Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, famed for his dramatic late equalizer for West Germany in the epic 1970 World Cup semifinal against Italy, has died at the age of 85, his family announced on Tuesday.
Schnellinger died on Monday night in Milan, leaving behind his wife, three daughters and four grandchildren.
"Of all people, Schnellinger!" exclaimed ARD match commentator Ernst Huberty during the 1970 match in Mexico City, a moment that cemented the defender’s legendary status.
Despite relentless pressure on the Italian goal after an early deficit, it was Schnellinger, then playing for AC Milan, who finally equalized in stoppage time with a close-range slide, ensuring his place in football history.
The late equalizer and the following unforgettable extra time, after which the Azzurri triumphed 4-3, put the tussle into the history books as the "Match of the Century."
The goal was his only one from 47 caps between 1958 and 1971. He played in four World Cups, including the 1966 final at Wembley, which the Germans lost 4-2 against hosts England.
"The name Karl-Heinz Schnellinger will forever be associated with the match of the century at the 1970 World Cup," German Football Federation President Bernd Neuendorf said in a statement. "However, his achievements and merits go far beyond this game. Karl-Heinz Schnellinger was a world-class footballer and one of the first professionals to venture abroad."
Schnellinger spent most of his career in Italy, where he went in 1963, one year after winning the German championship with Cologne.
He cited "the sun and joy of life" for the move, and maybe the money was also a factor, as Italian salaries were much higher at the time.
After one season each at Mantua and Roma, he spent nine years at AC Milan from 1965 to 1974, winning a host of titles, including the Serie A, European Cup and two Cup Winners' Cups.
He briefly returned to Germany for a few matches at Tennis Borussia Berlin from 1974 to 1975 before ending his career and continuing to live in Italy.
Schnellinger said Italians never held a grudge against him for scoring in the 1970 game.
"Never. No one ever blamed me. And after all, they won the match," he said.
Known as "Carlo il Biondo" (Karl the Blonde) in Italy, he enjoyed vast success there, which lives on.
Gazzetta dello Sport named Schnellinger "the most Italian German in our football" in their obituary and added: "He had a ruby-red face, two huge thighs like a weightlifter. But he moved with amazing agility in his legs."
Schnellinger also said that by living in Italy he was forgotten in Germany, not invited by the DFB for the 2006 World Cup and no longer in contact with old Germany teammates. He did not attend Franz Beckenbauer's funeral earlier in the year.
"It feels like I am a foreigner in Germany, and in Italy as well. But that is OK," he said on the occasion of his 85th birthday on March 31.
