Horst Eckel (8 February 1932 – 3 December 2021) was a German

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

wing-half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He was part of the West Germany national team that won the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June ...

. He was the last surviving player of the 1954 World Cup Final.

Club career

Eckel debuted in

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

's first team in 1947 at the age of 15. He won the

German football championship German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...

with Kaiserslautern in 1951 and 1953. Eckel was playing as a right half back. As a player, Eckel was assiduous and adroit. Because of his rapid way of playing, he got the nickname ''Windhund'' (

sighthound Sighthounds (also called gazehounds) are a Dog type, type of hound dog that hunts primarily by sight and speed, unlike scent hound, scent hounds, which rely on scent and endurance. Appearance These dogs specialize in pursuing prey, keeping it ...

). He later played for SV Röchling Völklingen in the

Regionalliga Südwest The Regionalliga Südwest ('Regional League Southwest') is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with t ...

International career

Eckel was part of the

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

team that won the

and achieved the " Miracle of Bern". During that tournament, Eckel became an important pillar of the successful West Germany national team. The strength of the right side of

Sepp Herberger Josef "Sepp" Herberger (28 March 1897 – 28 April 1977) was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West Germany national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed '' The Mir ...

's team was made possible due to Eckel's high defensive workrate and his passes, from which

outside right In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bei ...

Helmut Rahn Helmut Rahn (16 August 1929 – 14 August 2003), known as ''Der Boss'' (The Boss), was a German footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He became a legend for having scored the winning goal in 1954 FIFA World Cup Fin ...

and inside right

Max Morlock Maximilian Morlock (; 11 May 1925 – 10 September 1994) was a German footballer active in the 1950s and early 1960s. In his time with the West Germany national team, he earned 26 caps and scored 21 goals. His position was that of an insi ...

benefitted enormously. He also participated in the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...

. In total he earned 32 caps.

Later life

After his career, he retrained from

toolmaker Tool and die makers are highly skilled crafters working in the manufacturing, manufacturing industries. Tool and die makers work primarily in toolroom environments—sometimes literally in one room but more often in an environment with flexible, ...

to teacher, a profession he practised until his retirement in 1997. He was an advisor for ''

The Miracle of Bern ''The Miracle of Bern'' () is a 2003 film by Sönke Wortmann, which tells the story of a German family (particularly of a young boy and his depressed ex-POW father) and the unexpected West German ''miracle'' victory in the 1954 World Cup Final ...

'',

Sönke Wortmann Sönke Wortmann (; 25 August 1959 in Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German film director and producer. Biography Wortmann's father was a miner. After Wortmann's A-Levels he wanted to become a professional football player and started playi ...

's movie about the

. Eckel died on 3 December 2021, at the age of 89. At the time of his death, Horst Eckel was not only the last surviving footballer who participated in the 1954 World Cup Final, but also the last surviving footballer from West Germany's 1954 World Cup squad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eckel, Horst 1932 births 2021 deaths German men's footballers People from Kaiserslautern (district) Men's association football midfielders Germany men's international footballers 1954 FIFA World Cup players 1958 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players SV Röchling Völklingen players Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Footballers from Rhineland-Palatinate People from the Palatinate (region) West German men's footballers