Horst Szymaniak

German football is mourning former international midfielder Horst Szymaniak, who has died at the age of 75.

'Exceptional' talent
Theo Zwanziger, president of the German Football Association, paid tribute to "one of Germany's exceptional players of the 1950s and 1960s" after Szymaniak passed away in Melle near Osnabruck.

Well-travelled
Horst Szymaniak had an outstanding playing career which took him from his home town of Oer-Erkenschwick to Sweden and Chile – where he represented West Germany at successive FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1958 and 1962 – then to Sicily, mainland Italy and the United States. Born in 1934, he emerged from his local team to play for Wuppertaler SV and Karlsruher SC before, in 1961, he became one of his country's first footballing exports to Italy by signing for Sicilian club Calcio Catania.

World Cup veteran
By then Szymaniak was approaching his second World Cup, and in Chile he took his total of final-tournament appearances to nine. In all he won 43 caps between 1956 and 1966. The midfielder later spent a solitary season with FC Internazionale Milano in 1963/64 – Inter ended the campaign as European champions but Szymaniak was overlooked for the final against Real Madrid CF. He returned to his native league, joining Tasmania 1900 Berlin, yet itchy feet soon had him on his travels. There was a stopover at Swiss side FC Biel/Bienne in 1966 before one last adventure in North America with the St Louis Stars.