He is most famous for being the manager of the West Germany national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed The Miracle of Bern, defeating the overwhelming favourites from Hungary.

Previously he had also coached the Breslau Eleven, one of the greatest teams in German football history.

Herberger succeeded him as national coach after Germany's uninspired loss to Norway in quarter finals at the 1936 Olympics.

The second quote is "Der Ball ist rund und das Spiel dauert 90 Minuten"," says a character later introduced as a security guard at the bank in which Lola visits her father.

The 2003 film, The Miracle of Bern, following Herberger and his team's path to victory in the 1954 World Cup, also features a number of these quotations including the amalgamation of two of the above, "The ball is round and the game lasts for 90 minutes" (Der Ball ist rund und das Spiel dauert 90 Minuten).