The final wasn’t a classic, but the World Cup of Italia ’90 saw German efficiency overcome Carlos Bilardo’s Argentina
West Germany sealed their third World Cup win when gaining revenge over Argentina for the loss they suffered in the 1986 final.
Franz Beckenbauer saw his side cruise through the group stage as they beat Yugoslavia and UAE, before settling for a draw in their final group-stage fixture against Colombia.
They then overcame Netherlands, Czechoslovakia and England on the way to the final in Rome.
Andreas Brehme netted the only goal of the match in the 85th minute from the penalty spot to seal the game and help the Germans lift the trophy.
Who were part of the squad, though, and what has happened to those players since?
Getty ImagesBodo Illgner – Goalkeeper
Keeper Illgner was at 1. FC Koeln during the 1990 finals and stayed there until 1996 when he joined Real Madrid. He was a key figure in the semi-final penalty shoot-out win over England, as Stuart Pearce will testify.
At Real, he had to fight Santiago Canizares for the first-team jersey and kept goal for Los Blancos’ Champions League final win over Juventus in 1998. In 1999, however, he lost his place to youngster Iker Casillas and retired in 2000.
Yet he remained in Spain living in Alicante with his wife Bianca and his three children. He was a co-commentator for Premiere at various times. In 2007 he decided to emigrate to Miami.
AdvertisementGettyAndreas Brehme – Defender
It was Brehme’s 85th-minute penalty that won the World Cup for Germany against the negative Argentines. Following the triumph in Rome, he spent two further seasons with Inter Milan before moving to Spain with Real Zaragoza for a season. He returned to Germany and made 120 appearances for Kaiserslautern, helping the Red Devils win the Bundesliga in 1998.
Brehme entered coaching after his retirement but without great success. At Kaiserslautern, he was fired after two years, and the same thing happened at second-division Unterhaching. He became Giovanni Trapattoni’s assistant at Stuttgart but again was dismissed along with the Italian in 2006.
He was an ambassador for the German FA and is involved in an initiative to provide mini football pitches for children in Germany.
Getty ImagesJurgen Kohler – Defender
Following the World Cup success, center-back Kohler was snapped up by Juventus in 1991 and he went on to win Serie A (1995) and the UEFA Cup (1993). He returned to the Bundesliga in 1995 with Borussia Dortmund with whom he won the league title twice and the Champions League in 1997. He was also part of the German side that won the European Championships in 1996.
He retired in 2002 and succeeded Johannes Loehr as German U-21 trainer and a year later he became the sporting director at Bayer Leverkusen. At the start of 2006, he spent four months as a trainer of MSV Duisburg before being sacked. In August 2008 he became the trainer of third division VfR Aalen but lasted just 80 days as doctors told him to quit on health grounds.
Getty ImagesKlaus Augenthaler – Defender
The World Cup sweeper retired in 1991 and took up the position of youth team trainer at Bayern Munich. Between 1992 and 1997 he was the co-trainer for the Bavarian giants. His first trainer post came with Grazer AK in 1997, but he returned to Germany in 2000 to take the reins at Nuernberg, whom he led into the Bundesliga. However, with the club in danger of being relegated in 2003, he was let go.
Bayer Leverkusen took him on and he led them to Champions league qualification with a third place finish in 2004. He was fired in 2005, and after a break became Wolfsburg trainer only to lose his job in 2007 when he agreed to terminate his contract. He also worked for the radio channel Bayern 1 as a presenter.
