“Bayern is deeply upset by the sudden death of Andreas Brehme (…) We will always keep Andreas Brehme in our heart,” declared the Bavarian club, where Brehme played during his career. The cause of his death was not specified in the Bayern press release.
Andreas Brehme made German football history by scoring the decisive goal from a penalty against Diego Maradona’s Argentina during the World Cup final at the Olympic stadium in Rome on July 8, 1990. He thus gave victory to the West German team just before the reunification of the country and entered the legend of German football as a decisive scorer in the World Cup final, as Gerd Müller had been in 1974 in Munich against the Netherlands (2 -1), and as Mario Götze will be in 2014 in Rio against Argentina (1-0).
A defender, he scored eight goals in his 86 appearances for the Mannschaft between 1984 and 1994, including a free kick against Michel Platini’s France in the semi-final of the 1986 Mexican World Cup (2-0 victory). Trained at HSV Barmbek-Uhlenhorst, a club in the city of Hamburg, he spent most of his career at Kaiserslautern (1981-1986, then 1993-1998), winning the German Cup with this club in 1996, but above all the championship title in 1998, a season after the club’s rise to the German first division. He also played for Bayern Munich (1986-1988) where he won the Bundesliga in 1987, and Inter Milan (1988-1992), winning the Italian championship (1989) and the UEFA Cup with the Milanese in 1991. After his playing career, he had a short coaching career at Kaiserslautern (2000-2002) and Unterhaching (a suburb of Munich).
This unexpected death saddened the world of German football and well beyond. FCK “mourns the loss of Andreas Brehme” and Bayern is “deeply upset” by his “sudden death”, his former clubs reacted on Tuesday. The president of the German federation (DFB), Bernd Neuendorf, said he was “very moved and incredibly sad”, remembering a “honest, sincere, warm and wonderful” person. “Ciao Andy, eternal legend,” greeted Inter Milan, where Andreas Brehme shone by discovering another style of football which would unleash his offensive potential. In his honor, the Nerazzurri will wear a black armband on Tuesday evening during their Champions League round of 16 against Atlético Madrid.
