Wolfgang Overath (born 29 September 1943) is a former West 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 ...

. A true

one-club man List of one-club men may refer to: * List of one-club men in association football * List of one-club men in rugby league * List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise * List of NBA players who have spent ...

, Overath spent his entire professional career at

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ball ...

. He represented his country three times in

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

finals, culminating in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

with the 2–1 victory over the Netherlands on home soil. Primarily an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, Overath was known for his passing ability, technique and outstanding left foot.

Career

Overath at the left, upright An

, Overath started playing football at SSV Siegburg, but spent the majority of his career at

, appearing 765 times between 1962 and 1977 and scoring 287 goals. He won the inaugural

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 ...

with 1. FC Köln in 1964, overall he appeared in the first 14 seasons of the newly formed top-flight, and the

German Cup The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is consider ...

in 1968. At European club level he played 71 matches (11 goals) for 1. FC Köln. He currently holds the all-time appearances record of the club (549 official matches played). In total he won 81 caps for the national side between 1963 and 1974, scoring 17 goals. As well as the World Cup victory in 1974, he was at the heart of the West German midfield when they reached the final in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

and achieved third place in 1970. Overath scored the only goal in the latter match, with many foreign journalists voting him Germany's best player in Mexico. Overath is one of only seven players (alongside his teammates

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...

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. ...

, Horst-Dieter Höttges,

Sepp Maier Sepp may refer to: *Sepp (given name) *Sepp (surname) *Science & Environmental Policy Project * Sepp (publisher) *Substantially equal periodic payments, US tax-law provision *Single Edge Processor Package *State Enterprise for Pesticide Production ...

, later compatriot

Miroslav Klose Miroslav Josef Klose (, pl, Mirosław Józef Klose; born 9 June 1978 as Mirosław Marian Klose) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Austrian Bundesliga club Rheindorf Altach. A striker, Klose ...

, and Italian

Franco Baresi Franchino Baresi (; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining ...

) with World Cup medals for first, second and third place. A main rival in the national team for leading the midfield was the flamboyant

Günter Netzer Günter Theodor Netzer (born 14 September 1944) is a German former professional football player, executive and pundit. He achieved great success in Germany with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the early 1970s and, after moving to Spain in 1973, wit ...

from Borussia Mönchengladbach, German Player of the year in 1972 and 73. However, German coach Helmut Schön preferred the more staid Overath. An injury forced Overath out of the side before the quarterfinals of the European Championships 1972 where Netzer became alongside Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller one of the outstanding protagonists leading the side, considered still Germany's best of all time, to victory in the final over the USSR. Overath soon regained his place ahead of Netzer, due to the latter's now being injured. Netzer himself said that Overath "was born to play for Germany". In 2004, he was elected President of

. He resigned on 13 November 2011.

Personal life

Overath and his wife have three children: two sons and one adopted daughter. Also, he was named an

honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of Siegburg in 2003. Overath was awarded the Egidius-Braun-Preis for his charity work.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Köln *

: 1963–64 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

International

;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 ...

Second Place:

Third Place: 1970

Individual

* ''

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

Team of the Season: 1965–66, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1973–74 *

FIFA XI FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

: 1968 * FIFA World Cup All-Star Team:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Overath, Wolfgang 1943 births Living people People from Siegburg Sportspeople from Cologne (region) German footballers Germany international footballers Association football midfielders 1. FC Köln players German football chairmen and investors FIFA World Cup-winning players 1966 FIFA World Cup players 1970 FIFA World Cup players 1974 FIFA World Cup players Bundesliga players People from the Rhine Province Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Footballers from North Rhine-Westphalia