Joachim Streich

Joachim Streich carried East German attacking football for so long that his numbers almost start to sound institutional. Small, sharp and relentlessly productive, he was a centre-forward who lived on movement, anticipation and the ability to finish before defenders had organised their excuses. At Magdeburg he became a club monument, but his importance stretched far beyond domestic football: for East Germany, he was the record man, the leading scorer and the most capped player in the national team’s history. He was not a global superstar because the stage around him was smaller, not because the goals were fake. Quick in thought, ruthless near the box and tactically smarter than the poacher label suggests, Streich deserves far more attention. A great DDR striker, hidden by politics, geography and the usual laziness of football memory.