From the legendary "Heroes of Berne", the 1954 German national team that famously beat Hungary 3-2 in the FIFA World Cup final, only three men are alive today - Ottmar Walter, Hans Schäfer, and Horst Eckel (the latter two actually shared rooms in the Belvédère Hotel at Spiez, Switzerland).
Untypically for the quiet and unassuming man that he is, Horst Eckel has agreed to celebrating his 80th birthday on 8 February 2012 in extraordinary fashion – a festive reception organized in "his" stadium, the Kaiserslautern Betzenberg, less than 30km away from the village of Vogelsbach, where he was born and still lives with his wife, Hannelore. Some 200 guests were in attendance, including German FA President Dr Theo Zwanziger, his designated successor Wolfgang Niersbach, and Treasurer Horst R. Schmidt.
As a player, Eckel was given various nicknames – at home, he was known as "die Zeeb" (the toe in the regional dialect), during the 1954 tournament his team-mates called him "Benjamin" (as he was the youngest player in the squad), but the one that has stuck to this day is "der Windhund" (the greyhound), in praise of his tireless running and tremendous work-rate on the field.
A long-distance man on the pitch, he never strayed far from his beloved home region of the Rhineland-Palatinate, a scenic, largely forested region to the west of the river Rhine, with Kaiserslautern at the centre. Needless to say, he only ever played for 1. FC Kaiserslautern, a.k.a. "The Red Devils" or simply "Lautern", the club his heart still beats for after all these years: "Of course I go to all home games, and if we lose – well, it hurts."
Voted "Best Youth Player" at a regional tournament in 1948, he received red football boots as a prize and was soon spotted by Kaiserslautern who knew a diamond in the rough when they saw one. Eckel joined the club and stayed until 1960, winning two German championships (1951 and 1953) and, a mere 22 years old, the World Cup final where, he says, coach Herberger had assigned him "the hardest job." In this interview, he talks to DFB.de senior writer Thomas Hackbarth about the past and present of the game.
DFB.de: Mr Eckel, has football become a different game?
Horst Eckel: Yes, practically everything has changed, you can't compare yesterday's football with the game today, neither on the pitch nor off it. Just look at team togetherness. Sure, today there's squad bonding and all that, but what has shaped me most was the spirit of comradeship, both at club and national team level.
DFB.de: On the bus taking you to the stadium on match day, the team sang classic German folk songs – a different era. But doesn't 1954 also stand for football entering the modern age?
Eckel: Well, you wouldn't believe it but we had underwater massage, which was state-of-the-art at the time, and even then we played football tennis and basketball to improve touch and agility. Sepp Herberger was a mine for information about our opponents; he knew every player's strengths and weaknesses. We never found out just where or who his sources were. Dozens of sports channels, online access to umpteen data bases – none of that was even remotely conceived! And on the pitch, it wasn't just about fighting spirit, we also knew a thing or two about tactics, changing positions, advanced pressing etc.
DFB.de: How important was team spirit?
Eckel: I'd say it played a decisive role, but you don't win world or European champion trophies on team spirit alone. We were 22 players in the squad, competition was fierce, everybody wanted to play.
DFB.de: What was Herberger's forte?
Eckel: Preparation. He knew everything there was to know about the Turks, the Austrians, the Hungarians. And he knew the game inside-out. And while I wouldn't call him a disciplinarian, we all knew that we'd be better off following instructions! But he had great rapport with his players, knowing exactly how to get on the right wave-length with every single one of us.
DFB.de: How modern was Herberger's football?
Eckel: Even in 1954, we were able to play various tactical formations and could switch from one to the other in mid-game. Our World Cup formation was one keeper, two defenders, three defensive midfielders and five players up front. Normally, I would have played against Ferenc Puskas in the final, but Herberger set me up against Hidegkuti. Usually he played me wide, just behind Fritz, as I was a fit runner with attacking potential, but in this case, with Hidegkuti just nominally playing as centre-forward, I myself dropped a bit deeper into midfield. Herberger was the only coach world-wide to really grasp the Hungarians' system, and how to beat them. Werner Liebrich marked Ferenc Puskas, and I took good care of their mastermind – Hidegkuti.
