Fritz Walter

German footballer and post-war icon

Fritz Walter was the first German footballer ever to captain his country to victory in a World Cup final. In his homeland, he was revered as an icon of post-war German regeneration, as well as one of the country's finest footballers. Only Franz Beckenbauer could challenge him as the very greatest. "He was the embodiment of the impeccable and fair sportsman," said the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder. "[He] was an illuminating idol for me and many of my generation."

Walter's crowning glory came in 1954, when he captained West Germany to their first-ever World Cup triumph, beating Hungary in the final in Berne. The "Magical Magyars" had been considered unbeatable, especially after they thrashed the Germans 8-3 earlier in the tournament. But a highly disciplined and dogged performance by Walter's side (aided by a debilitating injury to Hungary's best player, Ferenc Puskas) saw them to a 3-2 victory, even after they had trailed 2-0 early in the game.

For a war-shattered German populace, the victory sparked unbounded joy. As the team's train made its way home from Switzerland through Germany, jubilant crowds stopped it at every village halt to shower the players with gifts and good wishes. The "Heroes of Berne" had done more than win a World Cup. They had eased Germany's passage back into the comity of nations.

For the first time, the German people could feel that their pariah status was being lifted. They had not even been allowed to play in the 1950 tournament. The German historian Joachim Fest said: "The World Cup final in Berne was much more than a soccer match. It was a kind of liberation for the Germans from all their burdens after World War Two."

Years later, Walter would still grow emotional when he recalled the events of 1954. As a tribute to him on his 80th birthday, German television showed the Hungary match. Walter wept: "I still have goose-bumps watching it."

Fritz Walter was born in 1920, in Kaiserslautern, where his father ran a bar at the ground of the local team, FC Kaiserslautern. Fritz duly signed for the club, and in 1938 made his League début, aged 17. He never played for another club in his 21-year career, despite countless tempting offers to play abroad, especially in Spain. His Italian wife, Italia, always encouraged him to stay. Walter said: "She looked at me and said, you don't want to leave. You can only be happy with your FC Kaiserslautern. There are some things money can't buy."

In 1940 he represented Germany for the first time, in a friendly against Romania, scoring a hat-trick in a 9-2 victory. During the Second World War, Walter served as a paratrooper, an experience which gave him (like Dennis Bergkamp) an aversion to ever flying again once peace came. He was captured towards the end of hostilities, and sent to a Russian prison camp. Only his footballing celebrity, and the admiration of his Romanian guards, prevented his transportation to a Russian forced labour camp.

After the war, Walter inspired Kaiserslautern to German Championships in 1951 and 1953. His brother Ottmar, a centre-forward, was also in the Kaiserslautern side, and also played with Fritz Walter in the World Cup-winning team.

Walter returned as German captain for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, but the 37-year-old was no longer quite the force he had once been, and his side lost to the hosts in the semi-finals. Walter ended his international career with 61 caps and 33 goals.

In 1959 he left League football as well, having played 379 times for Kaiserslautern, and having scored 306 goals. As a player he was ahead of his time – an attacking midfielder before midfield had even been invented.

After retiring from playing, Walter turned his back on coaching and management, instead beginning a completely new career. He worked with offenders, helping them to get back on their feet after leaving prison. Manfred von Richthofen, president of the German Sports Federation, said: "Fritz Walter was a symbol of German sport in the post-war era. A man with marvellous abilities on the field, he was also engaged in social goals later in life. That has made him a model for future generations of sportsmen and women."

But, while Walter might have preferred to keep some distance from football, football never forgot him. On his 65th birthday, in 1985, Kaiserslautern renamed their ground the Fritz Walter Stadium. For most of his life, until just before his death, Walter had lived within a goal-kick of the ground. In 1999, football supporters voted him into Germany's Team of the Century. In his later years he was widely viewed as a national treasure – a totem of sporting integrity and moral rectitude. A kind of Teutonic, octogenarian Gary Lineker. On his 80th birthday the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung mused: "Does he have any weaknesses as a person? We, his admirers, would like to believe he doesn't."

The 2002 German World Cup squad has asked Fifa's permission to wear black armbands as a mark of respect to Walter during this Friday's quarter-final match against the United States.

Alex Murphy

Fritz Walter, footballer: born Kaiserslautern, Germany 31 October 1920; married; died Enkenbach-Alsenborn, Germany 17 June 2002.