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Helmut Rahn

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Helmut Rahn
Rahn in 1962
Personal information
Date of birth (1929-08-16)16 August 1929
Place of birth Essen, Germany
Date of death 14 August 2003(2003-08-14) (aged 73)
Place of death Essen, Germany
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Wing forward
Youth career
1938–1946 SV Altenessen 1912
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1946–1950 SC Oelde 1919
1950–1951 Sportfreunde Katernberg 30 (7)
1951–1959 Rot-Weiss Essen 280 (97)
1959–1960 1. FC Köln 29 (11)
1960–1963 SC Enschede 69 (39)
1963–1965 Meidericher SV 19 (8)
Total 427 (162[1])
International career
1951–1960 West Germany 40 (21)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  West Germany
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1954 Switzerland
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Helmut Rahn (16 August 1929 – 14 August 2003), known as Der Boss (The Boss), was a German footballer who played as a forward. He became a legend for having scored the winning goal in the final of the 1954 FIFA World Cup (West Germany vs. Hungary 3–2). Rahn, along with the German team, were decorated by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1972.

Career

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Rahn started his career with Altenessen 1912 where he played from 1938 until 1946. Then he went to SC Oelde 09 with a total score of 52 goals for that team. In the 1950–51 season, he played for Sportfreunde Katernberg.

He was most successful when he played for Rot-Weiss Essen from 1951 to 1959. The team won the DFB-Pokal final in 1953 and won the German Championship in 1955. For one year, from 1959 till 1960 he had played at 1. FC Köln, 1960 he went to Sportclub Enschede in the Netherlands.

In the Bundesliga 1963 he started playing for MSV Duisburg.[2] He finished his career in 1965 because of a knee problem and, along with Hans Schäfer was one of the last members of the 1954 World Cup winning side to retire. His position was that of an outside right.

His legendary status in German football was sparked by the heroic achievement of the German team in the final of the 1954 World Cup. Germany, whose team members themselves were surprised to be in the final, was playing Hungary, who hadn't lost a single match for four years running up to the World Cup final, and had already beaten Germany 8–3 in the group stage earlier in the tournament. Germany lagged behind 0–2 after only eight minutes, but then pulled it back to 2–2 with Rahn assisting the first German goal and scoring the second. With six minutes remaining, Rahn received the ball just outside the penalty box before going past a Hungarian player and managing to shoot at the lower left corner with his weaker left foot just before being tackled. The ball whistled into the back of the net and Germany went on to win the game 3–2 over the apparently unbeatable Hungarian team. This match is known in Germany as The Miracle of Bern (Das Wunder von Bern) because of its "David versus Goliath"-like setting, and it is generally seen as an instrumental part of the rebuilding of the German people's morale after World War II.

Rahn (right) in a duel with Ockhuisen in August 1960.

Rahn was also part of the German team that reached semifinals at the 1958 World Cup. With his goal against Yugoslavia, he became at the time the third maximum scorer in World Cups, with 10 total goals (behind Just Fontaine and Sándor Kocsis), and also the first player ever to score at least four goals in two different World Cups.

Rahn played 40 international matches and scored a total of 21 goals.[3] He was known as "Der Boss" ("The Boss") because of his on-field leadership and occasionally as "The Cannon from Essen".

Later life

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After retiring from football, Rahn started his own car dealership in Essen-Altenessen, along Altenessener Street. He was known for his good sense of humour and his joy and ability at talking with others. Many stories about him still circulate throughout Essen. One such story involves a discussion he once had with a friend regarding his car dealership:

Rahn was once asked by a friend, how his car dealership worked. His very direct answer: "I buy a car for 1,000 DM and sell it for 4,000 DM. And I live off the three percent profit."

He died two days shy of his 74th birthday, in Essen. The film The Miracle of Bern was dedicated to him by director Sönke Wortmann.

The tomb of Helmut Rahn

Family

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In 1953, Rahn married Gerti Seller, and the couple had two sons, Uwe (born 1954) and Klaus Rahn.[4] Rahn is allegedly the cousin of the grandfather of Kevin-Prince Boateng of the Ghana national football team.[5]

Helmut Rahn Memorial

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The Helmut Rahn Memorial

On 11 July 2004, 50 years after the Bern match, a lifesize statue of Rahn was put up near Georg-Melches-Stadium in Essen, on the square named after him.

