Joe-Max Moore’s heroics in the German Cup have been vital for FC Nuremberg.
Nuremberg’s Golden Ring is irresistible.
About three inches in diameter, almost half an inch thick, it shines bright in contrast within the black of the ornamental wrought iron fence.
The fence surrounds the Gothic 14th century Schoener Brunnen — Beautiful Fountain — in Nuremberg’s main marketplace plaza.
The ring turns easily through the iron loops. Few who pass don’t stop to give a spin for good luck.
“Oh yeah,” says Joe-Max Moore. “I always turn it, and you know what I wish for.”
The American striker wishes for goals and wins for his club, Second Division FC Nuremberg. But it is an inconsistent gold luck device. Two months ago, Moore wished for a goal, but received a most curious ejection.
Against Unterhaching, a clumsy defender stepped firmly on Moore’s foot. Moore wiggled away, but without his shoe. When he used that foot to pass the ball off, the referee cautioned Shoeless Joe-Max.
Two minutes later, Moore lunged to block a shot and his opponent went down as if struck. Out came the yellow-red.
“We appealed to the league,” Moore said, “but I got a one-game suspension. That’s the only game I’ve missed.”
Last season, for FC Saarbruecken, Moore scored 13 goals in 30 games — the most ever by a U.S. product in a European professional league. FC Saarbruecken, which had been loaning him from U.S. Soccer, offered him a contract. But the club lost its license for financial irregularities and was punished with relegation to the amateur ranks.
Nuremberg signed Moore, but it too didn’t handle its books to the German soccer federation’s (DFB) liking. Nuremberg — a team with such rich tradition it is known merely as “Der Club” — maintained pro status but has been docked six points this season.
Having won only twice in its first 10 games, Nuremberg is clearly in the danger zone — with the penalty it is tied for last place — and dearly in need of some luck. Signs that fortunes may be on the upturn has come in German Cup play, which the Golden Ring seems more responsive to.
In a 2-1 win over fellow Second Division club Meppen, Moore scored on a penalty kick and set up the gamewinner with the game’s best sequence: He surprised Meppen with a quick free kick that led to a Christian Mocked goal.
Moore earned the best ratings of the game. In the next cup game — a showdown with last year’s First Division runner-up, Werder Bremen — the former UCLA star played even better.
Beating Bremen
Down 2-0 at halftime, playing before 35,000 at home, Nuremberg pulled within a goal when Moore scored on a 25-yard free kick. From a playmaker’s position behind the strikers, Moore took control of the match and his move down the wing helped set up the equalizer. A last-minute goal gave Nuremberg a 3-2 win, setting up a quarterfinal match against another First Division team, Fortuna Duesseldorf.
Bremen coach Aad de Mos praised the importance of small, quick players and players “like the No. 10, who can change the course of a game.”
Moore was the No. 10.
“We haven’t played well at home,” Moore said, “and really needed a good performance. Against Bremen, I felt I could control the game, and find my teammates with some good penetrating passes.”
Nuremberg coach Hermann Gerland has also used Moore up front.
“I run forever and the coach noticed it,” Moore said. “Before the season, we were given a lactate test and I had the best results.”
That bit of science apparently revealed Moore as the team’s fittest player and Gerland is taking advantage, whether it’s by allowing Moore to roam the midfield or to buzz around up front.
But Gerland also appreciates Moore’s skills.
“I’m allowed to take some risks with the ball,” Moore said. “In the U.S., it’s always seemed to be a black mark for a player to be a risk-taker. And when I first arrived in Germany, maybe I didn’t know the system well enough or have enough confidence to take chances.
“Our coach doesn’t mind. He knows if my move works, we could have a one-on-one.”
Five days after beating Bremen, Moore scored his 11th goal for the U.S. in a 4-3 win over Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C.
His club’s ambitions will ultimately be a return to the First Division. Its glory days — which led to the “Der Club” moniker — were in the 1920s, when it won five national titles.
It has been in the Bundesliga for 20 seasons since the “federal” league’s founding 33 years ago. It won the 1968 title. Forebodingly, the club managed its funds so poorly, it sold its stars and was relegated the next season. Such a fall was unprecedented and has never been repeated.
Nuremberg was at the top tier for 10 years — usually finishing in the lower half — before falling in 1994. This coincided with the club’s worst financial crisis. Incapable — and forbidden by the DFB — to spend more than $500,000 on new players, Nuremberg depends on Moore. And advancing in cup play is a key to filling the coffers for Second Division clubs, whose TV revenue is far less than the First Division’s.
“This year is about survival,” said Gerland.
by Soccer America Senior Editor Mike Woitalla