Bernd Hölzenbein (born 9 March 1946 in Dehrn, Germany) is a former German football player (winning the World Cup in 1974). He is best known for being fouled in the final against Netherlands, which led to the Germans' equalising penalty.

A qualified merchant, Holz debuted for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga in 1967 to serve for this club until his departure in 1981. A three times German Cup winner with them in 1974, 1975 and 1981, Hölzenbein also won the UEFA Cup with Frankfurt in 1980. His output of 160 goals in his 420 Bundesliga matches is still club record achievement for Frankfurt. His departure was due to his unwillingness to accept a pay cut to stay on with Frankfurt and made him become a team-mate of Gerd Müller at Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the United States. Over there he was also playing for Memphis Americans and Baltimore Blast in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He finished off his career in Germany, playing a handful of games alongside Klaus Toppmöller for FSV Salmrohr before hanging up his boots at FC Rhein-Main and starting to work as assistant to Horst Heese at Viktoria Aschaffenburg.

Franz Anton Beckenbauer [fʁants ˈbɛkənˌbaʊ̯ɐ] (born 11 September 1945 in Munich) is a German football coach, manager, and former player, nicknamed Der Kaiser ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, his leadership, his first name "Franz" (reminiscent of the Austrian emperors), and his dominance on the football pitch. He is generally regarded as the greatest German footballer of all time and one of the greatest and most decorated footballers in the history of the game. Beckenbauer was a versatile player who started out as a midfielder but made his name as a defender. He is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper or libero.

Twice selected the European Footballer of the Year, he appeared 103 times for West Germany and played in three World Cups. He lifted the World Cup trophy as captain in 1974, and repeated the feat as a manager in 1990. With the club Bayern Munich, he won three consecutive European Cups from 1974 to 1976, and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1967. He is one of only two footballers, along with Brazil's Mário Zagallo, to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a coach. Beckenbauer is one of two players (along with Carles Puyol) to captain three European Cup winning sides. He went on to become coach and president of the institution. He is also a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Klaus Fischer (born 27 December 1949) is a German former football player and coach, noted for his bicycle kicks.

Fischer was born in Kreuzstraßl, near Lindberg (Bayerischer Wald) in the district of Regen.

He moved from SC Zwiesel to TSV 1860 Munich in 1968 and made 535 Bundesliga appearances for TSV 1860 Munich, FC Schalke 04, 1. FC Köln and VfL Bochum. With Schalke 04 he won the German Cup in 1972. Schalke 04 were one of the clubs involved in a bribery scandal in season 1970–71 of the Bundesliga. As one of the players involved, Fischer initially received a ban for life, but this punishment was later reduced to a one-year ban.

In 1976 he was top scorer in the Bundesliga. With 268 goals he ranks second to Gerd Müller in the list of all-time top Bundesliga goalscorers. In 1988 Fischer's club side VfL Bochum made it to the German Cup Final, but Fischer did not feature in the final match. Klaus Fischer ended his career in 1988.

His 182 league goals for Schalke 04 remain a club record.

He made 45 appearances for the Germany national football team from 1977 to 1982 and scored 32 goals (eight headers and 24 with his feet including two bicycle kicks). He appeared in two World Cups and was a World Cup runner-up in Spain in 1982.

Horst Hrubesch (born 17 April 1951 in Hamm) is a retired German football player, now manager, employed as of 2000^[update] as a youth trainer at the German Football Association. His nickname was Das Kopfball-Ungeheuer (the Header Beast) for his heading skills.

Hrubesch was the typical late bloomer. He played in small clubs until the age of 24 before he was signed by Rot-Weiss Essen. There he played well enough that Hamburger SV bought him, where he blossomed into one of the most productive forwards of the Bundesliga and was soon called up for the German national team. Hrubesch was known for his symbiotic relationship with fellow HSV player Manfred Kaltz, a right wingback whose crosses Hrubesch often headed into the goal.

West Germany's match-winning hero in the UEFA Euro 1980 Final against Belgium, Hrubesch scored two goals in Rome, the second of them a trademark bullet header in the 89th minute. It was a day of glorious redemption for the big, bulky Hamburger SV centre forward who a few weeks earlier had hobbled around the field with an ankle injury as his club lost the European Champion Clubs' Cup final to Nottingham Forest FC. A latecomer to the international scene, Hrubesch had only been called into the West Germany squad after Klaus Fischer broke his leg, and the game against Belgium was only his fifth international appearance. He would win just 21 caps in all, the last of them in the 1982 FIFA World Cup final. A German champion three times, he also won the European Cup with Hamburg in 1983, captaining the team to a sensational 1–0 win against favourites Juventus in the Athens final.