Legendary German goalkeeper and World War II veteran Bert Trautmann, who celebrated his 85th birthday on Wednesday, will be the German Football Federation’s (DFB) guest of honour at next month’s friendly against England in Berlin.
The ex-Manchester City goalkeeper, who famously helped the club win the 1956 FA Cup final despite suffering a broken neck, will receive a special DFB honor before the game.
“The game at the Olympic Stadium is the perfect occasion to honor Bert Trautmann for the good work he did for German football in England,” DFB president Theo Zwanziger said.
“Bert Trautmann was a legend of English football in the 1950s and as both a sportsman and human being was a great ambassador for Germany,” he said.
Although his real name is Bernd, Trautmann is widely known by his nickname Bert, which he picked up while playing soccer in England.
Born in Bremen in 1923, Trautmann joined the Luftwaffe early in World War II, served as a paratrooper and fought on the Eastern Front for three years where he earned five medals including an Iron Cross.
Later in the war, he was transferred to the Western Front in France, where he was captured by the British as the war drew to a close.
One of only 90 of his original 1,000-strong regiment to survive the war, he was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in Lancashire, but refused an offer of repatriation.
Following his release in 1948 he settled in the northern English county, combining farm work with playing as goalkeeper for a local soccer team.
Several notable displays attracted the attention of City, but 20,000 of their fans attended a demonstration against the decision to sign the former paratrooper.
But he won over City’s fans playing all but five of the club’s next 250 matches and in total made 545 appearances between 1949 and 1964.
He is most famous for the 1956 FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium when 15 minutes before the final whistle he suffered a serious injury after diving at the feet of Birmingham City’s Peter Murphy.
He continued to play, making crucial saves to preserve his team’s 3-1 lead, but his neck was noticeably crooked as he collected his winners’ medal and three days later an X-ray revealed it had been broken.
After his playing career, he spent nearly 20 years as a manager and in 2004 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for promoting Anglo-German understanding through soccer.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was