3 defenders who scored the match-winning goal in the final of a major tournament

Ronald Koeman was brilliant with his free-kicks and scored a lot of goals from set pieces
Ronald Koeman was brilliant with his free-kicks and scored a lot of goals from set pieces

#2. Andreas Brehme (West Germany vs Argentina, 1990 FIFA World Cup)

Andreas Brehme
Andreas Brehme

West Germany went into the final of the 1990 World Cup as the favourites and had beaten England in the semi-final. Brehme, who played as a left-back, had scored against England too to put his team ahead. However, the most important goal of his career came in the match against Argentina as he shot home a penalty in the 86th minute of the match.

Jurgen Klinsmann was fouled inside the Argentine penalty box and West Germany were awarded a penalty as a result. The regular penalty-taker Lothar Matthaus could not take it and Brehme stepped in for him.

He beat Goycochea, the Argentine goalkeeper, to his right side to win the World cup for the Germans. Goycochea had saved 2 penalties in the semi-final against Italy and it was not easy to score past him in a high-pressure situation, but Brehme did that precisely.

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Edited by Sagnik Mallick