Top facts about Uwe Seeler, Die Rothosen Legend

Today, we are going to read the

top facts about Uwe Seeler.

This legend was born on November 5, 1936, in Hamburg and is a retired German soccer player right now. During his playing days, he was known as one of the top center strikers in the world! Seeler played his whole career at Hamburger SV and is regarded as one of the club's most valuable players.

In the 1963/64 season, he was the first top scorer in the Bundesliga. As captain of the German national team, he was runner-up in 1966 and placed third at the 1970 World Cup. Because he served in German football, the DFB named him the second player to be honorary captain of the national team in 1972. Seeler has been an honorary citizen of his hometown since 2003. So, let's find everything we can in Sportmob's

top facts about Uwe Seeler

Here we go, Top Facts about Uwe Seeler

Before we start to read about our legendary player in Top facts about Uwe Seeler, we will check some quick info about him to better understand the situation and his life story.

• Known As:

  Tank

• Occupation:

   Footballer, actor, businessman

• Age:

  85 years old

• Zodiac Sign:

  Scorpio

• Born:

  5 November 1936

• Birthplace:

  Hamburg, Germany

• Nationality:

  Germany

• Weight:

  75 Kg

• Eye Color:

  Blue

• Hair Color:

  Gray

• Wife:

  Ilka

• Sibling:

  Not Available

• Children:

  Fruck Seeler

Now that we know the basic info we needed about this german player, it's time to get into the real story and continue our journey in

Top facts about Uwe Seeler

.

Uwe Seeler young age

As we mentioned earlier, Uwe Seeler was born in Hamburg as the third child of Anny and Erwin Seeler who were both from Hamburg-Rothenburgsort. Uwe has an older brother named Dieter Seeler. He comes from a family of sportsmen, because even his father, who earned his livelihood as a dock worker, was one of the most popular footballers in the Hanseatic city from the 1920s through the 1940s.

Since Erwin has played for

, the thoutful father registered his kids Uwe and Dieter in 1946 to play football with HSV. The brothers often played soccer on the street, where Uwe Seeler was a superb soccer player despite being younger than his playmates.

As a kid, Seeler saw the bombing raids on Hamburg during World War II. Uwe and his siblings were brought up "to be correct and honest," as he mentioned in one of his interviews. This legend of ours grew up on Frickestrasse and attended the Martinistrasse school. As a student, Seeler was "cool, comradely and open" and his graduation marks were superb, this was stated by Seeler's old teacher in 1986 in an interview where they were talking about past memories.

After graduating from primary school in Hamburg-Eppendorf, Uwe served an apprenticeship as a freight agent at the Hamburg business Schier, Otten & Co. During this period, he also worked in the port. However, football was always part of his heart and we are going to read about that in the next section of

Top facts about Uwe Seeler

.

The story of football

Since 1946, the young Uwe played in the youth section of HSV, the largest sports club in the Hanseatic city. He was promoted there by coach Günter Mahlmann on 5 August 1953, only 16 years for the first time he played for the senior squad in a friendly against

. As of July 1954, he found his way into the league team.

In his debut competitive game on August 1, 1954, he scored four goals in the NVH Cup game against league rivals Holstein Kiel. Uwe managed to show an outstanding performance as a Striker at his first appearance on August 29, 1954, in a game against VfB Oldenburg which he played barely for minutes. Thanks to the hard work and the outstanding performance, Seeler instantly became the indisputable main player in the center of the Hanseatic League and it was soon unthinkable to picture the team without him.

Uwe's goal rate was amazing, and as a top scorer in the Oberliga Nord, he defended his status as the finest center forward in Germany. The HSV dominated their area organization and was nine times in a row north German league winners from 1955 to 1963.

In 1957 and 1958, Uwe played in the final of the German championship with his squad but had to bear the loss twice in the games and accept the title of the runner-up. The lone expulsion of his career was on December 1, 1957, when he responded in a game at the stadium am Rothenbaum against

.

