German football mourns the loss of world champion Andreas Brehme. The winning goalscorer from the 1990 World Cup final against Argentina died of a heart attack on Tuesday night. His partner Susanne Schaefer confirmed this to the German Press Agency on behalf of the family Picturenewspaper reported about it. Brehme, who played 86 international matches for the German national team, was only 63 years old.
“It is with deep sadness that I announce on behalf of the family that my partner Andreas Brehme died suddenly and unexpectedly tonight as a result of a cardiac arrest. We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time and refrain from asking questions,” said Schaefer’s message . 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. The Hamburg native played in a total of three World Cup finals. In 1986 he was with Germany in the lost final against Argentina. He experienced his best time as a club player at Inter Milan, where he became champion (1989) and UEFA Cup winner (1991).
In the Bundesliga he played for 1. FC Saarbrücken, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and FC Bayern Munich. He also won the German championship with FCK and Bayern. 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 over my bed. Later he became my boss and I was allowed to work with him. And in the end we became close friends. That’s why I told Franz a lot to be grateful for.”