The last few days had been tumultuous. “There were so many things that needed to be organised, so many calls. My wife Hannelore and I were very busy”, said Horst Eckel, who won the FIFA World Cup as the youngest player on the German team in 1954. Despite the hustle and bustle of his 75th birthday on February 8, he had lost neither his abundant energy nor his everpresent humour: “Don’t you worry, we’ll get it all done.”
The festivities were fitting for one of the “Bern Heroes”. Led by legendary coach Sepp Herberger and team captain Fritz Walter, Germany beat Hungary 3:2 in Bern’s Wankdorf stadium on July 4, 1954. The defensive midfielder, then aptly nicknamed “Benjamin”, celebrated his 75th birthday in Kaiserslautern’s “Fritz-Walter-Stadion”. The long list of honorary guests included two other players from the 1954 team: Ottmar Walter (84) and Hans Schäfer (79).
DFB President Dr. Theo Zwanziger, accompanied by DFB Director Wolfgang Niersbach and the national team’s honorary captain Uwe Seeler, forwarded the official congratulations from the German Football Association. Gyula Grosics and Jenö Bunzanski, two players from the Hungarian team, travelled to Kaiserslautern. Rhineland-Palatinate’s premier Kurt Beck and former German national player Stefan Kuntz also attended.
„I guess, it’ll be a good crowd. But I would not know in detail who’s supposed to come. They keep it as a secret”, Eckel had said, who has been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit. In 1954, only Eckel and Walter played in all six World Cup games. Eckel, a defensive midfielder, won two German titles with Kaiserslautern’s “Red Devils” (1951 and 1953).
Obviously, a few years have passed since then. Yet Eckel still plays football every once in a while, mostly in charity games. “But I am out of shape right now”, says Eckel, who had also been nicknamed “greyhound” because of his amazing speed while chasing down opponents. “I spent so much time as Kaiserslautern’s ambassador for the FIFA World Cup, so I could not work out. But I’ll make it up.”
It seems doubtful that Eckel will find the time to train, for his calendar is still packed. He serves as representative for the Sepp Herberger foundation, as a speaker for the German sports trust – an organisation collecting money for athletes in need – and as a speaker for the Fritz-Walter-foundation. He also wrote a book about the game that was played 53 years ago (“Minute 84”) and worked as a consultant for the major movie production “The Bern Miracle”, which drew an audience of more than 3 million in Germany alone.
“I’ll keep busy, since I don’t feel that old yet”, says Eckel, who had to defend the brilliant hungarian forward Nandor Hidegkuti in the ’54 finale.
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The last few days had been tumultuous. “There were so many things that needed to be organised, so many calls. My wife Hannelore and I were very busy”, said Horst Eckel, who won the FIFA World Cup as the youngest player on the German team in 1954. Despite the hustle and bustle of his 75th birthday on February 8, he had lost neither his abundant energy nor his everpresent humour: “Don’t you worry, we’ll get it all done.”
The festivities were fitting for one of the “Bern Heroes”. Led by legendary coach Sepp Herberger and team captain Fritz Walter, Germany beat Hungary 3:2 in Bern’s Wankdorf stadium on July 4, 1954. The defensive midfielder, then aptly nicknamed “Benjamin”, celebrated his 75th birthday in Kaiserslautern’s “Fritz-Walter-Stadion”. The long list of honorary guests included two other players from the 1954 team: Ottmar Walter (84) and Hans Schäfer (79).
DFB President Dr. Theo Zwanziger, accompanied by DFB Director Wolfgang Niersbach and the national team’s honorary captain Uwe Seeler, forwarded the official congratulations from the German Football Association. Gyula Grosics and Jenö Bunzanski, two players from the Hungarian team, travelled to Kaiserslautern. Rhineland-Palatinate’s premier Kurt Beck and former German national player Stefan Kuntz also attended.
„I guess, it’ll be a good crowd. But I would not know in detail who’s supposed to come. They keep it as a secret”, Eckel had said, who has been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit. In 1954, only Eckel and Walter played in all six World Cup games. Eckel, a defensive midfielder, won two German titles with Kaiserslautern’s “Red Devils” (1951 and 1953).
Obviously, a few years have passed since then. Yet Eckel still plays football every once in a while, mostly in charity games. “But I am out of shape right now”, says Eckel, who had also been nicknamed “greyhound” because of his amazing speed while chasing down opponents. “I spent so much time as Kaiserslautern’s ambassador for the FIFA World Cup, so I could not work out. But I’ll make it up.”
[bild2]
It seems doubtful that Eckel will find the time to train, for his calendar is still packed. He serves as representative for the Sepp Herberger foundation, as a speaker for the German sports trust – an organisation collecting money for athletes in need – and as a speaker for the Fritz-Walter-foundation. He also wrote a book about the game that was played 53 years ago (“Minute 84”) and worked as a consultant for the major movie production “The Bern Miracle”, which drew an audience of more than 3 million in Germany alone.
“I’ll keep busy, since I don’t feel that old yet”, says Eckel, who had to defend the brilliant hungarian forward Nandor Hidegkuti in the ’54 finale.
After his active days on the playing field, Eckel became a teacher, a profession he pursuit with great passion for several decades. Obviously, he always remained loyal to the 1. FC Kaiserslautern, who are currently playing in the 2nd division. “We have a very young team. We’ll need a bit before we can get back into the Bundesliga.” For his birthday, he has different wishes: “The most important things are health, family and that I can still run and play football.”
