Helmut Rahn, known as Der Boss (The Boss), (born 16th August 1929 in Essen; died 14th August 2003) was a German football player. He became a legend for having scored the winning goal in the final game of the Football World Cup 1954 (West Germany 3 - Hungary 2).

Career

Helmut Rahn started his career with Altenessen 1912 where he played from 1938 until 1946. Then he went to SC Oelde 1919 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 - 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 Twente Enschede in Netherlands.

In the Bundesliga 1963 he started playing for MSV Duisburg. He finished his career in 1965 because of a knee problem.

He became a legend and a German football hero in the final game of the Football World Cup 1954. The German team was played Hungary. Germany lagged behind 0-2, but Rahn managed to score 2-2 and to finish up 3-2. This match has been known in Germany as "The Miracle of Bern" (Das Wunder von Bern).

Rahn played 40 international matches and scored a total of 21 goals.

Helmut Rahn - Memorial

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

Links

• German site about the team that played in Bern