German sentenced for World Cup brawl

German sentenced for World Cup brawl

Published Feb. 15, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

A court sentenced a German man to 14 years and six months behind bars Tuesday for shooting two Italians in a bar after an argument over which of the two countries had won the most soccer World Cups.

The 43-year-old was arguing with the two men, aged 47 and 49, in a bar in the red-light district of Hanover in northern Germany in July during the World Cup in South Africa.

In a rage, the German then went home, fetched a weapon and shot the two men.

The dispute had been about how many stars the respective teams were entitled to wear on their shirts, corresponding to the number of World Cup trophies won. After the first shot, he told the victim: "There's your fourth star."

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"It was a completely stupid argument," presiding judge Wolfgang Rosenbusch said, sentencing the accused.

Prosecutors had demanded he serve life behind bars but the court reduced his sentence due to diminished responsibility, as he was an alcoholic, suffering from depression and on medication.

The man also confessed to his crime and had no previous convictions, also mitigating the sentence.

The two teams had very different experiences in the 2010 World Cup.

Italy came into the competition as one of the favorites after winning the 2006 World Cup but crashed out in the group stages after a humiliating loss to Slovakia.

Germany by contrast were generally considered to be among the most attractive teams in the competition and reached the semi-finals before losing to eventual winners Spain.

However, historically, Italy has won the World Cup more times than Germany, with four victories (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006) compared to Germany's three (1954, 1974, 1990).

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