DFB.de: Herberger is supposed to have said "I want that Hidegkuti to dream of you in his sleep"…
Eckel: Yes. And years later, Hidegkuti came up to me and confessed that he really did!
DFB.de: Remember 4 July 1954 – what did you feel when you woke up that morning?
Eckel: We had arrived in Switzerland as nobodies, but we were thriving on comradeship, physical fitness, and some decent passing. Whether that would be good enough against really strong teams, such as Yugoslavia or Hungary, was something only time would tell. Truth be told, we had our serious doubts… But then somehow we went from strength to strength, and by the time we had "hammered" the Austrians 6-1 in the semi-final, we told ourselves there was no way we would be content with coming second. That was the first time we players vowed to each other to go for the title. The decisive thing was we had complete trust in Herberger and in each other.
DFB.de: Hard to believe now but true nevertheless: the final was kicked off seven minutes early, at 16:53…
Eckel: That's correct, and to this day I have no idea why. But it didn't matter. We were focussed, we were ready. As far as we were concerned, the match could have begun even earlier!
DFB.de: But the Hungarians were 2-0 up, with only eight minutes played.
Eckel: True enough, but what we thought was 'right, we have 82 minutes left to change that'. And after 18 minutes, the score was 2-2.
DFB.de: At half-time, how close were you to being taken off?
Eckel: Just before the break, I had been caught on the thigh by one of the Hungarian players' studs and there was some blood, but not even the proverbial wild horses would have dragged me away from that match! On our way to the dressing rooms, I begged chief physio Erich Deuser to "do something, anything, because I!Will!Play!On!" Deuser put a band-aid on, covered it up with a tight bandage, and off I went. We wore pretty long shorts at the time, so nobody noticed anything. But even if Herberger had asked "Shall I take you off?" I wouldn't have let him – not at this match, not for a simple flesh wound.
DFB.de: You were only 20 when you won the German championship with Kaiserslautern, and you were world champion at 22. Did you ever feel out of your depth?
Eckel: No, never, but maybe that was because I never had the time to think and ponder. I started out with Kaiserslautern's youth team, and six months later I was called up to train with the senior squad, finding myself standing side by side with Fritz Walter, an absolute idol. I just tried to give 100 percent in every single session, and Walter helped me tremendously, first at Lautern, then in the national team.
DFB.de: How would you describe your relationship?
Eckel: Well, just before our first training session together, I felt a bit queasy – was I really up to this? But then the ball got rolling, I just concentrated on what I knew I could do, and to finish sessions off we usually played some 9-a-side football, with Fritz given first choice to put teams together. And what shall I say, after three or four times he always picked me first! On the pitch, we did not need words to understand each other, and off it, it was pretty much a father-and-son kind of relationship that I am very proud of to this day. He was a gifted, I would even say incomparable footballer, one of a kind, while I was the gritty runner...
DFB.de: … or, as you put it in your book The 84th Minute: "I was the kind of player chasing long balls, always ready to receive passes, always giving his all."
Eckel: Yes, that's true, and the funny thing was, I never seemed to tire. There were games when, after the final whistle, I would have been quite happy to play another 90 minutes! Just don't ask me where all that strength came from!
DFB.de: At the 1954 World Cup, you and Fritz Walter were the only ones to play all of the matches: six games in 17 days.
Eckel: Yes, but that was because Herberger definitely needed Walter in every game, and obviously he must have thought 'right, if Walter's in the line-up, Eckel must be there, too.'
DFB.de: These days, a player's every move is analyzed, every step counted. Statistically, we're looking at 11-12km distances covered in one match alone. Do you think you could match that?
Eckel: I honestly don't know, and in my days it was never measured. But I was constantly on the move and before long, they called me the greyhound!
DFB.de: Would you feel at ease, playing in the Bundesliga or for Germany today?
Eckel: Back then, I was happy just being allowed to play football, and that wouldn't be any different today. I think if I were 22 again, I'd be a decent Bundesliga player.
DFB.de: Do you still feel close to 1. FC Kaiserslautern?
