Dresden (dpa) – He was always called the “Beckenbauer of the East”, even if Hans-Jürgen Dörner never liked it himself.
The GDR football legend died on Wednesday night at the age of 70 after a long and serious illness in his Dresden apartment, the lawyer for Dörner’s family said. Born in Görlitz, he played exclusively for Dynamo Dresden in the adult division; he won the championship and the cup of the GDR five times.
Dörner had to put up with the comparison with Franz Beckenbauer. Just like the Munich “Kaiser”, Dörner, who was only called “Dixie”, interpreted the libero in a very special way: technically adept with a good eye for the open spaces and an incomparable forward drive. The trained attacker scored 101 goals in 558 games for Dynamo – mainly after solos, but also with free kicks and long-range shots.
Special skills
“With his outstanding skills as an absolutely exceptional player, he completely reinterpreted the libero game with particular elegance. His great commitment to the interests of our sports community after his active career should also be emphasized. His competence and his huge wealth of experience as well as his personality and humanity will be appreciated SG Dynamo Dresden are very lacking in active committee work. But all of this is taking a back seat at this moment. We have lost an admirable personality, which tears a big hole in our midst, “said Dynamo President Holger Scholze in a club statement.
In 1967 Dörner came to Dresden from Görlitz. “”Dynamo Dresden is different,” he said three years ago in a dpa interview about his decision to play for the Dynamos forever. In 1969, the rapid rise of the Saxons to the best GDR club of the 1970s began. Successful coach Walter Fritzsch continued to talented young players who interpreted the famous “Dresdner Kreisel” and right in the middle was Dörner, who developed more and more into a leading figure.
And so he quickly came into the sights of the GDR selection coach. Dörner received 100 international calls, culminating in Olympic gold in Montreal in 1976. The Dresdener missed the only World Cup participation of a GDR national team – 1974 in the Federal Republic – because of jaundice.
Honorary captain at Dynamo Dresden
After his 100th international match, his selection career ended just as abruptly as his sporting career did a little later. Dörner initially became a junior coach at Dynamo, before moving to the German Football Association (DFB) in the same capacity and as an assistant to national coach Berti Vogts. He gave up this commitment in 1996 when Werder Bremen tried to get him. The Bundesliga club, which was threatened with relegation at the time and which Dörner still led to ninth place, was his only coaching position in the upper house. This was followed by positions at FSV Zwickau, Al-Ahly Cairo and VfB Leipzig.
But Dörner was always drawn back to Dresden. In 2013, the fan favorite with the most votes was elected to the Dynamo board of directors, of which he was a member to the end. He later became honorary captain. Dörner was also inducted into the “Hall of Fame” of German football.
In memory of the popular footballer, Dynamo wants to wear black ribbons at the away game in Hanover on Sunday. The club also requested a minute’s silence.
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