Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the great player in the 1980s, never got to lift the World Cup.

Magnus Brink
tyskfotboll@hotmail.com

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was born in Lippstadt and played for the local team Borussia Lippstadt. Soon he was spotted by gigants Bayern Munich who sa a ung young and talented forward. In 1974 Rummenigge made his first season for Bayern. Rummenigge, who at first was going to be a banker, made is breakthrough when Bayern won their third European Cup in 1976. The same year he made his first cap for West Germany.

Rummenigge belong to the 50s generation of German football players sometimes more notorious than famous. Who doesn't remember the likes of Toni Schumacher and Hans-Peter Briegel and the stories from the 1982 World Cup? The Germans failed to have trainings scheduled early since all the players had hung overs. Unclear how much Rummenigge was a part of this.

European Champion and European footballer of the year
Rummenigges excelled to the new star striker in West Germany and in 1978 he made his first World Cup in Argentina. Rummenigge made a good tournament scoring three goals but West Germany failed to shine making one of their less successful tournaments. Rummenigge had been on the world stage for the first time. His time was yet to come and in 1980 the Germans came to the European Championship in Italy with a new and young team. Rummenigge was match winner against Czechoslovakia and then in the final he served giant Horst Hrubesch who headed in the winning goal. Rummenigge was not only voted the best player of the tournament but was also given the Ballon d'Or as the best European player of the year.

Success continued for Rummenigge with Bayern Munich. He had won the championship just before the Euro 80 and Bayern managed to defend their title in 1981. Rummenigge was together with Paul Breitner the leading players and was sometimes named "Breitnigge" by the press. Rummenigge was the top scorer in the Bundesliga and in 1981 he was voted European footballer of the year for the second time. In 1982 Bayern reached the European Cup final but lost against Aston Villa (0-1). The same year Rummenigge made his second World Cup and a half injured Rummenigge still made an impact.

1982 World Cup
Rummenigge was now the team captain but this wasn't followed by cheers and fame during the group stage. The Germans lost sensational 1-2 against Algeria with Rummenigge as German scorer. The Germans got their act together and won 4-1 against Chile with Rummenigge making a hat-trick. Then the Germans managed to upset the whole world by playing on the result against Austria. The resultat, 1-0 to West Germanys meant that both teams got through to the second stage. Since the Germans made the only goal already in the 11th minute the match was a farce with both teams unwilling to play offensive and passing the ball to each other.

Rummenige suffered form his injuries and was on the bench in some game which made Toni Schumacher and Manfred Kaltz sharing the role as team captain. Rummenigge was mostly substituted, as in the semi final against France. The Germans was two goals under (1-3) during the extra time. Rummenigge made it one up and the Klaus Fischer scored the equalizer. The Germans won the penalty shoot-out with Rummenigge as one of the scorers. In the final against Italy Rummenigge was in the starting lineup but was substituted in the 70th minute. Italy won the final with 3-1. Rummenigge was marked by the young Bergomi.

1986 World Cup
West Germany was eliminated already in the group stage at Euro '84 but in 1986 Rummenigge and the rest was out to win the World Cup. Rummenigge was now playing for italian side Inter. Yet again the Germans was a disappointment in the group stage. The Germans speeded up enough to reach their second final in a row. Rummenigge had a tough tournament, not least the scoring failed. Rummenigge was also this time injured. In the final he was in the starting line-up as team captain. Argentina took a two goal lead but Rummenigge forced the goal into the neat and the Germans felt air in the mexican heat. Rudi Völler equalized with eight minutes to go - Rummenigge's dream of winning the World Cup was still alive. Then just minutes later Argentina scored the winning goal and Rummenigge's dram was crushed. Rummenigge left the field as the only team captain to have lost two World Cup finals.

Although never lifting the World Cup Rummenigge was without doubt a favourite among the Germans and the player that brought world class to the German team's offensive play. A true goal scorer and with brilliant technique made him irreplaceable in the early 80's. His greatest moment was the Euro 80.

Rummenigge today
Today Rummenigge is a powerful man in the world of football. He is one of the leaders of power house Bayern Munich. He started as vice president in 1991 and is today the chairman of Bayern Munich's corporate part. He is also chairman of the European Club Association (former G-14), the organization of the top european football clubs since 2008.

Facts

DOB: 25th September 1955, Lippstadt, Germany

Caps: 95 (1976-1986)
Goals: 45
First Cap: 6th November 1976 against Wales (2-0)
Last Cap: 29th June 1986 against Argentina (2-3)
52 caps as team captain

Caps Goals
1976 2 0
1976 2 0
1977 6 1
1978 12 4
1979 8 5
1980 10 4
1981 11 9
1982 13 9
1983 9 8
1984 9 1
1985 6 3
1986 9 1
Totalt 95 45

World Cup

Participation: 1978, 1982, 1986
Games: 19 (1978: 5 1982: 7 1986: 7)
Goals: 9 (1978: 3 1982: 5 1986: 1)

Runner-up 1982, 1986

European Championship

Participation: 1980, 1984
Games: 7 (1980: 4 1984: 3)
Goals: 1 (1980)

European Champion 1980

Clubs

Servette, Switzerland (1987-1989)
Inter-Milan, Italy (1984-1987)
FC Bayern München (1974-1984)
SV Borussia Lippstadt (1963-1974)

Honours

German championship (2) 1980, 1981
German Cup (2) 1982, 1984
German Super Cup (1) 1982
European footballer of the year (2) 1980, 1981
German footballer of the year (1) 1980

Intercontinental Cup (1) 1976
European Cup (1) 1976
Top scorer in the Bundesliga (3) 1980, 1981, 1984

314 matches in the Bundesliga (1974-1977)
162 goals in the Bundesliga

64 matches in Serie A
24 goals in Serie A

60 matches in the Swiss league
34 goals in the Swiss league

TYSK FOTBOLL

Startsidan | tyskfotboll@hotmail.com | Spelarguide