At the end of the 1959/60 season, Hamburger SV reached the final of the German championship and played against FC Köln there. After two goals by Seeler, HSV celebrated their third title triumph in the club's history and Seeler himself had finally won a title. In the same year, Uwe was elected Germany's Footballer of the Year for the first time and was also highly considered as one of the top strickers in Europe.

In 1961, Seeler received a hefty offer from Italy's leading club

, who would have gave him 1.2 million D-Marks which at that time was one of the largest transfer prices ever! The news threw the supporters in an uproar. This was the the time when Uwe's old friend Adi Dassler asked him to take over the Adidas representative for northern Germany to urge him to stay in Hamburg.

Finally, Seeler abandoned the transfer and stayed in his hometown, where his supporters celebrated his choice. He told the press that him and his wife Ilka, deliberated for a long time about the offer from Milan, but finally decided to stay in favor of their  tiny house and their familiy's future.

Years later, Uwe said that he was a kind person who loved his fans and the decision was taken to stay in Hamburg in order to keep everyone pleased. In 1961, Seeler got his nickname "Uns Uwe" during a cup game against

which was an uncommon name for the time. HSV had lost the first leg with 1:3 but was able to win the second leg in Hamburg 4:1, which provoked a national response. Thanks to Uwe Seeler's hard work he became famous in no time which we are going to read about in next part of Sportmob's Top facts about Uwe Seeler.

Fame knocking on the door

Frankfurt journalist Richard Kirn said that Seeler is the Uwe for all of Germany's people's hearts. For those who don't know, Uwe means ruler in Germany! Uwe Seeler's name found its way to germans' hearts and they loved him like a national hero!

Supporters of HSV local rivals

changed our legends name into "You Uwe". However, among his colleagues, Seeler was called "The Fat One" and "The Tank". In 1963 he won the DFB Cup with HSV In the 3-0 triumph over Borussia Dortmund in the final. Seeler scored all the goals in-game, making him the first player to score three goals in the cup final.

In the 1963/64 season, HSV was in the newly created Bundesliga, and, given the triumphs they had, the team was also considered a candidate for the championship. However, the squad finished in sixth place, in the end. Though the outcome wasn't as amazing as predictions, the star striker Seeler proved unstoppable and claimed the title of the inaugural Bundesliga top scorer with 30 goals.

As an indication of his great performance, Seeler was awarded Germany’s Footballer of the Year for the second time in 1964. In February 1965, Seeler's career seemed to have ended when he had an Achilles tendon injury in the Bundesliga game in Frankfurt.

However, six months later he was back on the field with a customized shoe made by the hand of Adi Dassler. Uwe found his way back to his prior level of performance. However, HSV did not enjoy a sports heyday in these years and often finished up in the center of the league.

Seeler stayed faithful to the club and finished second in the list of goalscorers behind

in the 1968/69 season with 23 goals. Internationally, however, the Rothosen caused more sensation when they reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1968, but lost 2-0 to AC Milan without a chance.

 In May 1972, "Uns Uwe" departed from the active sport in a game by HSV. Years later, Seeler deemed the moment to say farewell to competitive sport which he said its “just right”. Uwe had planned the move for a long time, the weight of being a football player, and his profession being "extremely difficult", made him saying goodbye to football very easily, said Seeler in 1986 to the Hamburger Abendblatt.

Seeler stopped his retirement once again when he performed a guest appearance at the Cork Celtic in the Irish first division on April 23, 1978, in respond to the request of the athletic goods brand Adidas, with which he was professionally affiliated.

According to his remarks, Seeler was not aware that it was a point game since he was not aware that visitor players may also be enrolled for point games in the Irish league. However, In the 2-6 defeat by

, he scored both goals.

Uwe out of the boundaries

Seeler was part of the first team of the A-Juniors U18 squad, who won 3-2 over

on March 31, 1953. The game was on the occasion of the tournament of this age group, which was staged for the first time by FIFA. Seeler played 10 times in this selection and scored 15 goals, including 4 goals on April 11, 1954, in Wuppertal in a 6-1 triumph against Saarland.

