Georg Buschner, former East German soccer coach, dies at 81
JENA, Germany -- Georg Buschner, who coached East Germany to a victory over eventual champion West Germany at the 1974 World Cup, died Monday. He was 81.
Hid death was announced by his longtime soccer club, FC Carl Zeiss.
Buschner coached the national team for 115 games and guided East Germany to its biggest soccer triumph -- beating West Germany 1-0 at the 1974 World Cup. The Franz Beckenbauer-led West German team -- more popular among East Germans than their own team -- recovered from that group loss to win the title.
"We were an unloved national team," Buschner once said.
The 1974 tournament was East Germany's only appearance in the World Cup. A team coached by Buschner won the gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
Buschner had the best record among coaches in his country with 60 wins, 33 ties and 22 losses, although he was forced to take the job by East German authorities. After three East Germany titles with SC Motor Jena, Buschner took over the national team in 1970 "under threat of losing my livelihood," he later said.
He was dropped as coach in 1981 after failing to qualify for the World Cup and angering East German authorities. Although Buschner had wanted out of the job, he still called his firing the bitterest moment of his life. He later recovered from a heart attack, but was never allowed to coach again, saying it "amounted to a ban from my profession."
Buschner once said soccer was marginalized in east Germany, making it second-class internationally, because the authorities didn't believe they had enough top players. Resources were channeled into sprinters, canoeists and weightlifters that would turn the country into an Olympic power.
Buschner is survived by his wife, Sonja, and two sons.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index
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