Berlin: Andreas Brehme, who has died of a heart attack aged 63, was one of the finest wing-backs of his generation, solid in defence and consistently threatening in attack; his greatest moment came when he scored the late penalty that won the 1990 World Cup for West Germany against Diego Maradona’s Argentina, and his international captain Lothar Matthäus said he was the most talented footballer he ever played with.

 

Brehme, playing on the left, was one of the best dead-ball specialists the game has known, and an unfailingly accurate crosser of the ball. He was something of a rarity in being completely two-footed – “My left is harder and my right is more precise” – and Franz Beckenbauer, who coached him for club and country, once said, “I have known Andi for 20 years and I still don’t know if he is right- or left-footed”

 

Andreas Brehme, who scored the only goal as West Germany beat Argentina to win the 1990 World Cup final, has died. He was 63. Brehme's partner Susanne Schaefer confirmed his death in a statement to Germany's dpa news agency on Tuesday. Schaefer said Brehme died "suddenly and unexpectedly" in the night from a cardiac arrest.

 

Brehme, who played mostly as an attacking left back, was a star of German soccer in the 1980s and 1990s who was crucial to the 1990 World Cup win. He scored in the semifinal against England, which West Germany eventually won on penalties, and his 85th-minute penalty decided the final in Rome against Argentina. Winning the World Cup brought a wave of national celebrations across Germany, which was in the process of reunification after the fall of the Berlin Wall the year before.

 

He went on to play a total of 86 international games for West Germany and unified Germany. At club level, Brehme won the German title twice, once with Bayern in 1987 and once in Kaiserslautern's improbable run to the championship in 1998, in its first season since promotion. He also won the Italian Serie A with Inter in 1989.