Horst Eckel

Horst Eckel (born 8 February 1932) is a former German footballer who was part of the West German team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup. Since the death of Hans Schäfer in 2017, Eckel is the only player still alive from the team.[1]

Horst Eckel
Eckel in 2014
Personal information
Full name Horst Eckel
Date of birth (1932-02-08) 8 February 1932
Place of birth Vogelbach, Germany
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
SC Vogelbach
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1949–1960 1. FC Kaiserslautern 214 (34)
1960–1966 SV Röchling Völklingen
National team
1952–1958 West Germany 32 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

National Team

Eckel was part of the West German team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup and achieved the "Miracle of Bern".[2] During the 1954 FIFA World Cup Eckel became an important pillar of the successful West German team. The strength of the right side of Sepp Herberger's team was made possible due to Eckel's high defensive workrate and his passes, from which outside right Helmut Rahn and inside right Max Morlock benefitted enormously.[3]

He also participated in the 1958 FIFA World Cup.[4] In total he earned 32 caps.

Club career

Eckel debuted in Kaiserslautern's first team in 1947 at the age of 15.[3] He won the German football championship with Kaiserslautern in 1951 and 1953. Eckel was playing as a right half back. As a player, Eckel was assiduous and adroit.[3] Because of his rapid way of playing, he got the nickname Windhund (sighthound).

During his club career he played for 1. FC Kaiserslautern and SV Röchling Völklingen.

Later life

After his career, he retrained from toolmaker to teacher, a profession he practised until his retirement in 1997.[5]

He was an advisor for The Miracle of Bern, Sönke Wortmann's movie about the 1954 FIFA World Cup.[6]

References
  1. "Horst Eckel: "Ich habe nicht für Geld Fußball gespielt"". kicker.de (in German). 8 February 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  2. "Horst Eckel Statistics". FIFA. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  3. Bitter, Jürgen (1997). Deutschlands Fußball Nationalspieler (in German). Sportverlag. p. 96.
  4. "1958 FIFA World Cup: Germany FR Squad". FIFA. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  5. "Außenläufer, Lehrer, Legende". HNA (in German). 7 February 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  6. Topp, Sebastian (8 February 2017). ""Hätte Geld bezahlt, um spielen zu dürfen"". 11Freunde (in German). Retrieved 14 December 2018.


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