Where Are They Now: Günter Netzer

Günter Netzer (born September 14, 1944 in Mönchengladbach) is a former German football player and manager currently working in the media business and as a TV commentator. He was considered to be one of the greatest passer in the game’s history.

When Johan Cruyff joined FC Barcelona in 1973, Real Madrid needed to respond in kind. So Santiago Bernabéu signed him and Paul Breitner a year later. He played there until 1976, winning the Spanish Championship in 1975 and 1976 and the Spanish Cup in 1974 and 1975. In 1976, he joined Grasshopper Zürich where he finished his career in 1977. He won a single league title in Switzerland. A very funny feature of this German player, is his enormous resemblance to the Spanish cult singer, “the Fary”, interpreter of successes such as “Torito Guapo” or “Apatrullando la Ciudad”, the latter was the theme song of the great movie “Torrente”. In all he played 85 games for Real Madrid scoring 9 goals in the process.

He played for the West Germany national team 37 times from 1965 to 1975, scoring six goals and playing a vital role in the country’s victory in the European Championship in 1972. He also appeared very briefly (for 21 minutes against East Germany) in the World Cup in 1974, during which time the goal was scored against his team. At this tournament, Wolfgang Overath was the central figure in Germany’s midfield; Netzer and Overath were considered to not being able to play together.

Netzer was the iconic playmaker and is considered one of the best midfielders of all times, gaining a lot of attention with his long passes and pushes from deep within his own half of the pitch. Apart from his superior ball skills, his natural authority made him the undisputed leader of his team. As a player for Borussia Mönchengladbach, he enjoyed a lot of licence from the management and the coach Hennes Weisweiler, even off the pitch.