Helmut Haller, who has died aged 73, briefly thrilled all of West Germany when he scored the opening goal against England in the 1966 World Cup Final.
With five goals in the team’s matches thus far, Haller had already established himself as one of the players of the tournament. Only Eusebio had netted more times, but the thickset Haller had little of the Portuguese player’s panther-like grace.
Indeed, playing at inside-right, he was more a creator of chances for others than a finisher. None the less, when Ray Wilson’s poor header fell to him on the edge of the area in the 13th minute of the final, he controlled the ball in an instant and fired it across Gordon Banks.
His blond hair gleaming in the sunshine, Haller wheeled away in triumph, only for Geoff Hurst to equalise a few minutes later. As England eventually ran out 4-2 winners, Haller saw little more of the ball until the final whistle, when he picked it up and shook hands with the Queen with it tucked under his arm.
In 1996 he was persuaded by a British newspaper to hand over the ball to Hurst as a memento of the hat-trick the Englishman had scored. It is now in the National Football Museum in Manchester.
Helmut Haller was born on July 21 1939 in Augsburg, Bavaria, where his father worked on the railways. At 18 he joined his hometown club. German football was then still organised into semi-professional regional leagues, and as wages were nominal Haller supplemented his income by working as a lorry driver.
He won his first cap for West Germany at 19, and in 1962 helped the team to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Chile. His performances in midfield led to an approach from the Italian side Bologna, which offered Haller 40 times what he was earning at Augsburg.
When he finally decided to sign for Bologna, the German FA labelled him a mercenary. Like several other star players who took the same route over the Alps, Haller was effectively frozen out of the national side for the next four years.
It was therefore largely in Italy that he rose to international prominence. His dribbling skills and eye for a telling pass were much admired by the discerning spectators there, as was his fruitful partnership with the Danish striker Harald Nielsen. In 1964 Haller shepherded Bologna to their first and only post-war league title and was voted Footballer of the Year – no mean achievement given that many Italians still harboured bitter wartime memories of Germans.
After scoring 48 goals in 179 matches for Bologna, Haller joined Juventus in 1968. Playing in Turin alongside such talents as Roberto Bettega, Fabio Capello and Dino Zoff, he won back-to-back Serie A championships in 1972 and 1973. He finished on the losing side, however, against Leeds in the 1971 Fairs Cup Final, and again two years later in the European Cup Final against Johan Cruyff’s Ajax.
Having been hampered by injury in the run-up to 1970 World Cup, Haller played his last game for West Germany in their opening match against Morocco. He spent the rest of the tournament on the bench as the team finished third. He had won 33 caps and scored 13 times.
With the founding of the Bundesliga in 1963, German soccer had turned professional, and in 1973 Haller returned to Augsburg. Instead of taking a fixed salary he settled for five per cent of the gate money. He eventually hung up his boots aged 40.
Haller had a reputation for enjoying nightlife and publicity, and in later life he ran a fashion boutique.
He married three times, on the last occasion in 2003 to a 21-year old Cuban woman more than 40 years his junior. She survives him, as do two sons and a daughter.
Helmut Haller, born July 21 1939, died October 11 2012
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