When Sepp Herberger became aware of the skills this young striker had, he nominated Uwe to the senior national team on October 16, 1954, when Seeler was just 17 years old. His first debut was in a game lost 3-1 to France which wasn't what he expected.

Seeler's breakthrough to become a worldwide top star was in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, when he created a storm together with Helmut Rahn and Hans Schäfer. In the group matches against Argentina and Northern Ireland, he scored one goal apiece.

The end for Germany came in the semifinals against Sweden when Seeler hurt himself and could not take part in the game for third place against France. "There are far better players in terms of skill," Herberger later confessed, "but nobody has the talent like Uwe Seeler to produce so much opportunity in a limited space against the strongest guard." The same year he also played once for the U23 national team and was excellent playing on February 26th in Wuppertal 4-1 against the national team of Belgium.

In 1961, Seeler wore the captain's armband for the first time in the game against Denmark. In this game, the legendary striker managed a hat trick with three header goals in a 5-1 triumph. As with HSV, he had now also ascended to become a battling role model and a major player in the national team.

At the 1962 World Cup in Chile, Seeler was the German team's best hope for a storm. Germany was a sovereign group of winners, whereas Seeler contributed with two goals. But disappointment followed in the quarterfinals when Germany lost 1-0 to Yugoslavia and could start the road home.

After the World Cup, team captain Hans Schäfer resigned from the national team, and from then on, Seeler was the new captain as the previous deputy.

After his terrible Achilles tendon injury in 1965, Seeler became healthy again in time and the captain shot his team with the goal of a 2-1 victory against Sweden at the 1966 World Cup finals in England. At the World Cup, the German squad displayed great results, which was also thanks to the new national players

, Wolfgang Overath, and Sigfried Held.

Germany was a group of champions, and Seeler scored the critical goal to the 2-1 triumph over Spain. In the quarter-finals, Uruguay was washed 4-0 off the pitch. The Soviet Union was eliminated in the semifinals 2-1, and Seeler and his squad were in the World Cup final versus hosts England.

 In the memorable final at Wembley Stadium, Germany lost 2:4 by penalties and was runner-up in the world championship. The picture of the German captain who slips out of the square with a lowered head after the final whistle has become legendary.

It was commonly claimed that this shot was taken after the first half while walking into the dressing room, as Seeler himself maintained for a long time. The explanation provided was the music band on the field, however, this was also on the pitch after the final whistle, as can be seen in the television clip.

Uwe Seeler himself is now also included in his memoirs Thank You, Football! determined that the shot was taken at the end of the game. Despite the final defeat, Seeler was voted one of the greatest players of the whole competition.

In 1968, Seeler declared his resignation from the national team, but fell into the demand of coach Helmut Schön and returned to the squad, the national coach sought to add more foreign experience to the team through Seeler's commitment.

At the World Cup event in Mexico in 1970, the 33-year-old played as the lagging top behind Gerd Müller. The work of the reappointed captain should pay off; in the group stage, he scored goals against Morocco and Bulgaria. The entire team benefited from his experience!

In the quarter-finals against reigning champions England, he possibly scored the oddest goal of his international career when he directed the ball into the net with the back of his head right before the finish to equalize 2: 2. In the semifinals, the DFB selection was ousted in a spectacular game 3: 4 thereafter against Italy and ended third after a 1-0 against Uruguay.

Despite his age, he was considered as one of the "discoveries" of the World Cup and, as in 1966, provided a spectacular campaign. For example, both Müller's goals in the extension of the semi-finals at the 1970 World Cup against Italy were preceded by a winning header battle by Seeler. Uwe Seeler was for sure an exceptional player but every story comes to an end and that's what we are going to read in the next part of our Top facts about Uwe Seeler.

The end of Uwe Seeler Professional Career

In the mid-1980s, Uwe Seeler was the proprietor of the sportswear brand Uwe Seeler. After his time as an active athlete, Seeler worked as a business owner, which offers sportswear, and as a representative of Adidas an activity that he brokered by Sepp Herberger exercised since 1961, for which he spent about two days a week around 1970. At that time he was also the owner of a gas station. In his work for Adidas, Seeler covered around 40,000 kilometers a year with his car.

