Bernd Holzenbein dies aged 78: Tributes pour in for German World Cup winner and former Eintracht Frankfurt striker who dies after long illness
Former Germany striker Bernd Holzenbein has died following a long and serious illness at the age of 78.
Holzenbein, who spent most of his career playing for Eintracht Frankfurt and is the club’s all-time top scorer in the Bundesliga, died on Monday evening.
During his playing career, the attacking midfielder helped West Germany win the 1974 World Cup final on home soil, notably winning the penalty scored by Paul Breitner to help his team equalize against the -Down and ultimately achieve a 2-1 victory.
Holzenbein began his playing career at Frankfurt, joining the club’s youth teams in 1967.
He would continue to play with the Bundesliga side for another 14 years, making 524 appearances while returning 212 goals and 38 assists, before leaving to join the American team Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Memphis Americans and Baltimore Blast.
The attacking midfielder would have a brilliant career both on the international and national scene, winning three Cerman Cups and the UEFA Cup in 1980 with Frankfurt. He then retired from professional football in 1983.
Frankfurt paid tribute to its former player on Tuesday, writing in a statement on X (formerly Twitter): “The Eintracht family mourns the loss of world champion Bernd Hölzenbein.
“As a player he won four titles with Eintracht, his 160 Bundesliga goals in an Eintracht shirt will probably remain unmatched forever, a foul on him has its place in all the history books and the One of his countless goals is hard to beat in terms of the combination of curiosity and importance.
“The Eintracht family will always think of all this when the name Bernd Hölzenbein is mentioned.”
Frankfurt CEO Axel Hellmann added: “Bernd Hölzenbein has had a significant influence on our Eintracht for almost 60 years. He represents the “golden years of the 1970s” as well as the European Cup victory in 1980 and also the “Football 2000” which our club played in the early 1990s and in which he played a key role as vice-president.
“With Bernd Hölzenbein, we not only lose one of the great emblematic figures of our club, but also a loyal collaborator and a lovely friend.”
According to BILD, the former footballer had recently suffered from serious dementia.
More soon…
