Former German international Andreas Brehme, world champion in 1990, died of a heart attack, according to the newspaper Bild and later confirmed by those closest to the former footballer.
"It is with deep pain that I announce on behalf of my family that my partner Andreas Brehme died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest. We ask in these difficult times that our private sphere be respected," says a statement from his partner, Susanne Schaefer.
Brehme scored, from a penalty, the winning goal for Germany in the final in Rome against Argentina (1-0), thus entering the list of players who have given Germany a world title, and of which The legendary Helmut Rahn and Gerd Müller are part of it and to which later, in 2014, the name of Mario Götze would be added.
He usually played as a left back - at the end of his career he also played as a libero - and his free kicks with his left foot were fearsome, but, in the 1990 penalty, he decided to shoot with his right foot and it was a goal.
The decision was due to the fact that Brehme - who was ambidextrous - had received a blow to his left foot, despite which he took the penalty that Lothar Matthäus did not want to take, claiming that he did not feel safe because he had had to change his boots and that he was wearing ones that he usually wore only in training.
The second taker was Rudi Völler, who was the one who had received the foul that caused the penalty, and coach Franz Beckenbauer considered that whoever had received the foul should never take a penalty.
Brehme played for Saarbrucken, Kaiserslautern - where he was also a coach -, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Zaragoza
Reactions to Brehme's death came immediately. "FCK regrets the passing of Andreas Brehme," said Kaiserslautern. "In total he wore the Red Devils shirt for 10 years and was proclaimed German champion and winner of the German Cup with FCK," the message continued.
"In 1990, with his penalty he launched the German team to the world title and became a football legend. The FCK family is in deep mourning and our thoughts are with Andi's family and friends," Kaiserslautern concluded.
Bayern also joined in the condolences. "Bayern is deeply shocked by the sudden death of Andreas Brehme (...) We will always have Andreas Brehme in our hearts," declared the Bavarian club.
Brehme played 86 international matches for Germany and scored eight goals, including the most memorable against Diego Armando Maradona's Argentina, which gave the team its third star.
