BERLIN (Reuters) – Horst Eckel, the last surviving member of West Germany’s 1954 World Cup profitable workforce, has died at the age of 89, the German Football Association (DFB) mentioned on Friday.
Eckel was just one of two Germany gamers who performed in all six matches at the match and the youngest within the closing as his workforce staged a serious upset with a 3-2 victory over overwhelming favourites Hungary.
Victory accomplished what has change into identified collectively in Germany because the ‘Miracle of Berne’, with mighty Hungary having crushed the Germans 8-3 within the match’s group stage, thus making West Germany’s closing win all of the extra shocking.
It was additionally a key victory for Germany in its effort to rebuild as a nation in a publish-battle technology and a primary world title for the Germans.
Germany went on to assert one other three World Cup trophies within the following many years, establishing themselves as one of the world’s strongest nationwide squads.
“The German Football Association… mourns the passing of Horst Eckel,” the DFB mentioned in a press release. “The 1954 world champion died at the age of 89 at present.”
Eckel, who earned 32 caps for Germany, additionally gained two German league titles with Kaiserslautern in 1951 and 1953, having performed 213 video games for the membership.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Rohith Nair)
