Helmut Haller

Who was Helmut Haller?

Helmut Haller was a German footballer who represented West Germany at three World Cups. He won Italian league titles with Bologna and Juventus.

A playmaker and striker who made his international debut at age 19 in 1958, he played at the World Cups 1962 in Chile, the 1966 in England and 1970 in Mexico, earning a total of 33 caps and scoring 13 goals.

At the World Cup 1962, Haller was a regular of the German side that drew against Italy and overcame hosts Chile and Switzerland in the group phase, but in the quarterfinals Yugoslavia prevailed 1–0. At the World Cup 1966 he formed the West German midfield together with Wolfgang Overath and the young Franz Beckenbauer. West Germany reached the final of competition and Haller scored the opening goal of the game which Germany lost 2–4 to England. Along with his second place medal, Haller also got the match ball, though more than 30 years later he returned to England to present it to Geoff Hurst, who had scored a hat-trick in the contest and was therefore by tradition considered to be entitled to the ball. After Portugal's Eusébio, who scored nine goals, he was with six goals the second best marksman of the tournament. At the 1970 World Cup, where West Germany attained third place, Haller was only used in the first group match against Morocco, being replaced by Jürgen Grabowski at halftime. Haller was plagued by injury problems in the run-up to the tournament.