As of: 07/21/2022 8:09 p.m
Companions and personalities from politics and sport reacted to the death of Uwe Seeler with great sadness. The German women’s team wears a black ribbon for “Us Uwe” in the quarter-finals of the European Championship.
The death of Uwe Seeler has caused great consternation in Germany. “He was a role model for many, a football legend and of course an honorary citizen of Hamburg,” wrote Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Twitter. “For his 80th birthday I was allowed to give the after-dinner speech: “We all want to be like #UnsUwe: self-confident and modest.” He will be missed.”
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wrote on Twitter that German football was losing “an absolute icon” in Seeler. “The death of the fair sportsman and folk hero of integrity makes me very sad. He will be missed,” wrote the Minister of Sport.
Woman elf with black ribbon
In Seeler’s honor, the German women’s team wears black ribbons against Austria in the quarter-finals of the European Championship. Before the game starts, there should also be a minute’s silence, as the European Football Union announced.
The football world mourns
“Uwe Seeler stands for everything that characterizes a good person: down-to-earth, loyalty, joie de vivre, and he was always approachable. He is the epitome of HSV,” wrote HSV sports director Jonas Boldt. Seeler had remained true to his hometown club for a lifetime
National coach Hansi Flick praised Seeler as a “role model for generations of national players”. “With his down-to-earth, modest and reserved manner, he also inspired people off the pitch and won them over. We always enjoyed having him around us. Uwe Seeler inspired us. We all in the national team and in the DFB miss him very much.”
BVB boss Hans-Joachim Watzke described Seeler as an “extraordinary” footballer and person. “Without a doubt, he was one of the best strikers that the Federal Republic of Germany has ever produced,” said the chairman of the supervisory board of the German Football League, who is also the managing director of Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund.
Before the test match RB Leipzig – FC Liverpool, Uwe Seeler was remembered.
Image: dpa
Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn described Seeler’s death as a “painful loss”. “Seeler stood for honest football, for loyalty and humanity, he was a player with heart and for hearts – we will always remember him as one of the very special people in the sport.”
Former sporting director Rudi Völler from Bayer Leverkusen was dismayed at Seeler’s death. “I am shocked. My thoughts are with his family, to whom I offer my deepest condolences,” he said. “Uwe was a wonderful person, one of the greatest German sporting idols has left us.”