| Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was another in the line that produced Helmut Rahn, Uwe Seeler and Gerd Müller. Born in Westphalia in 1955, he played locally for Borussia Lippstadt before giving up his job as a bank clerk to join Bayern Munich as an 18 year old.
Having won a European Cup medal with Bayern in 1976, he was looking forward to a good run in the 1978 World Cup but, despite his three goals, the Germans had a poor tournament. Two years later there was glory, though, as West Germany became European Champions. In the final against Belgium, Rummenigge laid on the winning goal for Hrubesch and was named Player Of The Tournament. He was also European Footballer Of The Year and repeated that performance in 1981.
In the 1982 World Cup he scored five goals, including a hat-trick against Chile, and skippered West Germany to the final. But he was not fully fit and was substitued after 69 minutes as Italy ran out as easy winners. In 1984 he became West Germany's most expensive player when he joined Inter-Milan for £2.500.000. He made his 19th and last World Cup appearance in the memorable 1986 final, when Argentina beat West Germany 3-2 (Rummenigge scored once). Altogether he won 95 caps and scored 45 goals for his country. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has scored 30 goals in 64 matches for Bayern Munchen, he scored 10 goals in 24 matches for Internazionale Milaan and played 4 matches with no goals for Servette Geneve.
The first game was against FC Magdeburg on 23-10-1974. |
Germany