Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Lore & Background

Rummenigge was born in Lippstadt, North Rhine-Westphalia. He joined Bayern Munich in 1974 from Borussia Lippstadt for about €10,000. He won the European Cup in 1975 (did not play in the final) and 1976 (played after a glass of brandy). He also won the Intercontinental Cup in 1976. With coach Pál Csernai, he formed a partnership with Paul Breitner, nicknamed 'Breitnigge'. Bayern won the Bundesliga in 1980 and 1981, and the DFB-Pokal in 1982 and 1984. He was sold to Inter Milan in 1984 for a record €5.7m, then moved to Servette FC in 1987, ending his career in 1989 as Swiss league top scorer.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights at the Santiago Bernabéu hummed with a low, electric buzz that you could feel in your teeth. Rummenigge stood at the edge of the penalty area, white kit damp with sweat, watching the Italian midfielders reset. The crowd was a wall of azzurro, a living tide that pressed against the stands. He could smell the cut grass, the chalk dust, the cold night air of a Madrid June that felt impossibly warm. His boots were scuffed, his left ankle ached from a challenge in the semifinal, and he knew—knew with the bone-deep certainty of a man who had chased this ball for fifteen years—that this might be the last chance. The ball came to him on the left. He took one touch, two. The defender slid. Rummenigge did not slide. He ran. And for three seconds, the entire world narrowed to the space between his boot and the back of the net. Then the whistle. Then the silence that is louder than any roar. He walked off the pitch with his hands in his pockets, looking at the sky, and the sky gave nothing back.

Reader's Guide

Rummenigge played in three World Cups: 1978 (second group stage exit), 1982 (runner-up to Italy), and 1986 (runner-up to Argentina). He captained the team to two World Cup silver medals. He also played in the 1980 European Championship, which West Germany won. He earned 95 caps and scored 45 goals for West Germany between 1976 and 1986, including a goal in the 1982 semi-final against France, a goal in the 1986 final against Argentina, and a hat-trick against Chile in the 1982 group stage.

Did You Know?

• In April 1983, the British pop duo Alan & Denise recorded a tribute song about his 'sexy knees' called 'Rummenigge', which reached number 43 in German charts.
• His brother Michael Rummenigge also played for Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund and was capped twice by West Germany.
• Rummenigge worked as a TV co-commentator for German national team matches from 1990 to 1994.
• He supports ending the 50+1 rule in German football.