Editing Paul Breitner (section)

==Playing career==
Breitner's football career lasted from 1970 until 1983, mainly playing for [[Bayern Munich]] (1970–74 and 1978–83) and [[Real Madrid C.F.|Real Madrid]] (1974–77), with one season playing for [[Eintracht Braunschweig]].<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/players/breitnerdata.html | title = Paul Breitner - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga | author = Matthias Arnhold | date = 6 September 2012 | access-date = 22 November 2012 | publisher = Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation}}</ref> His early success was as a free roaming left back, as likely to score from the right midfield as to stop an attacker in his own penalty area. Later in his career he moved to midfield and became one of the top midfielders through the early 1980s.

The early peak of Breitner's long and successful career was at age 21 in 1972 as part of the winning German [[UEFA Euro 1972|European Championship]] team. Two years later he won the [[1974 FIFA World Cup]].<ref>{{cite web|title=World Cup - History - West Germany 1974|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/history/newsid_1632000/1632217.stm|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=15 April 2002 | access-date = 13 April 2013}}</ref> The final was played in [[Munich]] against the [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands]], and Breitner scored the first German goal on a penalty kick. In the final, he, [[Franz Beckenbauer]], [[Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck]] and [[Berti Vogts]] formed a formidable unit at the back, their resolute defense preventing the Dutch from getting many scoring chances. He moved to [[Real Madrid]] for a fee of over 1 million [[Deutsche Marks]]<ref>{{cite web|website=Sport1|url=https://www.sport1.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/2024/01/fc-bayern-trauert-um-casar-klaus-wunder|title=Bayern trauert um "Cäsar" Klaus Wunder|date=19 January 2024|language=de|access-date=27 January 2024}}</ref> following the World Cup and withdrew from the [[Germany national football team|West German squad]], remaining off the side until enticed to return by [[Jupp Derwall]] in 1981. Breitner is one of only five footballers to have achieved the feat of scoring in two different World Cup final matches,<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/breitner-intl.html | title = Paul Breitner - International Appearances | author = Matthias Arnhold | date = 18 April 2004 | access-date = 22 November 2012 | publisher = Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation}}</ref> sharing that honour with [[Pelé]], [[Vavá]], [[Zinedine Zidane]], and [[Kylian Mbappe]]. He achieved this in 1974 against the [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands]] and in [[1982 FIFA World Cup|1982]] against [[Italy national football team|Italy]].

[[File:FC Bayern Munchen tegen Aston Villa 0-1 Europa Cup. Breitner in aktie.jpg|thumb|right|Breitner (left) playing for [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]] in the [[1982 European Cup final]]]]
During his club career, Breitner won seven National Championships with [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]] (1972, 1973, 1974, 1980, 1981) and Real Madrid (1975, 1976), the [[UEFA Champions League|Champions' Cup]] (1974)<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/players/breitner-in-ec.html | title = Paul Breitner - Matches in European Cups | author = Marcel Haisma | date = 14 February 2008 | access-date = 22 November 2012 | publisher = Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation}}</ref> as well as the [[DFB-Pokal|German]] (1971, 1982) and [[Copa del Rey|Spanish]] cups (1975). During his spell with Bayern Munich, [[Karl-Heinz Rummenigge]] and he formed such a formidable one-two-punch that they were often called ''Breitnigge''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bayern Munich's all-time greatest starting line-up|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/raphael_honigstein/02/15/bayern.greatestXI/index.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130215175346/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/raphael_honigstein/02/15/bayern.greatestXI/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 February 2013|publisher=[[Sports Illustrated]]|date=15 May 2012 | access-date = 13 April 2013}}</ref>

Outside the pitch, Breitner self identified as part of the ''68ers'' (the [[Protests of 1968|1968 protest movement]] in West Germany and elsewhere). He was often decried by the more traditional or conservative football fans for his radicalism and "revolutionary" attitude, as well as his tendency for voicing strong opinions on major political and social issues, especially during a time when Germany was still divided by the [[Berlin Wall]]. He was seen bringing [[Mao Zedong]]'s "[[Quotations from Chairman Mao|Little Red Book]]" to training. However, after 1974, Breitner abruptly brushed aside his leftist leanings. While his Dutch World Cup rival [[Johan Cruyff]] had publicly declared to never play for a club associated with "fascist" [[Francisco Franco|General Franco]], Breitner yearned to play for Real Madrid and signed the transfer documents in 1974. Subsequently, he gained notoriety for spending lavishly on houses and cars, as well as participating in lucrative commercials.

Before the 1982 World Cup in Spain he caused a major uproar in West Germany when he accepted an offer by Pitralon, a German cosmetics company to pay him the – what many Germans regarded at that time as a "scandalously high" – sum of 150,000 [[Deutsche Mark]] if he shaved off his fluffy full beard, used their aftershave and advertised for the company. In the previous years his long hair had been perceived as a show of rebellion. Breitner had previously infuriated many fans with his move to Spanish club giants [[Real Madrid C.F.|Real Madrid]]. He returned to West Germany after the successful spell in Madrid and retired as a player in 1983. About the aftershave incident, Breitner said that he was mistakenly labelled as Maoist after, talking with a journalist about communism, the Soviet Union and France, mentioning that he had Mao Zedong's Little Red Book.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ruiz |first=Daniel |title="No fim do dia... Paul Breitner" |date=9 September 2009 |publisher=Editora Cádiz |pages=58 |language=Portuguese |trans-title=At the End of the Day... Paul Breitner}}</ref> He stated ''"When the atrocities became known, I had nothing to regret about because I never declared myself as a Maoist"''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ruiz |first=Daniel |title="No fim do dia... Paul Breitner" |date=9 September 2009 |publisher=Editora Cádiz |pages=58 |language=Portuguese |trans-title=At the End of the Day... Paul Breitner}}</ref>