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They may not have been first in line to pick up their World Cup winner's medals, but Mats Hummels (c.) and Christoph Kramer (r.) have revealed some of their interesting firsts
They may not have been first in line to pick up their World Cup winner's medals, but Mats Hummels (c.) and Christoph Kramer (r.) have revealed some of their interesting firsts

Off the Ball

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Cologne - Off the Ball, bundesliga.com's quirky periodical, offers a selection of the offbeat stories to have emerged from German football in the past few days.

In this first edition of 2015, we look at how the cold has arrived in Germany, rendering ice hockey a more suitable sport, and hear about some of and ' firsts...

Ice, ice baby

Football stadiums have proven versatile venues for more than just 11 vs. 11 action each weekend, with concerts often ensuring bums hit seats during the summer months. Gelsenkirchen's Veltins Arena has even staged an indoor rally, but ice hockey? Well, Düsseldorf's ESPRIT Arena is not going to be used by Bundesliga 2 side Fortuna Düsseldorf until 13 February... Instead, it will play host to the DEL (German Ice Hockey League) Winter Game on 10 January. Anybody got a stick and a puck?

And as a reminder, here's Mats Hummels' first ever Tweet, which he posted back in June. Little did he know then what the subsequent month was going to bring: