The Alternative for Germany party plans to nominate 1990 football World Cup winner Thomas Berthold as its candidate for the federal presidential election this Saturday. While the nomination carries largely symbolic weight, it marks one of the most prominent instances of a former German sports star aligning with the party, DIE WELT reported.
Footballer from Hanau
Born in 1964 in Hanau, Hesse, Berthold established a notable career on the pitch as a tough defender. He traveled to three World Cups, making 18 tournament appearances. Team boss Franz Beckenbauer kept him in the starting lineup for all seven matches during Germany’s 1990 tournament victory in Italy. In total, the defender earned 62 international caps for the national team.
Berthold often served as a polarizing figure among top German players, earning a reputation for a self-confident and casual demeanor. His time with the national squad ended in late 1994 following a critical interview where he blamed then-national coach Berti Vogts for tactical and personnel errors during the disappointing World Cup in the United States, DIE WELT reported.
Tribune exile at Bayern
Club coach Erich Ribbeck sidelined Berthold during his stint with FC Bayern Munich, leaving him to spend much of the 1992/93 season watching from the stands.
The club’s treasurer labeled Berthold the “best-paid golf player after Bernhard Langer,” while newspapers printed headlines describing him as an early retiree and a shelf warmer. Berthold later criticized his former club sharply. “For me, Thomas Berthold is dead after that,” club manager Uli Hoeneß retorted afterward, DIE WELT reported.
Like several of his fellow World Cup winners, Berthold struggled to secure a major administrative role in professional football after hanging up his boots. He worked briefly as a manager for Fortuna Düsseldorf without leaving a lasting impression. A subsequent push in 2019 to take over as supervisory board chairman at VfB Stuttgart—the club where he won the DFB-Pokal in 1997—ultimately fell through.
Berthold expressed distrust in German leadership
Politically, Berthold drew attention in 1999 when he named a controversial book concerning secret societies by author Jan van Helsing as his favorite reading material. By 2020, he appeared at anti-lockdown protests, stating that his trust in political leadership had dropped below zero. He and his wife relocated to Switzerland in 2022 out of frustration with pandemic regulations, noting later that a return to Germany remained unlikely, DIE WELT reported.
In a recent conversation with the Nachdenkseiten blog, Berthold referred to Germany as an executive tool of the United States. “On top of that, people are distracted with gender issues, fighting the right, the climate, and other topics,” he said in the interview. “Therefore, I recommend a digital detox and turning your own brain back on.”
Worth a look