Eckel: Oh, I carry the club in my heart, never miss a home game. Even now, come Saturday morning, I can't help but feel on edge, and if we lose – well, that really hurts. But I do think that coach Marco Kurz and his players will manage to avoid the drop to Bundesliga 2.
DFB.de: And how well do you remember 1954?
Eckel: It's all still in my head. You know, I'm one of these people who go down to the cellar to fetch something, and when I'm there I shout up to the wife asking what it was she wanted… But ask me about the final, and it all comes back to me – how we enter the field of play, the two Hungarian goals in quick succession, and then our winning goal in the 84th minute.
DFB.de: Well, tell me more …
Eckel: A high centre into the Hungarians' box, one of their players clears it, and I'm ready to track back again, trying not to lose sight of Hidegkuti, but then I see Rahn trap that ball, and in an instant I know: he's not going to pass it to anyone, he'll hit it himself. Which is exactly what he does. The ball goes in just on the right side of the post. We cheer and celebrate, I look to the bench, and there's Adi Dassler standing next to Herberger, signalling that it's six minutes to go.
DFB.de: Are you surprised that winning that world champions' title still seems to matter, almost 60 years after the event?
Eckel: Well, you've got to know the country was in ruins, many German POWs hadn't returned to their families yet, and after the horrors of Nazism and WW2, Germany had yet to find its place in the world. In many respects we were absolute underdogs, even outsiders. By winning that trophy, we managed to instil a whole new sense of achievement into a dejected people. Everybody said, 'If this lot can succeed in Berne, then we can do it, too!'
DFB.de: Other than these memories, what else remains from 1954?
Eckel: Very little, to be honest. I think what characterised us was that we didn't want people to make a fuss about us. Everybody remembers that moment when Fritz Walter, who's literally only just touched the trophy he's been given, immediately wants to pass it on to Herberger. That says it all. On the day after the final, I got up and told myself 'Horst, don't forget where you're coming from, and keep your feet firmly on the ground.' Today's generations of players have had a completely different upbringing, the modern game is awash with money, which automatically makes young players seek their own advantage, to the detriment of team spirit. I'd even say that we had it easier than players today.
DFB.de: When you started out at Kaiserslautern, how much were you paid?
Eckel: 320 Deutschmarks, approx. EUR 165 in today's money, that was Lautern's salary cap at the time. We practiced twice a week, commuting between home and the club was at my own expense, and my real job was that of mechanic at Pfaff's (DFB.de: a major sewing and welding machines works). A few days after the World Cup final, it was back to the work-bench. That's the way it was. Money just didn't seem so important those days.
DFB.de: After your playing career, at the end of the sixties, you took a degree in Art and Sports and went on to work as a teacher for 20 years…
Eckel: The most important part of my life. I'm the first to admit that taking the course was hard. I was almost 40 years old, had played semi-professional football, and suddenly was back sitting in a class-room with fellow students half my age. I wouldn't have managed without help from Hannelore. We've been married for 55 years now.
DFB.de: You are involved in the German FA's Sepp Herberger Foundation, visiting young prison inmates, the objective being to help them with their re-socialization. Is this effective?
Eckel: Let me put it this way – so far, I've done more than 100 such visits, and often, you get the most emotional reactions, with inmates standing up and vowing, before themselves and the audience, to change their lives. These are very moving moments. It was Fritz Walter who asked me to contribute to the project. Everybody deserves a second chance, and if you take young people seriously and treat them sincerely, then you do get through to them.
DFB.de: Before the "Miracle of Bern" movie opened in cinemas in 2003, you had been one of film-maker Sönke Wortmann's consultants. Do you agree with the result?
Eckel: I had no idea what I was letting myself in for! Working together with all these young actor-footballers was huge fun, I'm still good friends with many of them. I'd say that 90 percent of the film are spot-on. But was it really the Hotel Belvédère cleaning woman that Sepp Herberger was talking to when uttering his famous phrase 'the ball is round', as the script would have it? I beg to differ…
DFB.de: To conclude, your opinion on the reigning European and world champions.
Eckel: Well, there is no doubt that Spain are a superb side; I just don't know whether they're still the strongest.
DFB.de: Because…?
