Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Rummenigge was born in Lippstadt, North Rhine-Westphalia. He joined Bayern Munich in 1974, coming from the Westphalian amateur side Borussia Lippstadt, for a transfer fee of c.€10,000. He immediately showed strength as a dribbler. His scoring qualities were initially insignificant, but would find improvement in later years, particularly after the arrival of coach Pal Csernai in 1979. In 1979–80, he scored 26 goals and became for the first time the Bundesliga's top striker, a feat he repeated in 1981 and 1984 with 29 and 26 goals, respectively. With Bayern, he won the European Cup in 1975 and 1976. In 1975, he did not take part in the final of the competition, whilst in the year thereafter a glass of brandy sufficiently prepared the nervous Rummenigge to contribute to the defeat of AS Saint-Étienne. In the same year he became also part of the team that prevailed in the Intercontinental Cup finals against Cruzeiro EC from Belo Horizonte. During the tenure of coach Pál Csernai, he developed an effective partnership with midfielder Paul Breitner. The duo was nicknamed ‘Breitnigge,’ a portmanteau coined by the German newspaper Bild.

The club, then often dubbed as "FC Breitnigge", won in this period the Bundesliga title in 1980 and 1981, and the DFB-Pokal in 1982 and 1984. A renewed triumph in the European Cup was denied, when the club lost the 1982 final narrowly against Aston Villa. In the season before Rummenigge was top-scorer in this competition with 6 goals. His substantial…

With the West Germany national team he took part in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, the 1982 World Cup in Spain and the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. In 1978, West Germany exited in the second group stage of the tournament. In 1982 and 1986, the team were runners-up to Italy and Argentina, giving him the unique distinction of captaining the senior team to two silver medals in the FIFA World Cup. Rummenigge also took part in two European Championship tournaments. In the 1980 competition in Italy, West Germany defeated Belgium in the final by 2–1 to win their second UEFA Euro. Altogether, between 1976 and 1986, Rummenigge amassed 95 caps and scored 45 goals for West Germany, including one in extra-time in the 1982 World Cup semi-final victory over France, and one in the losing 1986 World Cup final match against Argentina. He also scored a hat-trick in a group stage game against Chile during the 1982 World Cup.

Known as an attacker, Rummenigge was capable of playing as a centre-forward, second striker, or winger. He was renowned for his movement. Renowned for his exceptional goalscoring instincts, he was capable of scoring from difficult positions. Rummenigge was also praised for his both-footedness, aerial ability, leadership and professionalism. Although his later career was hampered by recurring injuries, particularly following his move to Inter Milan, he remained an effective and influential attacking player.

Club

International

Scores and results list West Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rummenigge goal.