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Caught In Time
Featured
in the back of the Sports section of the Sunday Times,
the Caught in Time
series features a picture of a famous team, offers a
profile of each player, and answers the question 'Where
are they now?'.
West
Germany, 1966 World Cup Final
by Ian
Hawkey
When they arrived in England in early July, West Germany
were 14-1 outsiders. By the end of a stirring 120 minutes
and more of the World Cup final, they had grounds to
argue that they had been robbed. Most of the losing
finalists in 1966 were not inclined to complain, though.
They had a famously courteous manager, Helmut Schön, and
although many have since raised doubts over whether Geoff
Hurst's second goal crossed the line, there is an
enduring bond between the players of both teams from that
July 30 afternoon at Wembley.
Goalkeeper Hans Tilkowski has I maintained a friendship
with Hurst, Gordon Banks and Alan Ball. Nonetheless,
"I still feel deeply about the third goal,"
Tilkowski told Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger in his history
of German football, Tor! "It was the third
time in a few weeks I had been unlucky, each time on
British soil." The previous February , West Germany
lost 1-0 at Wembley in a friendly and had a good goal
disallowed", he said. "Then, in May, I was in
the Cup Winners' Cup final with Borussia Dortmund, and
Liverpool's equaliser should have been chalked off, as
the ball had gone out of play."
1 Horst Höttges
He was and remains a Bremen man, still applauded at
Werder games today. He coaches at youth level and recalls
the 4-2 defeat with some regret. Höttges marked Hurst,
who scored a hat-trick. The defender had tendon trouble
and reckons: "If I had had that sort of injury later
in my career, I would not have played. But I was 23 and
detennined to make the final." He played in two more
World Cups, and collected a winners' medal in 1974.
2 Wolfgang Overath
Will be high-profile in the 2006 World Cup as one of the
tournament's "ambassadors", representing the
city of Cologne, where he played for 15 years. For West
Germany, he was a valued playmaker in midfield, and at 22
in the 1966 final, he had plenty of years left to avenge
the defeat. He was there when the Germans beat England in
the next tournament, in Mexico, and when they lifted the
trophy, at home, in 1974. Overath has had a successful
career since, in business, property and working for
adidas.
3 Siegfried Held
Sigi Held had made his international debut in 1966,
having won the Cup Winners' Cup for Dortmund against
Liverpool that season. He would represent his country for
a further six years, but he was never a prolific
goalscorer. However, he had a say in both German goals
that July afternoon. Held was still involved in
international football until three months ago, when he
lost his job as manager of Malta.
4 Helmut HaIler
He scored the first goal of the final. There seemed
little danger to England when Held delivered a long
diagonal pass from just inside West Germany's ha.If in
the direction of RaIler. Ray WIlson reached it first, but
his weak header was an unexpected invitation to RaIler.
He brought the ball under control and guided his shot
past Banks. Bobby Moore, the England captain, later
reflected: .'RaIler shouldn't be the sort of player to
score against us and isn't the class of player to win a
World Cup final." He did not, for all his three
World Cup tournaments and a distinguished club career
with Bologna and Juventus. Nowadays, RaIler organises
football festivals and training holidays
5 Wolfgang Weber
An outstanding defender, Weber, of Cologne, had made his
international debut two years earlier at 20. He took the
final into extra time, coming up for a free kick with
West Germany 2-1 down in injury time. He slid the ball
home after it struck what some thought was Karl-Reinz
Schnellinger's arm. No matter. The goal counted. So,
Weber later said, did England' s third, which Hurst
struck against the underside of the bar. 'Too much has
been said about the third goal," said W eber 30
years later. "England entered history as worthy
champions." Weber won 53 caps and ought to have had
more. He suffered repeated bad luck with injuries. When
he retired, he had a spell in charge of Bremen, where he
succeeded Tilkowski
6 Lothar 'Emma' Emmerich
He played only five times for Germany, including that
final, although he was a feared striker for Dortmund
throughout the late 1960s. He died in August, after a
battle with cancer.
7 Willi Schulz
Schulz took part in three World Cups: 1962,1966 and 1970,
captained Germany. 20 times in 66 games and was an
uncomprornising defender. He had a background in
insurance - it was common for German players of his era
to learn other skills, because as footballers they were
subject to a salary cap. On retirement, Schulz became a
successful businessman and was a forceful voice in the
media for some years. He then went into property, with
investments across Germany and in the United States
8 Franz Beckenbauer (Star Players of Mexico 1970)
The Kaiser is the most recognised figure in German
football, the only man to have won the World Cup as a
player (in 1974) and as a coach (1990). And, indeed, to
have won the hosting rights as a politician: he headed
Germany's bid to stage the 2006 tournament. He is also
president of Bayern Munich. He was the pivotal player
when Schön outlined his strategy that day at Wembley.
Schön's assistant, Dettmar Cramer, felt that asking
Beckenbauer to mark Bobby Charlton would sacrifice
creativity. Schön thought it worth the risk.
9 Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
He was recognised as a defender of world class by 1966.
He had just finished the second of nine seasons at AC
Milan, with whom he would later win the European Cup. He
cut a distinctive figure: the actress Gina Lollobrigida
is supposed to have called him "the most handsome
man in the game". Going to Italy would become second
nature for the best Gernan players 20 years later, but in
the 1960s it was controversial, because of the
quasi-amateur status of German football. After retiring,
Schnellinger worked as the public relations chief for a
catering supply company.
10 Hans Tilkowski
The keeper was an injury doubt in the days ahead of the
final because of a painful shoulder. Schön risked him,
and an early challenge with Hurst left him requiring
treatment. But he made some notable saves. Tilkowski
retired in 1970. later managed Werder Bremen, and had a
season coaching AEK Athens in the early 1980s. He has
recently worked with 1966 colleague Helmut HaIler's youth
training enterprise. He also organises benefit games for
good causes.
11 Uwe Seeler (Hambuger
SV)
Germany's captain was an unlikely looking footballer.
Short and stocky, he was still fonnidable in the air,
skilful on the ball, with acceleration and famous
detennination. He won 73 caps, wore the skippers armband
in 40 of those and scored 43 international goals. He
devoted his entire club career to Hamburg, the city that
made him an honorary citizen last month. Forty years
earlier, Hamburg the club had helped set him up in the
sportswear business that has been his principal job since
retiring. He has since launched his own brands
From The
Sunday Times 21 December 2003.
Sports Section
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