Eckel: Because that might actually be us now.
created by dfb
[bild1]
From the legendary "Heroes of Berne", the 1954 German national team that famously beat Hungary 3-2 in the FIFA World Cup final, only three men are alive today - Ottmar Walter, Hans Schäfer, and Horst Eckel (the latter two actually shared rooms in the Belvédère Hotel at Spiez, Switzerland).
Untypically for the quiet and unassuming man that he is, Horst Eckel has agreed to celebrating his 80th birthday on 8 February 2012 in extraordinary fashion – a festive reception organized in "his" stadium, the Kaiserslautern Betzenberg, less than 30km away from the village of Vogelsbach, where he was born and still lives with his wife, Hannelore. Some 200 guests were in attendance, including German FA President Dr Theo Zwanziger, his designated successor Wolfgang Niersbach, and Treasurer Horst R. Schmidt.
As a player, Eckel was given various nicknames – at home, he was known as "die Zeeb" (the toe in the regional dialect), during the 1954 tournament his team-mates called him "Benjamin" (as he was the youngest player in the squad), but the one that has stuck to this day is "der Windhund" (the greyhound), in praise of his tireless running and tremendous work-rate on the field.
A long-distance man on the pitch, he never strayed far from his beloved home region of the Rhineland-Palatinate, a scenic, largely forested region to the west of the river Rhine, with Kaiserslautern at the centre. Needless to say, he only ever played for 1. FC Kaiserslautern, a.k.a. "The Red Devils" or simply "Lautern", the club his heart still beats for after all these years: "Of course I go to all home games, and if we lose – well, it hurts."
Voted "Best Youth Player" at a regional tournament in 1948, he received red football boots as a prize and was soon spotted by Kaiserslautern who knew a diamond in the rough when they saw one. Eckel joined the club and stayed until 1960, winning two German championships (1951 and 1953) and, a mere 22 years old, the World Cup final where, he says, coach Herberger had assigned him "the hardest job." In this interview, he talks to DFB.de senior writer Thomas Hackbarth about the past and present of the game.
DFB.de: Mr Eckel, has football become a different game?
Horst Eckel: Yes, practically everything has changed, you can't compare yesterday's football with the game today, neither on the pitch nor off it. Just look at team togetherness. Sure, today there's squad bonding and all that, but what has shaped me most was the spirit of comradeship, both at club and national team level.
DFB.de: On the bus taking you to the stadium on match day, the team sang classic German folk songs – a different era. But doesn't 1954 also stand for football entering the modern age?
Eckel: Well, you wouldn't believe it but we had underwater massage, which was state-of-the-art at the time, and even then we played football tennis and basketball to improve touch and agility. Sepp Herberger was a mine for information about our opponents; he knew every player's strengths and weaknesses. We never found out just where or who his sources were. Dozens of sports channels, online access to umpteen data bases – none of that was even remotely conceived! And on the pitch, it wasn't just about fighting spirit, we also knew a thing or two about tactics, changing positions, advanced pressing etc.
DFB.de: How important was team spirit?
Eckel: I'd say it played a decisive role, but you don't win world or European champion trophies on team spirit alone. We were 22 players in the squad, competition was fierce, everybody wanted to play.
DFB.de: What was Herberger's forte?
Eckel: Preparation. He knew everything there was to know about the Turks, the Austrians, the Hungarians. And he knew the game inside-out. And while I wouldn't call him a disciplinarian, we all knew that we'd be better off following instructions! But he had great rapport with his players, knowing exactly how to get on the right wave-length with every single one of us.
DFB.de: How modern was Herberger's football?
Eckel: Even in 1954, we were able to play various tactical formations and could switch from one to the other in mid-game. Our World Cup formation was one keeper, two defenders, three defensive midfielders and five players up front. Normally, I would have played against Ferenc Puskas in the final, but Herberger set me up against Hidegkuti. Usually he played me wide, just behind Fritz, as I was a fit runner with attacking potential, but in this case, with Hidegkuti just nominally playing as centre-forward, I myself dropped a bit deeper into midfield. Herberger was the only coach world-wide to really grasp the Hungarians' system, and how to beat them. Werner Liebrich marked Ferenc Puskas, and I took good care of their mastermind – Hidegkuti.