In 1980, Seeler created the “Schneeforscher eV” with Franz Beckenbauer and Willi Holdorf. In the following years, the members of this group of friends always gathered together in Obertauern for a skiing holiday at the beginning of December.

In addition, he is involved in different voluntary positions, including in the framework of the Uwe Seeler traditional squad, a team of more than 60 former pros, who play roughly 10 to 15 friendship and benefit games yearly in varied compositions.

Uwe Seeler got active in the muscle wasting assistance and for the Augsburg charity football team Datschiburger Kickers, which is devoted to generating funds for philanthropic objectives. From 1995 to 1998, Seeler was President of HSV. Although he was not accused of any dishonesty, he could not prevent other bureaucrats from harming the name of the organization with dubious dealings. In 2003 he wrote his book Thank You, Football!

With his last, the 72nd international match against Hungary on September 9, 1970, he surpassed Paul Janes's record, which had stood since 1942. It held the record until November 24, 1973, when it was outbid by Franz Beckenbauer. He scored 43 goals, his last being the 2-2 in the quarter-finals against England at the 1970 World Cup.

 This gives him the best goal rate of all German players with more than 70 international matches. Seeler took part in the world championships in 1958, 1962, 1966, and 1970 and was employed there in a total of 21 international matches.

He succeeded in keeping himself on the list of goalscorers at all 4 World Cup tournaments, something that only Pelé, Miroslav Klose and

 were able to reach. Seeler was the first player to play more than 20 World Cup games. His record was only exceeded in 1998 by Lothar Matthäus.

Personal Life of Uwe Seeler

In public, Seeler is typically perceived as a down-to-earth, truthful, direct, and uncomplicated guy. In addition to his sporting fairness - he received only one expulsion from the field in his long career or a red card from 1970 - and his rejection of the sensational offer in 1961 for the then very high sum of 1.2 million D-Marks to Inter have contributed to this picture Moving to Milan, his ties to his homeland also contributed, as he has lived next to the former HSV soccer training ground for decades.

In 1971 Uwe Seeler made a brief cameo appearance in the film Willi will the child rock alongside Heinz Erhardt and Hannelore Elsner. He portrayed himself throughout the process. On April 10, 2005, he took up the post of "Tortoise" in a guest appearance at Dietsche. Since 2008, Seeler has been devoted to the Tom-Wahlig -Stiftung as a step-maker, which is committed to the research and healing of spastic spinal paralysis. In episode 273 Unwritten Laws of the TV series Großstadtrevier, which performed in Hamburg and was shown in the spring of 2009, Seeler portrayed himself.

Even decades after the conclusion of his active career, Seeler remains one of the most loved athletes in Hamburg, which was indicated in the award of honorary citizenship to him in 2003. He was the first athlete to get this accolade.

On August 24, 2005, a bronze facsimile of his right foot, given by the Hamburg industrialist Andreas Maske (Maske AG), was presented. This sculpture, which costs 250,000 euros, sits in front of the HSV stadium, weighs roughly four tons, is 5.15 meters wide, 3.50 meters high, and displays his different injuries through tireless labor.

His popularity is also represented in the phrase "Uns Uwe" (Low German for "our Uwe"), which is ubiquitous for him. In 2013 Uwe Seeler took over the sponsorship of the Malente sports school, which is now called Uwe-Seeler-Fußball-Park.

In the music video of the song Ahnma by the Hamburg music group Beginner from 2016, there is a short cameo appearance by Uwe Seeler to the line of text "Got Hamburg behind me, like if I were Uwe Seeler, dude."

Nobel laureate Otto Hahn, although scarcely interested in football, was one of those contemporaries who appreciated Uwe Seeler personally and who gave him tremendous respect owing to his modesty. This is also obvious in a traditional and verifiable tale from 1964.

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