Germany has long been one of the great soccer nations in international soccer. However, while you see some of the players that make up their national team like Antonio Rüdiger, Serge Gnabry, Jamal Masiala, and Leroy Sané, it wasn’t long ago that it was unheard of for a Black player to represent Germany on the international stage. Those players have Erwin Kostedde to thank for pushing through that color barrier.
The son of a German mother and an African-American father, Erwin Kostedde was born in Münster, Westphalia. He grew up in a world filled with xenophobia, with neighbors not allowing their children to play with Kostedde because of his skin color.