DFB.de: Herberger is supposed to have said "I want that Hidegkuti to dream of you in his sleep"…
Eckel: Yes. And years later, Hidegkuti came up to me and confessed that he really did!
DFB.de: Remember 4 July 1954 – what did you feel when you woke up that morning?
Eckel: We had arrived in Switzerland as nobodies, but we were thriving on comradeship, physical fitness, and some decent passing. Whether that would be good enough against really strong teams, such as Yugoslavia or Hungary, was something only time would tell. Truth be told, we had our serious doubts… But then somehow we went from strength to strength, and by the time we had "hammered" the Austrians 6-1 in the semi-final, we told ourselves there was no way we would be content with coming second. That was the first time we players vowed to each other to go for the title. The decisive thing was we had complete trust in Herberger and in each other.
DFB.de: Hard to believe now but true nevertheless: the final was kicked off seven minutes early, at 16:53…
Eckel: That's correct, and to this day I have no idea why. But it didn't matter. We were focussed, we were ready. As far as we were concerned, the match could have begun even earlier!
DFB.de: But the Hungarians were 2-0 up, with only eight minutes played.
Eckel: True enough, but what we thought was 'right, we have 82 minutes left to change that'. And after 18 minutes, the score was 2-2.
DFB.de: At half-time, how close were you to being taken off?
Eckel: Just before the break, I had been caught on the thigh by one of the Hungarian players' studs and there was some blood, but not even the proverbial wild horses would have dragged me away from that match! On our way to the dressing rooms, I begged chief physio Erich Deuser to "do something, anything, because I!Will!Play!On!" Deuser put a band-aid on, covered it up with a tight bandage, and off I went. We wore pretty long shorts at the time, so nobody noticed anything. But even if Herberger had asked "Shall I take you off?" I wouldn't have let him – not at this match, not for a simple flesh wound.
DFB.de: You were only 20 when you won the German championship with Kaiserslautern, and you were world champion at 22. Did you ever feel out of your depth?
Eckel: No, never, but maybe that was because I never had the time to think and ponder. I started out with Kaiserslautern's youth team, and six months later I was called up to train with the senior squad, finding myself standing side by side with Fritz Walter, an absolute idol. I just tried to give 100 percent in every single session, and Walter helped me tremendously, first at Lautern, then in the national team.
DFB.de: How would you describe your relationship?
Eckel: Well, just before our first training session together, I felt a bit queasy – was I really up to this? But then the ball got rolling, I just concentrated on what I knew I could do, and to finish sessions off we usually played some 9-a-side football, with Fritz given first choice to put teams together. And what shall I say, after three or four times he always picked me first! On the pitch, we did not need words to understand each other, and off it, it was pretty much a father-and-son kind of relationship that I am very proud of to this day. He was a gifted, I would even say incomparable footballer, one of a kind, while I was the gritty runner...
DFB.de: … or, as you put it in your book The 84th Minute: "I was the kind of player chasing long balls, always ready to receive passes, always giving his all."
Eckel: Yes, that's true, and the funny thing was, I never seemed to tire. There were games when, after the final whistle, I would have been quite happy to play another 90 minutes! Just don't ask me where all that strength came from!
DFB.de: At the 1954 World Cup, you and Fritz Walter were the only ones to play all of the matches: six games in 17 days.
Eckel: Yes, but that was because Herberger definitely needed Walter in every game, and obviously he must have thought 'right, if Walter's in the line-up, Eckel must be there, too.'
DFB.de: These days, a player's every move is analyzed, every step counted. Statistically, we're looking at 11-12km distances covered in one match alone. Do you think you could match that?
Eckel: I honestly don't know, and in my days it was never measured. But I was constantly on the move and before long, they called me the greyhound!
DFB.de: Would you feel at ease, playing in the Bundesliga or for Germany today?
Eckel: Back then, I was happy just being allowed to play football, and that wouldn't be any different today. I think if I were 22 again, I'd be a decent Bundesliga player.
DFB.de: Do you still feel close to 1. FC Kaiserslautern?
