Helmut Rahn

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Helmut Rahn
Rahn in 1962
Personal information
Date of birth (1929-08-16)16 August 1929
Place of birth Essen, Germany
Date of death 14 August 2003(2003-08-14) (aged 73)
Place of death Essen, Germany
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)
Wing forward
Youth career
1938–1946 SV Altenessen 1912
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1946–1950 SC Oelde 1919
1950–1951 Sportfreunde Katernberg 30 (7)
1951–1959 Rot-Weiss Essen 280 (97)
1959–1960 1. FC Köln 29 (11)
1960–1963 SC Enschede 69 (39)
1963–1965 Meidericher SV 19 (8)
Total 427 (162[1])
International career
1951–1960 West Germany 40 (21)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  West Germany
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1954 Switzerland
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Helmut Rahn (16 August 1929 – 14 August 2003), known as Der Boss (The Boss), was a German footballer who played as a

the final of the 1954 FIFA World Cup (West Germany vs. Hungary
3–2). Rahn, along with the German team, were decorated by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1972.

Career

Rahn started his career with Altenessen 1912 where he played from 1938 until 1946. Then he went to SC Oelde 09 with a total score of 52 goals for that team. In the 1950–51 season, he played for Sportfreunde Katernberg.

He was most successful when he played for Rot-Weiss Essen from 1951 to 1959. The team won the DFB-Pokal final in 1953 and won the German Championship in 1955. For one year, from 1959 till 1960 he had played at 1. FC Köln, 1960 he went to Sportclub Enschede in the Netherlands.

In the

outside right
.

His legendary status in German football was sparked by the heroic achievement of the German team in the final of the 1954 World Cup. Germany, whose team members themselves were surprised to be in the final, was playing Hungary, who hadn't lost a single match for four years running up to the World Cup final, and had already beaten Germany

The Miracle of Bern (Das Wunder von Bern) because of its "David versus Goliath"-like setting, and it is generally seen as an instrumental part of the rebuilding of the German people's morale after World War II
.

Rahn (right) in a duel with Ockhuisen in August 1960.

Rahn was also part of the German team that reached semifinals at the 1958 World Cup. With his goal against Yugoslavia, he became at the time the third maximum scorer in World Cups, with 10 total goals (behind Just Fontaine and Sándor Kocsis), and also the first player ever to score at least four goals in two different World Cups.

Rahn played 40 international matches and scored a total of 21 goals.[3] He was known as "Der Boss" ("The Boss") because of his on-field leadership and occasionally as "The Cannon from Essen".

Later life

After retiring from football, Rahn started his own car dealership in Essen-Altenessen, along Altenessener Street. He was known for his good sense of humour and his joy and ability at talking with others. Many stories about him still circulate throughout Essen. One such story involves a discussion he once had with a friend regarding his car dealership:

Rahn was once asked by a friend, how his car dealership worked. His very direct answer: "I buy a car for 1,000 DM and sell it for 4,000 DM. And I live off the three percent profit."

He died two days shy of his 74th birthday, in Essen. The film The Miracle of Bern was dedicated to him by director Sönke Wortmann.

The tomb of Helmut Rahn

Family

In 1953, Rahn married Gerti Seller, and the couple had two sons, Uwe (born 1954) and Klaus Rahn.[4] Rahn is allegedly the cousin of the grandfather of Kevin-Prince Boateng of the Ghana national football team.[5]

Helmut Rahn Memorial

The Helmut Rahn Memorial

On 11 July 2004, 50 years after the Bern match, a lifesize statue of Rahn was put up near Georg-Melches-Stadium in

Essen
, on the square named after him.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[2]
Club Season League German
Champ'ship		 Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sportfreunde Katernberg 1950–51
Oberliga West
 30 7 — 30 7
Rot-Weiss Essen 1951–52 Oberliga West 29 20 6 5 35 25
1952–53 Oberliga West 28 9 — 28 9
1953–54 Oberliga West 30 18 — 30 18
1954–55 Oberliga West 19 5 4 1 23 6
1955–56 Oberliga West 24 9 — 24 9
1956–57 Oberliga West 21 10 — 21 10
1957–58 Oberliga West 27 8 — 27 8
1958–59 Oberliga West 23 9 — 23 9
Total 201 88 10 6 211 94
1. FC Köln 1959–60 Oberliga West 29 11 7 4 36 15
SC Enschede 1960–61 Eredivisie 27 14 — 27 14
1961–62 Eredivisie 21 12 — 21 12
1962–63 Eredivisie 21 13 — 21 13
Total 69 39 — 69 39
Meidericher SV 1963–64 Bundesliga 18 8 — 18 8
1964–65 Bundesliga 1 0 — 1 0
Total 19 8 — 19 8
Career total 348 153 17 10 365 163

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[3]
National team Year Apps Goals
Germany 1951 2 1
1952 3 1
1953 4 1
1954 6 4
1955 3 0
1956 1 0
1957 3 2
1958 11 10
1959 5 1
1960 2 1
Total 40 21

Honours

Club

Rot-Weiss Essen

International

West Germany

Individual

Books

References

  1. ^ "RIGHT MIDFIELD / RIGHT WINGERS" (PDF). historical-lineups.com. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Arnhold, Matthias (12 November 2015). "Helmut Rahn - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  3. ^ a b Mühlen, Michael (12 November 2015). "Helmut Rahn - Goals in International Matches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  4. ^ "Die Helden von Bern" (in German). dieheldenvonbern.de. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  5. ^ Breidert, Luiz (25 August 2013). "Die Boatengs - Riesentalente mit Rüpel-Image" (in German). t-online.de. Retrieved 8 November 2013.

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by West Germany captain
1958–1959 		Succeeded by
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