Karl-Heinz “Charly” Körbel was only 17 when he made his Bundesliga debut. And what a debut it was! The Eagles’ opponents were Bayern München, and young Charly marked his famous opposing player tightly and played a great match. This was all the more remarkable because Charly’s opponent was none other than Gerd Müller, one of the best strikers of all time.
In his long career, Charly scored very important goals for Eintracht. For example, he put the ball behind the goal line in the matches against 1. FC Nürnberg in 1984 or against Hannover 96 in 1988, when the Eagles faced the danger of being relegated. “Loyal Charly”, as Körbel is known because he spent his entire playing career (1972 to 1991) with Eintracht Frankfurt, won the German DFB Cup four times. In 1975, he scored the only goal in Eintracht’s 1-0 victory against MSV Duisburg, and in 1988, Charly was the skipper when Eintracht defeated VfL Bochum in Berlin. Of course, Charly, who made six appearances for the German national team, was also part of the Eintracht squad which won the UEFA Cup in 1980.
Today, Charly Körbel is still involved with Eintracht. He is the head of “Eintracht Frankfurt Fußballschule”, a football academy for youths. Also, Körbel manages and regularly plays for Eintracht Frankfurt’s “Traditionsmannschaft”, an all-star team which attracts football fans all around Germany.
Charly’s birthday party will take place this afternoon in Eintracht’s home ground, the Commerzbank Arena. Numerous former team mates and opponents will be there to celebrate with the Eintracht legend.
We wish you all the best, Charly. Thanks for everything you have done - and still do - for Eintracht. Happy Birthday!
Charly (on the left side of the picture) in action