Eckel: Oh, I carry the club in my heart, never miss a home game. Even now, come Saturday morning, I can't help but feel on edge, and if we lose – well, that really hurts. But I do think that coach Marco Kurz and his players will manage to avoid the drop to Bundesliga 2.
[bild2]
DFB.de: And how well do you remember 1954?
Eckel: It's all still in my head. You know, I'm one of these people who go down to the cellar to fetch something, and when I'm there I shout up to the wife asking what it was she wanted… But ask me about the final, and it all comes back to me – how we enter the field of play, the two Hungarian goals in quick succession, and then our winning goal in the 84th minute.
DFB.de: Well, tell me more …
Eckel: A high centre into the Hungarians' box, one of their players clears it, and I'm ready to track back again, trying not to lose sight of Hidegkuti, but then I see Rahn trap that ball, and in an instant I know: he's not going to pass it to anyone, he'll hit it himself. Which is exactly what he does. The ball goes in just on the right side of the post. We cheer and celebrate, I look to the bench, and there's Adi Dassler standing next to Herberger, signalling that it's six minutes to go.
DFB.de: Are you surprised that winning that world champions' title still seems to matter, almost 60 years after the event?
Eckel: Well, you've got to know the country was in ruins, many German POWs hadn't returned to their families yet, and after the horrors of Nazism and WW2, Germany had yet to find its place in the world. In many respects we were absolute underdogs, even outsiders. By winning that trophy, we managed to instil a whole new sense of achievement into a dejected people. Everybody said, 'If this lot can succeed in Berne, then we can do it, too!'
DFB.de: Other than these memories, what else remains from 1954?
Eckel: Very little, to be honest. I think what characterised us was that we didn't want people to make a fuss about us. Everybody remembers that moment when Fritz Walter, who's literally only just touched the trophy he's been given, immediately wants to pass it on to Herberger. That says it all. On the day after the final, I got up and told myself 'Horst, don't forget where you're coming from, and keep your feet firmly on the ground.' Today's generations of players have had a completely different upbringing, the modern game is awash with money, which automatically makes young players seek their own advantage, to the detriment of team spirit. I'd even say that we had it easier than players today.
DFB.de: When you started out at Kaiserslautern, how much were you paid?
Eckel: 320 Deutschmarks, approx. EUR 165 in today's money, that was Lautern's salary cap at the time. We practiced twice a week, commuting between home and the club was at my own expense, and my real job was that of mechanic at Pfaff's (DFB.de: a major sewing and welding machines works). A few days after the World Cup final, it was back to the work-bench. That's the way it was. Money just didn't seem so important those days.
DFB.de: After your playing career, at the end of the sixties, you took a degree in Art and Sports and went on to work as a teacher for 20 years…
Eckel: The most important part of my life. I'm the first to admit that taking the course was hard. I was almost 40 years old, had played semi-professional football, and suddenly was back sitting in a class-room with fellow students half my age. I wouldn't have managed without help from Hannelore. We've been married for 55 years now.
DFB.de: You are involved in the German FA's Sepp Herberger Foundation, visiting young prison inmates, the objective being to help them with their re-socialization. Is this effective?
Eckel: Let me put it this way – so far, I've done more than 100 such visits, and often, you get the most emotional reactions, with inmates standing up and vowing, before themselves and the audience, to change their lives. These are very moving moments. It was Fritz Walter who asked me to contribute to the project. Everybody deserves a second chance, and if you take young people seriously and treat them sincerely, then you do get through to them.
DFB.de: Before the "Miracle of Bern" movie opened in cinemas in 2003, you had been one of film-maker Sönke Wortmann's consultants. Do you agree with the result?
Eckel: I had no idea what I was letting myself in for! Working together with all these young actor-footballers was huge fun, I'm still good friends with many of them. I'd say that 90 percent of the film are spot-on. But was it really the Hotel Belvédère cleaning woman that Sepp Herberger was talking to when uttering his famous phrase 'the ball is round', as the script would have it? I beg to differ…
DFB.de: To conclude, your opinion on the reigning European and world champions.
Eckel: Well, there is no doubt that Spain are a superb side; I just don't know whether they're still the strongest.
DFB.de: Because…?
Eckel: Because that might actually be us now.
