Uwe Seeler obituary

“If there was a brick wall there and the ball was on the other side, then Uwe Seeler would go right through it,” said the Northern Ireland international Jimmy McIroy. Such was the reputation of the squat little centre-forward whose very name became a war cry – “Uwe, Uwe, Uwe!” – for fans of West Germany in the 1950s and 60s.

Seeler, who has died aged 85, played for his country in four World Cups, even though, between the 1962 and 1966 competitions, he had to be fitted with an artificial achilles tendon. Before the more elegant and technical era of Franz Beckenbauer, and even some distance into it, he represented the traditional strengths of German football: power, high morale, commitment and an indomitable will to win.

Although he was unable to pick up a World Cup winners’ medal, he played in the 1966 final against England at Wembley, where he was captain, and led the side again in 1970 as West Germany took third place in Mexico. In domestic football he spent his entire career with Hamburg and was German footballer of the year three times, in 1960, 1964 and 1970. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers the country has produced.

Born in Hamburg, Seeler was the son of Erwin, a harbour worker and former Hamburg player, and his wife, Anny. He was still only 17 when he made his first appearance for West Germany, as a substitute outside-left against France in Hanover in 1954. He played in his first World Cup finals in Sweden in 1958, scoring in the opening game, a 3-1 win against Argentina, after an exchange of passes with Hans Schäfer. In the semi-final in Gothenburg, against Sweden, he reciprocated by crossing for Schäfer to score with a ferocious 25-yard volley, but West Germany lost 3-1. Seeler also played