Uwe Seeler dies, the best German footballer who could never win a World Cup

The striker, a legend of Hamburg, was always remembered for lifting his teammates after the final loss against England.

Uwe Seeler, one of the main figures of German football in the post-World War II stage, died this Thursday at the age of 85. The striker was an icon of Hamburg, the club where he scored 496 goals in 582 games, and of the German Federal Republic team, with which he was never able to lift the World Cup, despite playing four World Cups (1958-1970). ).

“He was a model for many. We are going to miss him,” said the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz About Seeler, a very charismatic and beloved character among his compatriots, present at gatherings and sporting events after his retirement. However, in recent times he was separated from public life due to successive health problems and falls.

One of the most remembered images of Seeler came after the controversial final of the 1966 World Cup, when Geoff Hurst scored the most famous ghost goal in history in extra time, validated by the linesman Tafiq Bakhramov. Despite the disappointment of the defeat (4-2), he raised his teammates one by one, physically and emotionally sunk, and ordered them to take a lap of honor at Wembley.

33 goals in 72 matches

“There are many titles that make a player or a team a legend. But there are few gestures that make them immortal,” he wrote. Sasha Theisenauthor of the book heroes (Hero) about the legends of the National team. “The 1966 team became immortal because he made that lap of honor, at Seeler’s initiative, and despite his controversial defeat. The captain found the right gesture at the right time,” he adds.

The glory of Seeler, who scored 33 goals in 72 international commitments for the senior team, was partly overshadowed by the golden generation that followed, that of Franz Beckenbauer y Gerd Mller.

Seeler is also remembered for his courage and his fair play. He was born in 1936 in Hamburg and was the son of Dieter Seelerone of the most famous soccer players in the city and who after his sports retirement worked as a laborer in the city port.

In 1953, at the age of 16, Uwe played his first game for the Hamburg professional team. He scored his first goal with his in August 1954 and, game by game, a ‘Bombardier’ ​​legend was forged, a precursor to great names in the country such as Gerd Mller, Rudi Vller o Jürgen Klinsmann.