Karl-Heinz Riedle

There are centre forwards who dominate with speed, others with power, and then there was Karl Heinz Riedle, who seemed to hang in the air just long enough to make physics look poorly organised. Compact, sharp and extraordinary in aerial timing, he was one of Germany’s finest heading specialists, dangerous not because he was huge but because he attacked crosses with perfect rhythm. Werder Bremen and Lazio saw a mobile, hard working striker with clean finishing, but Borussia Dortmund gave him the immortal frame: two goals in the 1997 Champions League final against Juventus. He was not the most technically complete German forward, nor a player who could carry an attack alone every week, but inside the box he had instinct, courage and big match nerve. Riedle was a forward made for decisive balls, sudden gaps and defenders who thought they had already jumped high enough.