GDR record player “Dixie” Dörner died at the age of 70
As of 11:41 a.m
Hans-Jürgen Dörner played 100 international matches for the GDR national team
Source: pa/dpa/dpa-ZB/Robert Michael
Hans-Jürgen Dörner was one of the greatest players in Eastern football. He became an Olympic champion, was three times footballer of the year and record national player in the GDR. Dorner is now dead. He was only 70 years old.
Hans-Jürgen Dörner has died. The record national player of the GDR national football team would have been 71 on January 25. “Dixie died on Wednesday night after a long and serious illness at the age of 70,” said his long-standing club Dynamo Dresden.
President Holger Scholze said: “It is incomprehensible, shocking and very, very sad. We still can’t understand that Dixie Dörner shouldn’t be with us anymore. His death brings deep sadness to our sports community. With Dixie Dörner, we not only lost the greatest player in the club’s history – we also lost a person who had conquered all of our hearts. For more than five decades, he has campaigned on and off the pitch for the colors of our city and our club in an impressive and outstanding way.”
Dörner was one of the greatest players in East football history. He made 100 national appearances, and in 1976 he was libero for the team that won the gold medal at the Montreal Olympics. Because of his calm playing style and his great overview, he was also called “Beckenbauer of the East”. In October 2019 he was inducted into the German Football Hall of Fame.
Dörner won five championships with Dynamo Dresden
Born in Görlitz in 1951, Dörner played for 18 years (1968 to 1986) in the GDR Oberliga, and only ever for one club. At the age of 16 he moved to Dynamo Dresden, where he had last been a member of the supervisory board since 2013. He won five championships and five cups with Dynamo. In 1977, 1984 and 1985, Dörner, who played 65 European Cup games, was named East German footballer of the year.
1977: Captain Dörner celebrates winning the FDGB Cup with Dynamo Dresden after beating Lok Leipzig 3-2 in the final
Source: pa / dpa / BPG Gert Kilian
After the active career, Dörner worked as a trainer, first with the GDR youth team, then as an assistant to Berti Vogts with the German national team. In Egypt he was with Al Ahly Cairo Cup winner and runner-up – Werder Bremen, where he worked from 1996 to 1997, he led out of the relegation zone. Later he worked as a coach in Zwickau and Leipzig. In recent years, however, he has mainly looked after the youngsters at Dynamo Dresden.
Dynamo plays with crape
When he was appointed honorary captain in April 2013, it was said that he had never lost his grip on reality and that after his career he was always committed to human affairs at Dynamo Dresden. Dörner was popular and revered. The Dynamo fan shop has items dedicated to him.
Dörner wasn’t exactly sure why everyone just called him Dixie, he was called that way even as a boy. The older boys on the soccer field in Görlitz are said to have called out to him: “Come on, you little Dixie, feel free to play with us.”
Dynamo Dresden announced that they wanted to ensure “that there will be a minute’s silence in the second division away game on Sunday, 1.30 p.m. in Hanover. In addition, the team will play with black ribbons as a sign of sympathy.”
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