Horst Eckel
Appearance
![]() Eckel in 2014 | |||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 8 February 1932 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth |
Bavaria, Germany | ||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 3 December 2021 | (aged 89)||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||
Position(s) |
Wing-half | ||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
SC Vogelbach | |||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
1949–1960 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 214 | (34) | ||||||||||||||
1960–1966 | SV Röchling Völklingen | ||||||||||||||||
International career | |||||||||||||||||
1952–1958 | West Germany | 32 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Horst Eckel (8 February 1932 – 3 December 2021) was a German
wing-half. He was part of the West Germany national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup
. He was the last surviving player of the 1954 World Cup Final.
Club career
Eckel debuted in
half back. As a player, Eckel was assiduous and adroit.[1] Because of his rapid way of playing, he got the nickname Windhund (sighthound). He later played for SV Röchling Völklingen in the Regionalliga Südwest.[2]
International career
Eckel was part of the
inside right Max Morlock benefitted enormously.[1]
He also participated in the 1958 FIFA World Cup.[4] In total he earned 32 caps.[5]
Later life
After his career, he retrained from
toolmaker to teacher, a profession he practised until his retirement in 1997.[6]
He was an advisor for The Miracle of Bern, Sönke Wortmann's movie about the 1954 FIFA World Cup.[7]
Eckel died on 3 December 2021, at the age of 89.[8][9] At the time of his death, Horst Eckel was not only the last surviving footballer who participated in the
1954 World Cup Final
, but also the last surviving footballer from West Germany's 1954 World Cup squad.
References
- ^ a b c Bitter, Jürgen (1997). Deutschlands Fußball Nationalspieler (in German). Sportverlag. p. 96.
- RSSSF.com. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
- ^ "Horst Eckel Statistics". FIFA. Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ^ "1958 FIFA World Cup: Germany FR Squad". FIFA. Archived from the original on 4 November 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- RSSSF.com. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
- ^ "Außenläufer, Lehrer, Legende". HNA (in German). 7 February 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ^ Topp, Sebastian (8 February 2017). ""Hätte Geld bezahlt, um spielen zu dürfen"". 11Freunde (in German). Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ^ "Horst Eckel, last of the 1954 World Cup winners, dies at 89". Associated Press. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- ^ "Horst Eckel, last of Germany's 1954 world champions, dies at 89 - DFB". Reuters. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.