PAUL BREITNER

Often a controversial figure throughout his playing career, West German midfield star Paul Breitner was one of the most recognisable players in world football in the 1970s. Known as "Der Afro" because of his famous hairstyle, he started his career as a full back but was converted into a defensive midfield player with an ability to score vital goals.

Breitner started his career in regional football in Bavaria, first with SC Kolbermoor and then with ESV Freilassing, and by 1970 had attracted the attention of one of the region's biggest clubs, Bayern Munich. Signing for Bayern aged only 18, at the end of his first season he became a West German international for the first time.

The next three years brought great success both domestically and internationally. Bayern won a hat-trick of Bundesliga titles between 1972 and 1974, the third of which was accompanied by victory in the European Cup. At international level, Breitner was part of the West German team that won the 1972 European Championship in Belgium, and then added a World Cup winner's medal on home soil two years later. Breitner himself scored the equalising goal in the final against the Netherlands from the penalty spot.

After that World Cup win, Breitner left Germany to play in Spain for Real Madrid, and won the Spanish League Championship in each of his first two seasons. After falling out with the West German national coaches, his international career seemed to be over and having returned to the Bundesliga in 1977 to play for Eintracht Braunschweig he missed out on West Germany's defence of the World Cup in Argentina in 1978.

In 1978, Breitner went back to Bayern Munich for a five-year second spell and won two more Bundesliga titles in 1980 and 1981. Having been West German Footballer of the Year in 1981 and patched up his differences with the national team, he was back in the side for the 1982 World Cup in Spain as West Germany reached the final, where Breitner became only the third player to score in two finals but could not prevent a 3-1 defeat by Italy. That match proved to be the end of his international career, and he retired from football a year later to become a television commentator.