Time does not wait for anyone, and even the best soccer superstars have to leave this world. Soccer has just lost another legend of the sport today, with Andreas Brehme the unlucky one. Many fans may not recognize the name, but German fans from the past decades certainly will.
The sport has already seen the legendary likes of Pele, Diego Maradona, Bobby Charlton, and German soccer icon Franz Beckenbauer pass away recently. And now another German legend has joined them in soccer heaven.
Brehme passes away at 63
Andreas Brehme passed away today, with reports confirming he suffered a cardiac arrest. He was 63 years old and has had quite a career and life. He is most famously remembered for his winning goal in the 1990 World Cup against Argentina. Brehme had scored a brilliant penalty in the last minutes of the game to bring Germany their third World Cup trophy.
Andreas Brehme was a left back during his career, but was highly versatile as well. The World Cup hero had a knack for scoring from set pieces, and his crossing was also a great feature. He played for clubs like Bayern Munich, Kaiserslautern, and Inter Milan. He won the Bundesliga twice, one with Bayern and another with Kaiserslautern, and also won the Serie A title with Inter. Brehme boasts 509 club appearances and an impressive 65 goals.
đź’” Former German left-back Andreas Brehme, scorer of Germany's World Cup winning goal in 1990, has passed away at the age of 63.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 20, 2024
RIP. 🕊️ pic.twitter.com/Jb7Hk7sU8D
Brehme has made 86 appearances for Germany on the international stage and scored 8 goals. He is still remembered for the World Cup he won, and he is considered the previous Mario Gotze figure. The same year Germany became world champions, he came in third in the Ballon d’Or rankings.
Brehme was coached by Beckenbauer at the same tournament, and has also shared the pitch with many German legends. Players like Philip Lahm also remember the legend and consider him a great hero of the sport.
Andreas Brehme once received offer to clean toilets
But despite all his fame and money, Andreas Brehme was once close to being bankrupt. According to a Bleacher Report article from 2014, he was riddled with too much debt which was estimated to be worth around €200,000. He was applying for bankruptcy at the time, and the global soccer community was rallying to help him.
Andreas Brehme. One of the best full backs the World has ever seen.
— Former Footballers (@FinishedPlayers) August 19, 2018
Sadly, in 2014 he was declared bankrupt but was offered a way out of financial troubles by a friend giving him a job at his toilet management services. pic.twitter.com/Dq4NTHFqWG
However, he got an unusual job offer from another former player named Olivier Straube. He offered the legend a job at his company to clean toilets. He said, “We are ready to take Andreas on in our bathroom cleaning business. He will learn that what really counts is proper work and real life. It would help him improve his image. To me, that’s help.”
We offer our condolences to the family of Andreas Brehme and will always remember him as a soccer legend.