Joachim Streich
The former GDR international is dead
Joachim Streich was 71 years old.
© imago/VIADATA
Mourning for the former GDR international Joachim Streich: The record shooter died shortly after his 71st birthday.
Mourning for the former GDR national football player Joachim Streich: As initially reported by the “Ostsee-Zeitung”., the record shooter passed away on April 13, two days after his 71st birthday. In the meantime, this has been confirmed by those closest to him.
The “Gerd Müller of the East”, as he was often called, had been suffering from a serious illness for some time. His health has reportedly deteriorated over the past year. Most recently, a stem cell transplant to treat his anemia due to pneumonia had to be postponed.
GDR records cannot be beaten
Joachim Streich started his career in the 1960s in his birthplace Wismar, before moving to Hansa Rostock in 1967 at the age of 16, later playing for 1. FC Magdeburg. He played his first international match as a national team player for East Germany at the age of 18.
After his death, his East German records remained unsurpassed: record national player with 102 games, record goalscorer for the national team with 55 goals, record goalscorer for the league with 229 goals and most goals in a league game (six goals). In 1979 and 1983 he was voted GDR footballer of the year and was top scorer in the Oberliga four times. In 1972 he won the bronze medal with the national team at the Olympic Games in Munich.
Immediately after the end of his playing career, Joachim Streich became head coach of 1. FC Magdeburg in 1985. In 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it went to the second division club Eintracht Braunschweig. After a brief stint at FSV Zwickau, he ended his coaching career in 1997. In 2021, Streich was inducted into the German Football Hall of Fame.