Andreas Brehme, who fired West Germany to the 1990 World Cup title with the only goal in the final against Diego Maradona’s Argentina, has died.
He was 63. Brehme’s partner Susanne Schaefer confirmed his death in a statement to Germany’s dpa news agency on Tuesday. Schaefer said Brehme died “suddenly and unexpectedly” in the night from a cardiac arrest.
“One of Germany’s greatest and best players of all time. German football owes him a lot,” German football federation president Bernd Neuendorf said.
Former teammates and others paid tribute to the player who was known affectionately as “Andi” Brehme, a star of German football in the 1980s and 1990s.
“I can’t believe it at all. The news of Andreas’ sudden death makes me incredibly sad,” national teammate Rudi Vo¨ller said. “Andi was our World Cup hero, but for me he was much more. He was my close friend and companion to this day. I will miss his wonderful love of life.”
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge played with Brehme at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
“Andi was a great team player, very loyal and dependable. His love of life was contagious and it makes me so sad that he had to leave us at 63,” Rummenigge said.
Kaiserslautern, which won its last Bundesliga title in Brehme’s final season before his retirement in 1998, said it was “deeply saddened” by his unexpected death. Brehme played for the Red Devils for 10 seasons over two stints. The Bundesliga win came after promotion as second-division champion and Brehme also won the German Cup with Kaiserslautern in 1996.
The Hamburg-born Brehme, who played mostly as an attacking left back, will always be associated with West Germany’s 1990 World Cup triumph.