German World Cup-winning defender Andreas Brehme dies aged 63

Berlin (Germany), Feb 20:  Andreas Brehme, who scored the winner in the final of the 1990 World Cup against Argentina to help West Germany win the title, passed away on Tuesday, aged 63.

Brehme "died suddenly" from cardiac arrest on Monday night, his partner Susanne Schaefer told German news agency DPA.

The former German defender was a key member of Lothar Matthäus' team and scored the winner off a penalty in the final against Diego Maradona's Argentina in Rome as Germany won their second title.

"We are deeply saddened to report that Andreas Brehme has passed away. Our thoughts are with Andy's friends and family at this sad time. RIP Andy!," the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball-Bund) wrote on its English social media account.

A versatile left-back, Brehme earned 86 caps for Germany, scoring eight goals. He also won the domestic league titles while playing for Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan. But scoring the winner in the final of the 1990 World Cup was his crowning glory.

He was also part of the German squad that finished runners-up at the 1986 World Cup and the 1992 European Championships. The defender had a knack for scoring important goals for his country, netting five of his eight goals for Germany at the World Cup and EUROs, and three of them in a World Cup semifinal or final.

Brehme also enjoyed success at club level, winning the Bundesliga title in 1987 with FC Bayern Munich and the Scudetto in 1989 while at Inter Milan with Lothar Matthäus and Jurgen Klinsmann. He also lifted the UEFA Cup in 1991.

Following his return to Germany, Brehme was part of Otto Rehhagel's legendary Kaiserslautern squad that won the German Cup in 1996 despite being relegated that same season, before winning the Bundesliga in 1998 as a newly promoted side.

"FC Bayern is deeply shocked by the sudden death of Andreas Brehme," said the German club in a statement on Tuesday. "We will always keep Andreas Brehme in our hearts - as a world champion and even more so as a very special person. He will always be part of the FC Bayern family. Rest in peace, dear Andi."

After a successful career as a player, Brehme transitioned into coaching, where he also made his mark by managing to guide Kaiserslautern to the semifinals of the UEFA Cup in 2000/01 and helped the team equal Bayern's league record for most wins at the start of a season, putting together a seven-game winning run at the beginning of 2001/02 season. He was part of the inaugural list of inductees to the Hall of Fame at the German Football Museum in Dortmund in 2019.