Paul Breitner

Few soccer players have become world famous as much for their distinctive look as for their playing, however, Paul Breitner was one of them. Known as “Der Afro” due to his big curly hair, Breitner commanded attention in and out the field, since it was fairly difficult not to see him or hear him speaking his mind about many topics, and he set a precedent for other to follow suit, most notably Colombian star Carlos “Pibe” Valderrama, some two decades later. But his hair notwithstanding, Breitner forged a truly successful career playing with Germany’s National Team during the 1970’s.

Paul Breitner was born on September 5 1951 in the town of Kolbermoor in Bavaria, and by the age of 19 he had found his way to the Bayern Munich, where his performance in the midfield earned him a slot on the National Team starting in 1971. Without a doubt, 1972 was the turning point in his career, winning both the German Championship with Bayern and the European Championship with the National Team in Belgium. These victories were only the prelude to bigger things to come: more championships with Bayern (five in all) and the ultimate glory for any footballer: the World Cup.

 And he didn’t have to wait long for that to happen, either. Indeed, at the 1974 World Cup, held in his native Germany, Breitner and Germany’s team managed to carry on with their momentum and reached the final, where they defeated the Netherlands in a game that took place in Munich, and by doing so winning everything an European player, or any player, for that matter, would dream of winning, by the age of 22. He scored one of his 10 goals with the National team at that game, and he would go on to play 48 occasions with the German team, including another win at the European Cup of 1980 in Italy and another World Cup final in 1982 in Spain against Italy. Although Italy ultimately won that game, Breitner scored another goal in the final, becoming one of a select few players that includes Pelé, Zidane and Vava to score in two final World Cup matches.