Born : 05 September 1951, Kolbermoor West Germany
Position : Defender and midfielder
Clubs : Kolbermoor 1957-61; Freilassing 1961-70 ; Bayern M. 1970-74;
Real Madrid 1974-77; Eintracht B. 1977-78; Bayern M. 1978-March 1983.
International Apperarances : 48
International Goals : 11
International Debut : 22 June 1971, Norway - West Germany 1-7
Last international appearance : 11July 1982 Italy - West Germany 3-1
First international goal : 29 March 1972 Hungary - West Germany 0-2
Last international goal : 11July 1982 Italy - West Germany 3-1
World Cup : 1974 Winner & 1982 Finalist - 14 matches 4 goals
Europian Cup : 1974 Winner
German Championship : 1972, 1973, 1974 1980, 1981
German Cup : 1982 Winner
Spanish Championship : 1975, 1976
Spanish Cup : 1975
Nicknamed “Der Afro” for his big curly hair, Paul Breitner was a starplayer at an early age. He signed for Bayern Munich when he was nineteen in 1970 and made his debut for the West German national team the following year. Paul started his career as a full-back, but moved up in midfield towards the end of his career. He had a very good right foot shot which he used frequently with great results.
He was one of Germany's best players ever and was capped 48 times for his country. His football career lasted from 1970 until 1983 mainly playing for Bayern Munich (70-74 and 78-83) and Real Madrid (74-78) with a short interruption in Braunschweig.
Breitner was a member of some of the finest teams Europe has produced. West Germany won the European Championship in 1972 and two years later, on home soil, they mopped up their second World Cup title. Breitner scored three goals from his defensive position, two long range thunderbolts against Chile and Yugoslavia and a penalty in the final against Holland. Also in 1974, Bayern Munich won the European Cup making it a fantastic year for “Der Afro”. At 22, he had already won everything a footballer could dream about winning.
Breitner's strong personality caused friction within the German set-up and especially with that other colossus of the German game, Franz Beckenbauer, at that time Bayern Munich's captain.
Often criticised for being provocative, Breitner did not go out of his way to calm troubled waters and it was no surprise that he chose to move to Spain and Real Madrid for a change of air.
Madrid accorded him his wish to move from defence into midfield but Real, despite several national titles, did not win a European title with Breitner in the team, losing in the semi-finals in 1976, ironically, against Breitner's old club, Bayern.
In 1977 he returned to Germany, spending a year at Brunswick in the north of the country before moving back south to Bayern, now without Beckenbauer who had moved on.
When he came back to Bayern after three years in 1977, he had won two league championships with Real and a Spanish Cup title. Paul’s international career was in the meantime temporarily over. Disagreements with the coaching staff and certain players made him stay away from the West German national team for several years, but he changed his mind on the eve of the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Rummenigge was one of several players who said the team needed him after a run of poor results in the build-up to the finals.
In his midfield role, Breitner guided West Germany to the final where Italy beat them 3-1. Breitner scored the West German goal making him only the third man, after Pelé and Vava, to score in two World Cup finals. He retired in 1983 having won many trophies including seven league championships in Spain and West Germany, with a total of 309 Bundesliga and European Cup matches, scoring 98 goals. Breitner was also named German Player of the Year once.
Today, Breitner works as a TV critic and columnist. Unsurprisingly, he is still controversial.
In March 2007 he entered into a contract with FC Bayern Munich and acts as an advisor on various issues.
