Andreas Brehme, the Argentina executioner who scored the goal for Germany in the Italia 90 final, died unexpectedly at the age of 63 of a heart attack, his family confirmed after press reports circulated about it.
"It is with deep pain that I announce on behalf of my family that my partner Andreas Brehme died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest. We ask in these difficult times that our private sphere be respected," says a statement from his partner, Susanne Schaefer.
The goal that gave Germany the victory against Argentina, from a penalty, in 1990, is one of the signs that identified Brehme as a player.
A former player for Bayern, Inter, Kaiserslautern and Real Zaragoza, Brehme was a left-back - at the end of his career he also played as a libero - with a good punch who took charge of penalties with his left foot, although in that memorable penalty In the final in Rome he decided to shoot with his right foot and it was a goal.
Brehme shouts a goal that all of Argentina suffered. Photo: AFP
The decision was due to the fact that Brehme - who was ambidextrous - had received a blow to his left foot, despite which he took the penalty that Lothar Matthäus did not want to take, claiming that he did not feel safe because he had had to change his boots and that he was wearing ones that he usually wore only in training.
The second taker was Rudi Völler, who was the one who had received the foul that caused the penalty, and coach Franz Beckenbauer considered that whoever had received the foul should never take a penalty.
At club level, Brehme was German champion with Bayern in 1987 and with Kaiserslautern in 1998. In addition, he won the German Cup with Kaiserslautern in 1996 and the UEFA Cup with Inter in 1961. .
The title of German champion with Kaiserslautern is especially valuable since the team achieved it, led by Otto Rehagel, after having been promoted and after having spent a season in the second division after being relegated just in the year in which it had won the German Cup.
On the day of relegation, Brehme was asked if he would go to second place with Kaiserslautern and he gave an answer that marked the decision of many other of his teammates and that was key to achieving direct promotion again: "Together we have put the car in the mud and together we are going to get it out.
With the national team he played 86 games and scored eight goals.
In 1990 he was one of Germany's key players, not only because of his goal in the final against Argentina.
Already in 1986 he had been in the final, also against Argentina, and had scored, from a free kick, a key goal in the semifinal against France.
Last January, after the death of Franz Beckenbauer, who had been his coach in the national team, Brehme said that he believed that the Kaiser "will form a magical triangle in heaven with Pelé and Maradona."
Brehme also tried his hand as a coach, but he was far from even approaching the successes he had achieved as a player.
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02/20/10-02/24