Germany’s national football team is using SAP Sports One, a sports management solution, to stay ahead in the competitive world of soccer.
Investment in advanced technology to enhance decisions is important for Germany, which went out at the group stage of both previous Football World Cups and was eliminated by England in the round of 16 at Euro 2020. At present, Germany is hosting Euro 2024.
Germany’s football team uses the video and visualization functions in SAP Sports One to illustrate findings about opponents and their key players. These features make conveying tactics and preparing for specific matches much easier and clearer. The team leverages analytical insights for penalty scenarios, utilizing SAP Penalty Insights to study the behavior of potential penalty-takers and goalkeepers, tailoring strategies accordingly.
The integration of SAP Sports One extends beyond the coaching staff. The platform consolidates data from various sources, both internal and external, providing a comprehensive analysis.
The SAP Team One mobile app enhances communication between coaches and players, delivering match preparation details, opponent analyses, and training feedback directly to their phones. Players also share personal data via the app, such as their perceived exertion and overall well-being, which helps coaches adjust training intensities and monitor health.
“SAP Sports One enables us to efficiently share tactical insights and key information about our next opponents with our players. By accessing the software on a tablet, we can even give them the latest updates in the changing room shortly before kickoff or at half time,” says Benjamin Glück, assistant coach to the German national A-team.
During the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Germany utilized SAP Match Insights, a precursor to SAP Sports One. This early adoption proved pivotal, contributing to their World Cup victory. Today, over 1,000 DFB users, including players and support staff, rely on SAP Sports One.
“Our collaboration with the German team was a key factor in SAP’s decision to turn the prototype we developed for the DFB into a standard product. Now, clubs and associations in 19 countries are using SAP Sports One,” says Fadi Naoum, senior vice president and head of Development, SAP Sports One.
SAP plans to incorporate artificial intelligence to enhance the platform’s efficiency. AI-driven features are expected to streamline the analysis of scouting reports and match data, providing deeper insights with less manual effort.
“We’re hoping that AI will make the complex task of analyzing these vast amounts of data much simpler for us,” says Christofer Clemens, head of Scouting, Match Analysis, and Diagnosis at the DFB.
The DFB plans to use AI to analyze opponents’ past matches, identifying patterns and preparing comprehensive reports more efficiently. This advancement could significantly reduce the manual workload of match analysts, allowing them to focus on strategic planning and decision-making.
The DFB’s commitment to leveraging technology to gain a competitive edge is clear. As the partnership with SAP evolves, the German national team is poised to benefit from increasingly sophisticated tools, ensuring they remain at the forefront of international soccer.
With 12 junior and U21 teams under its management, the DFB faces the challenge of nurturing young talent while maintaining peak performance at the highest levels. Advanced tools like SAP Sports One are essential in this endeavor, enabling the DFB to keep a close eye on player development and make data-driven decisions to optimize performance and prevent injuries.
“We see potential in our work with SAP on the AI-driven evaluation of information that is relevant for scouting and match analysis. The prototypes SAP has presented to the DFB look very promising, and we are looking forward to using them live soon,” Martin Vogelbein, part of the DFB’s Scouting, Match Analysis, and Diagnosis team, said.
As the German national team continues to integrate these advanced technologies, they set a precedent for how data and AI can transform sports management, promising a future where strategic insights are just a few clicks away, even moments before the game.
