Germany great Rudi Völler receives Sports Legend award

Former World Cup winner and Germany coach Rudi Völler has been honoured as "Sports Legend" at the 43rd German Sports Press Ball in Frankfurt.

"As a little boy, my only dream was to play for the first team of Kickers Offenbach. It turned out to be a bit more than that," Völler, 65, told more than 1,000 guests at the gala event in the Alte Oper concert hall on Saturday.

However, Völler said he does not see himself as a legend. "I was blessed with talent from above," he said. With so much luck, combined with hard work, one has to "stay humble and give something back," Völler added.

At Völler's request, former DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach presented him with the trophy, shaped as a winged horse. Niersbach praised Völler as someone who "has always remained Rudi."

Völler won the World Cup with Germany as a player in 1990. As team manager, he led the national team to second place at the 2002 World Cup.

The former striker worked for almost 19 years in a management position at Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen before taking over as Germany sporting director in February 2023.

Before Völler, Franz Beckenbauer, Boris Becker, Michael Schumacher, Katarina Witt, Lothar Matthäus, Heiner Brand, Uwe Seeler, Isabell Werth and Gerd Müller, among others, received the award, which has been presented since 2007.