Andreas Brehme, who struck the winning penalty for West Germany against Argentina in the 1990 World Cup final, has died at 63 after a cardiac arrest.
That goal was the eighth and last Brehme scored in his 86 caps won between 1984 and 1994 and during a league title-winning club career with Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich and Internazionale Milan. Brehme, a midfielder then attacking leftback, played for Bayern between 1986 and 1988 when he moved to Italy.
He played for Kaiserslautern from 1981-86 and 1993-98,, winning the Bundesliga in 1998 and German Cup in 1996 and was later manager from 2000-02.
In fact, Brehme was not West Germany’s nominated penalty taker in 1990, that responsibility usually fell to captain Lothar Matthaus. However Matthaus was having problems with his boots in the closing stages and asked Inter club-mate Brehme to take over – which he did to historic effect.
BAYERN STATEMENT
A Bayern statement said: “FC Bayern is deeply shocked by the sudden death of Andreas Brehme. We will always keep Andreas Brehme in our hearts – as a world champion and even more so as a very special person. He will always be part of the FC Bayern family. Rest in peace, dear Andi.”
Kaiserslautern said: “FCK mourns the loss of Andreas Brehme. He wore the Red Devils jersey for a total of 10 years and became German champion and cup winner with FCK. In 1990, he shot the German national team to the World Cup title with his penalty and finally became a football legend.”
Brehme helped Inter Milan win the Serie A title in 1989 and the Italian club said their players would wear black armbands when they host Atletico Madrid in the first leg of a last-16 Champions League tie.
A LEGEND
In 1990, at the pinnacle of Brehme’s international career, West Germany were managed by Franz Beckenbauer, who died aged 78 in January. Brehme not only scored in the final but in the semi-final defeat of England on penalties.
DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said: “Andreas Brehme is one of the greatest and best football players in German history. German football has a lot to thank him for.”
Credit: AIPS Media
