391: The NASL's Chicago Sting (& More!) - With Karl-Heinz Granitza

Live and direct from Pottsdam, it's the one-and-only Karl-Heinz Granitza — the prolific German striker who became the face of the North American Soccer League's iconic Chicago Sting -- and a transformative figure in American soccer during his seven outdoor seasons across the late 1970s & early 1980s.  

A 2003 National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee and one of the NASL's all-time leading scorers, Granitza opens up about his remarkable journey from West Berlin to the Windy City -- where his powerful left foot, fiery personality, and unshakable will to win helped ignite a soccer revolution in the US.

Granitza shares the challenges of joining the Sting in 1978, a year that began with a record-setting 10-game losing streak, only to pivot dramatically under mid-season replacement coach Willy Roy. With a new influx of German talent and a renewed sense of purpose, Granitza led a cultural and competitive shift that culminated in one of the most exciting eras in Chicago pro sports history.

Among the stops: the tension-filled triumph of the NASL's 1981 Soccer Bowl championship match, where the Sting edged the star-studded New York Cosmos in a nail-biting, scoreless encounter that culminated in a dramatic tie-breaking shootout. Granitza recounts the euphoric aftermath: Chicago’s first major pro sports championship in nearly two decades, a ticker-tape parade attended by over 100,000 fans, and the moment he realized that soccer had finally taken root in America’s heartland.

We dive into Granitza’s reputation as both a clutch performer and a demanding teammate; with humor and honesty, he reflects on his passionate leadership style — his perfectionism, on-field outbursts, and deep loyalty to teammates like Arno Steffenhagen, Ingo Peter, and Pato Margetic.