goalkeeper and best player of the finals, none of which could prevent him being blamed in certain quarters for allowing the opening goal of the final. Fallible after all.'Basti Fantasti' was marked out as the most talented German player of his generation, coming onto the scene when there was a distinct lack of creative midfielders in the country. His career began at Borussia Moenchengladbach but he joined Hertha Berlin upon the Foals' relegation. He emerged as one of Europe's brightest young talents in the German capital but struggled with a series of knee injuries throughout his time at the club. Nonetheless, Bayern Munich were persuaded to splash out on Deisler in 2002, whose injury luck showed no signs of abating in Bavaria. He featured all too infrequently for FC Hollywood and was simply not designed for life the professional football goldfish bowl. He suffered depression throughout 2003 and 2004 and could not shake off his persistent injury problems. In January 2007, citing exhaustion and an inability to remain fit, Deisler retired aged only 27.No Michael Ballack, No Torsten Frings and no experienced goalkeeper. Joachim Loew took the youngest Germany team to a World Cup since 1934 and observers feared that the fresh team would be out of their depth. With Thomas Mueller, Mesut Oezil and Sami Khedira taking up key positions in the first XI it seemed Loew was sending his 2012 team in 2010. And they responded in emphatic fashion. They tore Australia asunder and recovered from losing to Serbia to qualify with a win against Ghana. They then produced two of the performances of the tournament in the knock-out stages, demolishing England 4-1 and Argentina 4-0. Without the eventual Golden Shoe winner Mueller they came up short against Spain but signposted their potential for future tournaments. The team, dubbed Generation M, featured players from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and was the poster for 21st century Germany; a national of multiculture and inclusivity.German football endured one of its darkest hours in November 2009 when the Hannover goalkeeper, Robert Enke, ended his own life in tragic circumstances. The 32-year-old had been suffering from depression for six years and struggled to overcome the loss of his young daughter, Lara, in 2006. The tragedy led to the cancellation of a Germany international match against Chile as Robert's team-mates came to terms with their loss. Hannover's players paid their own special tribute to their goalkeeper for the rest of the Bundesliga season by wearing his squad number, 1, on the centre of their shirts.Just when Germany fans thought that the national team's fortunes could not sink any lower following Euro 2000 England came to Munich in September 2001 for a World Cup qualifier. Although Carsten Jancker prodded the hosts into an early lead, the English came storming back to dominate the fixture, 5-1. A Michael Owen hat-trick and a goal each from Liverpool team-mates Steven Gerrard and Emile Heskey condemned Germany to their first defeat in Munich since 1973. Moreover, they had lost only one of their previous 60 qualification matches. A Germany win would have meant England's participation in the play-offs and confidence was so high that the Nationalmannschaft were scheduled to play friendly matches on the assigned play-off dates. England claimed automatic qualification for South Korea/Japan and the Germans had to mix it with Ukraine for a spot at the finals. They duly won and despite low expectations Rudi Voeller took his side all the way to the final.The much-maligned Berti Vogts had achieved a second-place finish at Euro 92, losing the final 2-0 to underdogs Denmark. Four years later and he went one step further, winning Germany's first tournament since re-unification. A talented team had come up short two years previously at the USA World Cup, as they would at France 98, but Klinsmann, Bierhoff, Sammer and company hit their peak in England in 1996. A memorable semi-final shoot-out win over the hosts meant that the Germans would contest the final alongside Czech Republic. There would be no repeat of the Czechoslovakia - West Germany upset from 1976 although the Czechs went ahead through Patrik Berger. Oliver Bierhoff's equaliser led to extra time where the Henri Delaunay trophy was decided by the first ever Golden Goal. The sweeper Matthias Sammer, an East German, was named player of the tournament but the Borussia Dortmund captain's career would ultimately be cut short due to injury.The spectre of hooliganism casts its ugly shadow all over the football world and Germany is no exception. The country's moment of deepest shame arrived in 1998 when four supporters were convicted of attacking a French policeman, David Nivel, in Lens. Following the draw between Germany and Yugoslavia in Lens the thugs set about Nivel, beating him with weapons and raining in kicks to the man's face. The quartet were charged with inflicting serious bodily harm and were sentenced to various terms, ranging from three and half to 10 years. The judge ruled that the four 'behaved like monsters', leaving Nivel with lasting damage, including blindness in one eyes and diminished concentration faculties.In a similar vein to Il Trap is Rudi Voeller's outburst following Germany's 0-0 draw with Iceland in 2003. The German team was known to be the weakest in a generation and Voeller's work with a limited squad was largely credited. However, he took exception to the comments of Waldemar Hartmann, Gerhart Delling and former playmaker Gunter Netzer while being interviewed after the game. He launched a foul-mouthed tirade against the critics of his team. The video can be seen below. (No subtitles, unfortunately)Christoph Daum's tenure at Bayer Leverkusen had led him to become the favourite to replace Erich Ribbeck following the disaster at Euro 2000. Indeed, the handover of power seemed complete. That was until rumours circulated on the coach's private life. It was alleged that Daum snorted cocaine and engaged in sex parties with prostitutes, charges which he denied until a hair sample proved that he was a user of the drug. The whole episode was a sorry embarrassment for the DFB off the field as fortunes sunk on it. The appointment of Rudi Voeller was announced instead in October 2001 as Daum's credibility took a savage dent. He has since re-established himself as a coach with spells in Turkey, Austria and in his native country.The most heart-stopping conclusion to a Bundesliga season in history. A title race that went down to the very last seconds of the very last match. Schalke trailed Bayern Munich by three points but enjoyed a favourable goal difference. The Koenigsblauen defeated Unterhaching 5-3 on the final day and FC Hollywood found themselves 1-0 down late in the game against Hamburg. Hamburg's go-ahead goal, combined with Schalke's win, sparked scenes of jubilation across Gelsenkirchen, where supporters had been watching the Bayern match on big screens. They thought they had won their first league title since 1958 but were about to be dealt a cruel lesson in 'counting your chickens before they hatch'. Four minutes into injury time Markus Merk awarded Bayern an indirect free-kick inside the box for a handled back-pass. Stefan Effenberg tipped the ball to Patrik Andersson, who etched himself into FCB folklore by smashing the ball home. The joy in Gelsenkirchen turned to anguish and anger as the title slipped from their grasp in cruel circumstances. The German press would come to know the 2001 edition of the Schalke team as the Champion of Hearts.'The fire-fighter', renowned for his ability to keep clubs away from the relegation trap-door, lost his life due to an intestinal tumour in June 2010. An East German defector, Berger crossed into West Germany in 1979 after a promising coaching career in the East and was the subject to threats on his life by the DDR police, the Stasi. During a nomadic career he held well over 20 separate posts, most notably leading Eintracht Frankfurt to third place in the Bundesliga. He was also in charge at Schalke and Huub Stevens won the 1997 UEFA Cup with players who featured under Berger. His final appointment was at Arminia Bielefeld, which he left in 2009. His autobiography is titled "My Two Halves: A Life in the East and the West". There is scarcely no more appropriate figure to showcase on German Unity Day.