Friday, November 26th, 2021
German Football Hall of Fame
Klose is one of five newcomers to the Hall of Fame
As the first world champion in 2014, Miroslav Klose is accepted into the hall of fame of German football. Together with three other ex-national players and a legendary coach, the jury will select the former exceptional striker. For a World Cup winner in 1990 this is “a huge honor”.
The Hall of Fame of German football has been expanded to include five sports greats. The soccer world champions Horst Eckel, Jürgen Kohler and Miroslav Klose as well as GDR record goal scorer Joachim Streich and record coach Udo Lattek are now part of the legendary list. A 30-member jury made up of leading sports journalists from the country chose the ex-professionals in the glorious selection, as announced by the German Football Museum in Dortmund.
Horst Eckel, the last living world champion from 1954, won the DFB-Elf’s first big title in the final in Bern as the youngest player in the squad after a 3-2 win over Hungary. He also advised the director Sönke Wortmann when he made the film “The Miracle of Bern”, received the Federal Cross of Merit in 2004 and has been the ambassador of the “Sepp Herberger Foundation” since 1997.
The 1990 world champion, Jürgen Kohler, sees the admission as a huge honor. “It is a nice confirmation of the achievements made at a high level and over many years,” said Kohler, who has won the World Cup, European Championship, German Championship, UEFA Cup and Champions League in his personal trophy cabinet.
“In addition to numbers, emotional aspects are also taken into account”
World champion Miroslav Klose, who ended his career with Lazio in 2016, asked for fun if he was already old enough to be included in such a selection. “No, joking aside, it is a huge honor for me to be inducted into the Hall of Fame with these great players and idols of their time.” Klose won the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with the national team.
With 53 goals, Joachim Streich is the record scorer in the jersey of the GDR national team. “The greatest of German football are immortalized in the Hall of Fame – I am delighted to be included in this illustrious group. Wait, no, it is not only joy, but also pride,” said the ex-professional from Hansa Rostock and the 1. FC Magdeburg.
Udo Lattek, who died in 2015, is considered the most successful German club coach. With Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach he won the championship title eight times and the DFB Cup three times. With the Munich team, he triumphed in the European Cup in 1974, the predecessor of the Champions League.
“The choice of the greatest German football personalities for the Hall of Fame is always a challenging task for the jury. With the five personalities, we succeeded in making a selection this year that not only weighs up sober facts and figures, but also takes emotional aspects into account,” said Museum director and jury chairman Manuel Neukirchner. The quintet will be officially accepted at an award ceremony next year. Only personalities who ended their careers at least five years ago were eligible.
So far 39 members in the Hall of Fame
In 2018 the DFB honorary captains Fritz Walter (died 2002), Franz Beckenbauer (76), Uwe Seeler (85) and Lothar Matthäus (60) as well as Sepp Maier (77), Andreas Brehme (61), Paul Breitner (70), Matthias Sammer (54), Günter Netzer (77), Gerd Müller (died in 2021) and Helmut Rahn (died in 2003) were appointed to the founding eleven. As the first coach, ex-national coach Sepp Herberger (died 1977), creator of the “Miracle of Bern”, was accepted.
This was followed in the second round in 2019 as further Hall-of-Famer ex-national coach Helmut Schön (died 1996) as well as Oliver Kahn (52), Hans-Jürgen “Dixie” Dörner (70), Wolfgang Overath (78) and Jürgen Klinsmann ( 57). In 2020 Berti Vogts (74), Michael Ballack (45), Andreas Möller (54), Klaus Fischer (71) and Rudi Völler (61) were elected.
A total of 27 players and coaches have found their way into the men’s Hall of Fame, and eleven players and one coach have so far been appointed to the women’s hall of fame. In the coming year, new Hall of Fame members will also be elected here.