Currently it is 2016... 

The Hotbed For Producing WOrld Class Players is no Longer in Brazil or ENgland. 

 Think Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer, Marco Reus, Julian Draxler, Leroy Sane, Mario Gotze, Ilkay Gundogan and hundreds more ALL developed on a plot of land smaller than New York.

Nord Rhein Westphalia  (NRW) is a tiny area in the westernmost part of Germany that is often overlooked by travelers of Europe as it is sandwiched between heavy tourist destinations of Copenhagen to the north, Amsterdam to the west, Frankfurt to the South and Berlin to the east. NRW is a tiny plot of land, about a quarter the size of New York state which naturally gives reason to the fact that is overlooked by the common European traveler on their quest for a big Instagram post. But in terms of soccer, this territory is an absolute holy land. It is, as the term goes, a Fussball Factory. Through its rich history of coal mining in the 1960s, NRW brought working class Germany back on its feet. Along with this economic resurgence came it’s dying love for soccer. NRW is home to historic clubs  like Borussia Dortmund, Schalke 04, Borussia Monchengladbach, 1 Fc Koln, Bayer Leverkusen among many others on a plot of land that is not even half the size of New York State!