The body of the footballer Pel will be displayed this Monday in the stadium of his home club, FC Santos. Hartheimer Hubert Birkenmeier played with him for several years.
The death of the famous Brazilian footballer Pel on December 29 has had repercussions in numerous media outlets around the world. On Monday, he was deployed to the stadium of his hometown club FC Santos. Many fans, players and coaches considered him the king of his guild. Off the court, too, he had earned a lot of sympathy for his down-to-earth attitude.
Very few German players have played with Pel in a team. The best known of these is Franz Beckenbauer, world champion and world champion coach. The other athlete, much less famous, is Hubert Birkenmeier, a former player of the District League of Hartheim. In 1969 he won the class C championship as a goalkeeper with the 1st team of SV Hartheim. Thanks to his excellent performances, his path then led him to Freiburger FC, Tennis-Borussia in Berlin and finally to Cosmos New York. With this team he became American champion in 1980 and 1982, together with players such as Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto and several international football stars, including Pel.
Although he had already finished his active career at Cosmos New York, he was still present at some farewell or all-star games, in which Hubert Birkenmeier was also part of the party. Birkenmeier himself still lives in New Jersey. His personal opinion of Pele is clear. “He was the greatest”.
