#9 Paul Breitner
Breitner had a fairly extraordinary footballing career and was one of the top midfielders in the 1970/80s. He won both the European Championships and the World Cup with West Germany, forming a formidable unit with Franz Beckenbauer and Berti Vogts.
He is also one of four footballers – along with Pele, Vava and Zinedine Zidane – to have scored in two separate World Cup finals. His club career also saw him win multiple league titles and cups with the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and finish runners-up in the Ballon D’Or.
Breitner’s stellar reputation was tainted – along with a majority of the other players’ in both the teams – after West Germany’s group game against Austria in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Before the game, Algeria looked set to qualify for the next stage of their first ever World Cup, having played their last game the day before.
But a 1-0 win for West Germany would mean that both, they and Austria, would safely go through and Algeria would go home. It would be that the game would end in that exact scoreline, with neither team punished since it technically didn’t break any rule.
Karma would eventually see the West Germans lose in the final to Italy, but nonetheless, it left a sour taste in everyone’s mouths.
