Hartmut Scherzer vividly recalls flying alongside the German team of 1954 world champion coach Sepp Herberger to his first FIFA World Cup as a journalist. It was in 1962, during the jet age, and they flew with Lufthansa from Germany to Chile.
“A flight from Frankfurt to Santiago in those days was as expensive as a Volkswagen car,” he told AIPS. “A stopover in Dakar, Senegal, was necessary to cross the Atlantic. A personal document signed by the pilot was presented on board for crossing the Equator,” he explained.
THE BEGINNING Scherzer’s career as a sports writer was only two years old at the time: “Because Germany was a leading sports nation, especially in football, it was only logical I was sent to the world’s greatest event,” he said. On April 1, 1960 he had joined American news agency United Press International (UPI) in their German headquarter in Frankfurt as a bilingual German sports editor – that was the beginning of his illustrious journey in the ever-evolving world of sports journalism.
CONSECUTIVE WORLD CUPS Now 84 years old and covering his 16th World Cup in Doha, Qatar, the German remembered that six decades ago in Chile, he would dictate breaking news from the matches via public stadium telephones to UPI’s Santiago office.
Scherzer, who has never missed a World Cup since his first taste of the global showpiece in 1962, was duly recognised alongside 81 others by AIPS and FIFA in a Journalists on the Podium event on November 29, 2022 in Doha for covering eight or more World Cups.
He has the second highest number of World Cup appearances by a journalist, just behind Argentine Enrique Macaya Márquez, who has 17 appearances, having been to every FIFA World Cup since 1958.
ENGLAND 1966 Scherzer’s first daughter, Nicole, was born while he was covering his second World Cup in England in 1966. “After the Wembley Final, England-Germany (4-2 in overtime) with the famous and still highly controversial third goal, I interviewed Franz Beckenbauer (21 years old) in the dressing room. The four leading world news agencies, UPI, Associated Press (AP), Reuters, Agence France Press (AFP) had access.”
FRANZ BECKENBAUER He would forge a lifelong friendship with the German football icon Beckenbauer, the first person to win the World Cup as a captain and a coach. During his “very charming and friendly small talk” with FIFA President Gianni Infantino at half time of the Brazil-Switzerland group game of Qatar 2022, Scherzer told Infantino that he is still friends with Franz and they stay in contact regularly. “I showed him the Franz Beckenbauer Watch on my left arm - a personal gift from Franz. The President asked me to give his best regards to Franz. When I gave him my business card with the cover of my book “WELT SPORT” on the backside Gianni Infantino posed with it and me for a photo and asked one of his media officials to buy it. It would be a welcome read for his long journeys.”
WELT SPORT In “Welt Sport” (“World Sport” in English), a 730-page book published in April 2021, Scherzer shares incredible anecdotes and unique insights from his six decades of experience as a legendary sports reporter. His versatility also shows across countless other sports. He currently has 21 Summer and Winter Olympics under his belt and was ranked 5th when AIPS celebrated Olympic journalism at the Rio 2016 Games. He boasts dozens of Tour de France competitions and also takes great delight in boxing, a sport in which he was a German university champion and would go on to develop a special bond with the iconic Mohammed Ali, who once called him “the German with the bald head”. While his dedication to his job cannot be overemphasised, Scherzer’s endearing, jovial personality has won him invaluable friends among sports stars over the years.
MEXICO 1970 Among the 16 World Cups he has covered, the 1970 edition in Mexico remains the “most beautiful and exciting” for the 84-year-old: “The reasons why: the Mexican Mariachi flair in the province, the open German Golfhotel, the most exciting heat battle at high noon against England in Leon, the revenge for the ‘66 loss. Germany was trailing 0-2 after 68 minutes. The German press – because of the time difference of nine hours under deadline pressure – was already writing farewell stories. Too early. Beckenbauer started a sensational solo run from one penalty area to the other and scored. Uwe Seeler with the back of his head made it 2:2. Overtime. Gerd Mueller shot the winning goal. 3-2.
“This drama was topped in the semi-final, Germany against Italy in the Azteka Stadium in Mexico City. For this World Cup FIFA had introduced the change of two players. But still the toss of a coin would decide a match without a winner after overtime. Of all things Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, playing for AC Milan, scored in the very last minute the 1-1 equaliser. The following thirty minutes were the craziest I have ever experienced until today. A fascinating chaos, a wonderful haphazard, wild up and down. 2-1 for Germany by Mueller, 2-2, 2-3, 3-3 (Mueller again), 3-4. Italy’s winning goal scored by Gianni Rivera. Franz Beckenbauer, a bandage around the dislocated right shoulder after a bad foul, was still on the pitch but unable to do anything with the ball. No way for the captain to leave. He stayed like a wounded Prussian General. Team manager Helmut Schoen had already changed two players. This spectacle went into history as the ‘Match of the Century’. And still is from my point of view in sixty years.”
RUSSIA 2018 On his 80th birthday on June 13, 2018 in Moscow, during the 21st FIFA World Cup in Russia, Scherzer’s 15th, German coach Joachim Loew presented a national team jersey signed by all the players to him and “SCHERZER 80” on the back. “I wished him and the team to become the first world champions since Brazil in 1962 to retain the title. Shocking: out after the group stage for the four-time world champions. The debacle happened again in Qatar. While most of my German colleagues flew home I stayed until the final. As I always did since becoming a freelancer in 1988. It is a World Championship, not German.”
EVER PASSIONATE Scherzer worked for UPI until 1972 and then moved to Abendpost/Nachtausgabe and became head of the sports department there until the paper was suddenly discontinued in December 1988.
The opportunity to interview players in the dressing room no longer exists, but 60 years later, still bubbling with passion Scherzer is there in the mixed zone. He does not have to dictate the news as was the case in the past but still has a deadline to beat. Proud of his rare achievement, Scherzer came to Doha with all his media accreditation tags he has collected since 1962. He witnessed three of Germany’s four World Cup final victories.
GOLDEN DECADES “I felt very honoured for my 16th active World Cup and meeting one of the all time greats Ronaldo on the podium. The 2nd place reminded me of the honour by Prince Albert in Rio 2016 for 5th place for my 21 Olympics.
“The world has changed and so has the work of the media completely since the beginning of digitalization and social media. I feel I had the grace of early birth to enjoy the golden decades of our profession. Still: A good story counts wherever it is shown, print or online.”
Chibuogwu Nnadiegbulam - AIPS Media Photo by Brendan Moran/FIFA