Sepp Maier

Josef ("Sepp") Maier (born February 28, 1944 in Metten, Germany) is a former professional football goalkeeper. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time.

He spent the entirety of his professional playing career at Bayern Munich, winning the West German Championship four times and the European Cup three times in succession. Between 1966 and 1977 he played in an uninterrupted sequence of 422 matches, still a German national record. He was voted West German footballer of the year three times (1975, 1977 and 1978). His nickname was The cat from Anzing.

Maier was selected in the West Germany squad for four consecutive World Cups. In 1966 in England, he was a non-playing deputy to Hans Tilkowski. In 1970 in Mexico, he was the undisputed starter and played all games (including the legendary 3-4 semifinal loss to Italy after extra time) save for the third-place match. In 1974 on home soil, at the top of his footballing abilities, he enjoyed his greatest triumph when he helped his national side win the World Cup, defeating the Netherlands 2-1 in the final in his home city of Munich. In 1978 in Argentina, slightly past his peak but still formidable, he delivered a strong performance but could not prevent his side's failing to advance past the second round. Maier also won the 1972 European Championship with West Germany and reached the final in 1976, losing to Czechoslovakia on penalty kicks. In all, he played for his country 95 times.

As well as his goalkeeping exploits, Maier was famous for his overlong shorts and outsize gloves, and, despite his undoubted talent, was seen in some circles as somewhat of a clown. Famous is his duck hunt in the Olympia Stadion. While Bayern were pressuring the opponent's goal all the time, Maier got bored and a duck had got lost itself in the stadium. Since no shot on goal was to be expected, Sepp Maier went duck hunting instead of paying attention to the match. Needless to say, the duck escaped all the dives Maier made. His career was curtailed in 1979 following a car crash in which he sustained life-threatening injuries. After a near-complete recovery, Maier turned to coaching and has since been goalkeeping coach for both Bayern Munich and the German national side. In October 2004 his contract with the national side was terminated by coach Jürgen Klinsmann after Maier spoke out in favour of Bayern's Oliver Kahn over Jens Lehmann in a dispute over who should be the side's first-choice goalkeeper.