‘How SAP solution aided Germany to win Brazil 2014 World Cup’

An innovative technology developed by SAP Germany has been attributed to make part of the success story for the German National Team (DFB) in winning the FIFA World Cup, Brazil 2014, an official of the company has said.

Appreciating the role of technology in football, managing director of SAP West Africa, Richard Edet said success can never be fully planned; good and bad fortune plays too big a role for that in football but, one can attempt to stem the influence of unknowns as much as possible, with help of good ideas.

According to him, every small detail had been thought through in Brazil by the German National Team (DFB), from the choice and architecture of the team base Campo Bahia, to picking the colours of Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro’s most popular club, for Germany’s away-shirt.

He said this journey started last year when national team general manager, Oliver Bierhoff, conducted some “market research” inside the locker room.

He found that the players were most happy communicating with each other via digital platforms since communication was one of the main concerns during the tournament planning stage, Bierhoff commissioned SAP to develop an application that could facilitate the exchange of information about the team’s schedule, as well as data about the opponents.

According to him, “SAP’s involvement has transformed the football experience for coaches, players, fans, and the media,” said Bierhoff. “Imagine this: In just 10 minutes, 10 players with three balls can produce over 7 million data points. SAP HANA® can process these in real time and the team was able to analyse a huge amount of data and customise training in preparation for all of the matches.”

Together with SAP the DBF developed an application called SAP Match Insights, which analyses vast amounts of data about members of the German team and their opponents, based on their on-field performance.

Edet said, “This data can then be converted into simulations and graphs that can be viewed on a tablet or smartphone, enabling trainers, coaches and players to identify and assess key situations in each match.”