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Andreas Brehme
Photo:
Wolf Heider-Sawall / laif
German football is mourning the loss of one of its world champions: Andreas Brehme is dead. The former FC Bayern Munich and 1. FC Kaiserslautern player died on Tuesday night at the age of 63. As his partner Susanne Schaefer confirmed on behalf of the family, Brehme died of a heart attack.
Brehme became world champion with Germany in 1990, and in the final against Argentina he converted the penalty into the winning goal. As a club player, he won the German championship with Bayern in 1987 and with Kaiserslautern in 1998. He also won the UEFA Cup in 1991 with Inter Milan and won the DFB Cup in 1996 with Kaiserslautern. He played 86 international matches for the national team and scored eight goals.
Key figure in the national team
Just a few weeks after the death of then team boss Franz Beckenbauer, German football lost another key figure from the national team that won Germany's third World Cup title in 1990. Brehme was one of the outstanding players at the finals in Italy. In the final in Rome he scored the winning goal to make it 1-0 shortly before the end.
In 1986 he had already been with Germany in the lost final against Argentina. After his career, the former full-back entered the coaching business, but was unable to build on his success as a player. He coached FCK, SpVgg Unterhaching and was assistant coach at VfB Stuttgart.
In January, Brehme had touching words about the death of the legend Beckenbauer. "I think in heaven he will create a magic triangle with Pelé and Maradona," he said. »As a little boy, like probably every boy in Germany, I had a Franz Beckenbauer poster hanging above my bed. Later he became my boss and I was allowed to work with him. And we ended up becoming close friends. That’s why I have a lot to thank Franz for.”
ara/dpa