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[2]
Club Season League German
Champ'ship
Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sportfreunde Katernberg 1950–51 Oberliga West 30 7 30 7
Rot-Weiss Essen 1951–52 Oberliga West 29 20 6 5 35 25
1952–53 Oberliga West 28 9 28 9
1953–54 Oberliga West 30 18 30 18
1954–55 Oberliga West 19 5 4 1 23 6
1955–56 Oberliga West 24 9 24 9
1956–57 Oberliga West 21 10 21 10
1957–58 Oberliga West 27 8 27 8
1958–59 Oberliga West 23 9 23 9
Total 201 88 10 6 211 94
1. FC Köln 1959–60 Oberliga West 29 11 7 4 36 15
SC Enschede 1960–61 Eredivisie 27 14 27 14
1961–62 Eredivisie 21 12 21 12
1962–63 Eredivisie 21 13 21 13
Total 69 39 69 39
Meidericher SV 1963–64 Bundesliga 18 8 18 8
1964–65 Bundesliga 1 0 1 0
Total 19 8 19 8
Career total 348 153 17 10 365 163

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[3]
National team Year Apps Goals
Germany 1951 2 1
1952 3 1
1953 4 1
1954 6 4
1955 3 0
1956 1 0
1957 3 2
1958 11 10
1959 5 1
1960 2 1
Total 40 21
Scores and results list West Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rahn goal.
List of international goals scored by Helmut Rahn
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 23 December 1951 Georg-Melches-Stadion, Essen, Germany  Luxembourg 4–1 Friendly [6]
2 21 December 1952 Südweststadion, Ludwigshafen, Germany  Yugoslavia 3–2 Friendly [7]
3 22 November 1953 Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany  Norway 5–1 5–1 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification [8]
4 20 June 1954 St. Jakob Stadium, Basel, Switzerland  Hungary 2–7 3–8 1954 FIFA World Cup [9]
5 27 June 1954 Charmilles Stadium, Geneva, Switzerland  Yugoslavia 2–0 2–0 1954 FIFA World Cup [10]
6 4 July 1954 Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland  Hungary 2–2 3–2 1954 FIFA World Cup [11]
7 3–2
8 10 March 1957 Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria  Austria 3–2 Friendly [12]
9
10 8 June 1958 Malmö Stadion, Malmö, Sweden  Argentina 1–1 3–1 1958 FIFA World Cup [13]
11 3–1
12 11 June 1958 Olympia, Helsingborg, Sweden  Czechoslovakia 2–2 2–2 1958 FIFA World Cup [14]
13 15 June 1958 Malmö Stadion, Malmö, Sweden  Northern Ireland 1–1 2–2 1958 FIFA World Cup [15]
14 19 June 1958 Malmö Stadion, Malmö, Sweden  Yugoslavia 1–0 1–0 1958 FIFA World Cup [16]
15 28 June 1958 Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden  France 2–4 3–6 1958 FIFA World Cup [17]
16 24 September 1958 Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark  Denmark 1–0 1–1 Friendly [18]
17 26 October 1958 Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes, France  France 1–0 2–2 Friendly [19]
18 19 November 1958 Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany  Austria 2–2 Friendly [20]
19
20 4 October 1959 Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland   Switzerland 4–0 Friendly [21]
21 27 April 1960 Südweststadion, Ludwigshafen, Germany  Portugal 2–1 Friendly [22]

Honours

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Club

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Rot-Weiss Essen

International

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West Germany

Individual

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Books

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  • Helmut Rahn: Mein Hobby: Tore schießen. 1959, ISBN 3-421-05836-9

References

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  1. ^ "RIGHT MIDFIELD / RIGHT WINGERS" (PDF). historical-lineups.com. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Arnhold, Matthias (12 November 2015). "Helmut Rahn - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  3. ^ a b Mühlen, Michael (12 November 2015). "Helmut Rahn - Goals in International Matches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  4. ^ "Die Helden von Bern" (in German). dieheldenvonbern.de. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  5. ^ Breidert, Luiz (25 August 2013). "Die Boatengs - Riesentalente mit Rüpel-Image" (in German). t-online.de. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  6. ^ "West Germany v Luxembourg, 23 December 1951". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  7. ^ "West Germany v Yugoslavia, 21 December 1952". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  8. ^ "West Germany v Norway, 22 November 1953". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Hungary v West Germany, 20 June 1954". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  10. ^ "West Germany v Yugoslavia, 27 June 1954". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  11. ^ "The Miracle of Bern". FIFA. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Austria v West Germany, 10 March 1957". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  13. ^ "West Germany v Argentina, 08 June 1958". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  14. ^ "West Germany v Czechoslovakia, 11 June 1958". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  15. ^ "Germany FR 2-2 N Ireland (15 Jun, 1958)". ESPN. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  16. ^ "West Germany v Yugoslavia, 19 June 1958". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  17. ^ "France v West Germany, 28 June 1958". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  18. ^ "Denmark v West Germany, 24 September 1958". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  19. ^ "France v West Germany, 26 October 1958". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  20. ^ "West Germany v Austria, 19 November 1958". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  21. ^ "Switzerland v West Germany, 04 October 1959". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  22. ^ "Germany v Portugal, 27 April 1960". 11v11. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by West Germany captain
1958–1959
Succeeded by