Hans-Jürgen Dörner

Libero Hans-Jürgen “Dixie” Dörner was on the East German (GDR) football team that beat Poland 3-1 at the Montréal Olympics to become the first German team to win an Olympic gold medal. In his youth he played with BSG Energie and later Motor WAMA Görlitz, but as an adult he only played with Dynamo Dresden in 392 Oberliga matches, scoring 65 goals, from 1967-85. He helped them win five national titles (1971, 1973, 1976-78) and also five national cups (1971, 1977, 1982, 1984-85).

With the East German national team, Dörner played 100 international matches scoring nine goals between 1969-85. He played 10 more matches with the GDR Olympic team, and was also named Footballer of the Year in 1977, 1984, and 1985. He was called “Franz Beckenbauer of the East”.

After his playing career, Dörner studied at the DHfK at Leipzig and became a soccer coach. From 1986-88 he worked as the youth coach with Dynamo Dresden and became chief national coach from 1988 until re-unification. He then became youth coach within the German national team and coached Bundesliga team Werder Bremen from 1996 until 1997 as the first East German coach with a West German club. He then had brief stints at FSV Zwickau, al-Ahly Cairo (Egypt), VfB Leipzig, Radebeuler BC, and finally with SG Einheit Dresden-Mitte. In 2004, he founded his own football school at Dresden.