Uwe Seeler – his modest manner, his commitment on the pitch and a “no” made the footballer a monument. He will be 85 years old on Friday.
Uwe Seeler is already looking forward to it. The big party on his 85th birthday has to be canceled, Uns Uwe should take it easy, but of course his Ilka conjures up one of his favorite dishes – roulades and red cabbage. “The most beautiful thing in the world is to be normal,” said Seeler once to the SID – and that also applies to the football idol’s food.
For Seeler, however, the time around his birthday on Friday is anything but normal. He, who loves to socialize, who loves chatting and has so much to tell, had to cancel all official appointments. “Uwe is not feeling well,” said Ilka Seeler to the SID: “The situation is not critical, but the doctor urgently advised him to take it easy.” It is only celebrated at home with the closest family members, with the three daughters, seven grandchildren and the great-granddaughter.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier praised Seeler as an “athlete legend” and a “unique personality in German football”. In a letter he also wrote: “With all your fame and popularity, you have always remained true to yourself.”
Take things easy? Anyone who knows Seeler knows how difficult it is for him. He never spared himself during his life. Only on the square. For Germany and Hamburger SV, the attacker has always put his feet up, rolled up his sleeves, fought, rummaged around.
And the famous “No” to Inter Milan finally made Seeler a legend, but they didn’t just embrace him forever in Hamburg. Then after the career. Seeler remained a star you can touch, always approachable, always friendly and never at a loss for a cheeky saying. Just us Uwe.
Uwe Seeler after health setbacks: “Looked like Quasimodo”
“Getting old is not for cowards,” Seeler has been saying for a few years. The problems are not getting any less with Hamburg’s honorary citizen. For some time now, Seeler has had to limit himself again and again. In 2020, the 1966 vice world champion suffered a hip fracture in a serious fall, and he was given an artificial hip.
He is also troubled by the consequences of a no-fault car accident eleven years ago, back problems plague him, Seeler can no longer hear in his right ear, and he complains of balance problems. In 2017 he was successfully fitted with a pacemaker, most recently he stumbled at home and ended up with his face in the coffee service, the blood pouring out. “I looked like Quasimodo,” he told the Hamburger Morgenpost afterwards.
Seeler got better again relatively quickly, but at the weekend he couldn’t be there when he was NDR In his honor a film (“Uwe Seeler – One of us: The football legend turns 85”) presented. “We still have so much ahead of us, sometimes I don’t know whether we can do it,” says Ilka, who has been married to her “little mouse” Uwe for over 60 years. “I would like to do a few more years,” says Seeler.
Inevitably, even with Seeler, thoughts of death come up, especially since his good friend Gerd Müller passed away this year. “Nobody can run away from it. It’s the way we all go,” he said image-Newspaper. But Seeler still has one big wish in his life. And of course that affects HSV: “That would be the greatest for me if I could still see promotion to the Bundesliga.”
