Uwe Seeler was West Germany's most prolific goalscorer until the arrival of Gerd Müller. Seeler, who was born at Hamburg in 1936, spent his entire professional career with his hometown club, despite many offers from Spanish and Italian clubs. He skippered SV Hamburg to the 1961 European Cup semifinal and the 1968 Cup Winner's Cup final. His international career began as a 17 year old in October 1954, when he came on as a substitute against France for the first of 72 appearances which saw him score 43 goals. 

     He played in the teams that reached the World Cup semifinals (1958) and quarterfinals (1962) before skippering the side in the 1966 final, bowing out of international soccer after West Germany clinched third place in the 1970 tournament. It was his 21st World Cup appearance and that was a record until fellow countryman Lothar Matthäus beat it in 1998. By 1970, Gerd Müller was the new German scoring sensation and Seeler played a deeper role, complementing Müller well. He played for Hamburg until 1972 and in his 18 year career made over 700 senior appearances, scored 551 goals and was the Bundesliga's leading goalscorer five times.
 

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