Stefan Hermanns & Lucas Vogelsang: King Bomber Karl und Kaiser Franz

In the organizer's words:

One of them had lunch with Woody Allen, met Henry Kissinger at the fatigue pool and partied with Pelé and Mick Jagger in Studio 54. The other sat on Oprah's couch, was friends with gangsters and was briefly even taller than Michael Jordan. Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Granitza. The Kaiser and King Bomber Karl.

Two footballers, two careers that could hardly be more different. And yet they have one thing in common: the great adventure of the USA, the neo-Green years in the new soccer world. In New York and Chicago, with the Cosmos and Sting. Memories on artificial turf. They tell of the beginnings of soccer in America, of screaming operettas and the great desire for entertainment.

Their biographies create a wonderful arc across the years and across the pond. From the NASL to the present day, when soccer can be soccer again for a summer.

Stefan Hermanns has worked for the Tagesspiegel since 2001, writes mainly about soccer and has covered four World Cups as a reporter. Although he is actually from Gladbach, he mainly reports on Hertha BSC. As a result, he was naturally familiar with Karl-Heinz Granitza, even though the two had never consciously met before working on their joint book.

Lucas Vogelsang, born in 1985, is a child of the Bundesliga. But as he didn't make it as a footballer, he became an author. Since then, he has written for the Tagesspiegel, Playboy, Welt am Sonntag and Stern and has published several books. These include "Zeitlupen" and "Nachspielzeiten". Because soccer writes the best stories. He has won a Henri Nannen Award, a German Reporter Award and the European Championship in Rome with the national team of authors. He lived in Rio during the 2014 World Cup. And when Götze scored against Argentina, he danced on the Copacabana beach.