Helmut Haller (; 21 July 1939 – 11 October 2012) 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, rugb ...
who played as a
forward. At international level, he represented
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...
at three
World Cups. At club level, he played in both Germany and Italy, and won
Italian league titles with
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...
and
Juventus.
Club career
In his club career, Haller played from 1948 until 1962 for BC Augsburg, before being lured to Italy by a one off fee of 750,000
Marks and an annual salary of 200,000 Marks.
Back then in Germany player salaries were officially limited to 500 Marks per month – an amount that rose to 2500 Marks after the introduction of the
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...
as unified first division in 1963. In Italy Haller encountered with
Albert Brülls,
Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (born 31 March 1939) is a German former footballer who played as a defender. An athletic and hard-tackling player, with a strong physique, he was nicknamed the " Volkswagen" for his continuity of performance, both in q ...
and
Horst Szymaniak three more German World Cup participants of 1962.
Initially Haller played for
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...
, winning in 1964 under coach
Fulvio Bernardini the first Italian league title for the club in 23 years and the hitherto last in the club's history. From 1968 until 1973 he played for
Juventus where he won the league in 1972 and 1973. In 1973 Juventus – with
Dino Zoff in goal,
Franco Causio,
Fabio Capello and the Brazilian
José Altafini – reached the European Champions Cup final in Belgrade against
AFC Ajax
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the ...
. The
Johan Cruijff
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a p ...
led title holder went into the lead by a fourth minute
Johnny Rep header. Haller was brought on by coach
Čestmír Vycpálek
Čestmír Vycpálek ( Prague, 15 May 1921 – Palermo, 5 May 2002) was a Czech football player and manager who played as a midfielder. He was an uncle of noted football manager Zdeněk Zeman.
Playing career
A good right winger, Vycpálek mov ...
in the 49th minute for
Roberto Bettega, but the result stood. Two years earlier Juventus narrowly missed out in the finals of the
1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, having to concede the title to the
Billy Bremner
William John Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. Regarded as one of the game's great midfielders, he combined precision passing skills with tenacious tackling and physical stam ...
led
Leeds United after results of 2–2 and 1–1 on the
away goal rule.
In 1973, he returned to his hometown and joined
FC Augsburg
Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded ...
, then newly created through a merger of his former club BC Augsburg with local rivals TSV Schwaben and just promoted to the second division
Regionalliga. The club had paid just DM 44,000 for the transfer of Haller and Haller renounced a fixed salary, settling for 5% of the revenue.
''"Haller-Haller-Hallerluja"'' became the new battlecry of the team. In late summer 1973, it was not the least due to his popularity that a match in the Munich Olympic Stadium against hosts
TSV 1860 attracted an audience of estimated up to 90,000, a world record for second division matches. Augsburg finished that season first in the southern division of the Regionalliga. In the promotion the club missed out on ascension to the Bundesliga by one point to
Tennis Borussia Berlin.
Haller retired as player in 1979.
International career
After he made his international debut at age 19 in 1958, he played at the World Cups
1962 in Chile, the
1966 in England and
1970 in Mexico, earning a total of 33 caps and scoring 13 goals.
At the World Cup 1962, Haller was a regular of the German side that drew against Italy and overcame hosts Chile and Switzerland in the group phase, but in the quarterfinals Yugoslavia prevailed 1–0. At the World Cup 1966 he formed the West German midfield together with
Wolfgang Overath
Wolfgang Overath (born 29 September 1943) is a former West German footballer. A true one-club man, Overath spent his entire professional career at 1. FC Köln. He represented his country three times in World Cup finals, culminating in 1974 wit ...
and the young
Franz Beckenbauer. West Germany reached the final of competition and Haller scored the opening goal of the game which Germany lost 2–4 to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. Along with his medal, Haller also got the match ball, though more than 30 years later he returned to England to present it to
Geoff Hurst, who had scored a
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three w ...
in the contest and was therefore by tradition considered to be entitled to the ball. After Portugal's
Eusébio, who scored nine goals, he was with six goals the second best marksman of the tournament. At the 1970 World Cup, where West Germany attained third place, Haller was only used in the first group match against Morocco, being replaced by
Jürgen Grabowski
Jürgen Grabowski (7 July 1944 – 10 March 2022) was a German footballer. He played for Eintracht Frankfurt. He became European champion in 1972 and world champion in 1974. Grabowski is considered the greatest Eintracht Frankfurt player ever.
...
at halftime. Haller was plagued by injury problems in the run-up to the tournament.
Style of play
Both a
playmaker and goalscorer, Haller was noted for his exceptional technique and finesse as a
striker, yet also for his weight problems, which troubled him throughout his career.
In Italy Haller is considered one of the greatest
wingers of the sixties and the defining player of Bologna. He remains famed for his "irresistible
dribbling, his innate genius, his great eye for goal, his charisma."
After retirement
In later years Haller did some coaching of amateur level clubs, including FC Augsburg, and ran a fashion shop.
Personal life
On Boxing Day 2006, Haller suffered a serious heart attack and was reported to be recovering well after treatment. Later he also suffered from dementia and
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...
. Haller died on 11 October 2012. He was survived by his third wife, the native Cuban Noraimy Rodriguez Guiterrez, whom he married in 2003 when she was aged just 21, two sons and a daughter.
Haller was also an uncle of
Christian Hochstätter, a long-serving
Borussia Mönchengladbach player and twice West German international.
Honours
Bologna
*
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
:
1963–64
Juventus
* Serie A:
1971–72,
1972–73
*
European Cup: runner-up
1972–73
*
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: runner-up
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
J ...
*
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
: runner-up 1972–73
Augsburg
*
Regionalliga Süd: 1973–74
Germany
*
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
: runner-up
1966, third place
1970
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haller, Helmut
1939 births
2012 deaths
Deaths from Parkinson's disease
Deaths from dementia in Germany
Neurological disease deaths in Germany
Sportspeople from Augsburg
West German footballers
German footballers
Footballers from Bavaria
Association football forwards
Germany international footballers
1962 FIFA World Cup players
1966 FIFA World Cup players
1970 FIFA World Cup players
FC Augsburg players
Juventus F.C. players
BSV 07 Schwenningen players
Bologna F.C. 1909 players
Serie A players
2. Bundesliga players
Regionalliga players
German expatriate footballers
German expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Expatriate footballers in Italy