Sepp Piontek died in Denmark after a short illness at the age of 85. In the early days of the Bundesliga he became German champion as a Werder player.
Werder’s Sepp Piontek (l.) also dueled with Bayern Munich’s Franz Beckenbauer (r.) as a kicker.
With defender Piontek, the Weser team won the DFB Cup in 1961 and its first championship in 1965. The six-time German international played more than 300 competitive games for Bremen.
When an injury stopped his active career, Piontek got his coaching license. He first coached Werder from 1972 to 1975, then Fortuna Düsseldorf, the Haiti national team and FC St. Pauli before becoming coach of the Danish national team in 1979. He coached the Danes for eleven years.
Legendary status in Denmark
“Sepp will forever be remembered as one of the most influential national coaches in the history of Danish football,” wrote the Danish Football Association DBU on Facebook on Thursday. The Danish television station TV2 had previously reported on Piontek’s death, citing Piontek’s family.
