West Germany football legend Uwe Seeler dies aged 85

Uwe Seeler, who led West Germany to the 1966 World Cup final as captain of the national team, died on Thursday. He was 85.

"If Uwe Seeler laced up his boots, then the opposing goalkeeper could dress up warmly and preferably put on a second pair of gloves because Seeler scored from everywhere and in every possible way," his hometown club Hamburger SV wrote in a special supplement to celebrate the striker widely regarded as one Germany's best-ever players and a national legend. 

"Whether overhead kicks, flying headers, shots from distance, volleys, lobs, opportunist strikes — he always found a way to get the ball over the line." 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Twitter that the country was mourning the passing of "our Uwe".

"He was a role model for many, a football legend and of course an honorary citizen of Hamburg. I was permitted to give the after-dinner speech for his 80th birthday: 'We actually all want to be like our Uwe – self-confident and modest.' He will be missed," Scholz wrote.

Seeler received offers from clubs in Spain and Italy, most notably a huge offer from Inter Milan in 1961, but he opted to stay with Hamburg.

He played for Hamburg from 1952-73, scoring 445 goals in 519 Oberliga and Bundesliga appearances for the team. He remains Hamburg's record scorer in the Bundesliga with 137 goals. The club said Seeler scored 507 goals in 587 competitive games for the club altogether.

Hamburg, which had been the only remaining team to have played every season in the Bundesliga since the league's formation in 1963, was finally relegated to the second division in 2018.

The club on Thursday mourned the loss of a "legend".

"Uwe Seeler stands for everything that characterizes a good person: down-to-earth, loyalty, joie de