Andy Egli, Gilbert Gress and Raimondo Ponte on the Nati legend: “Compared to Xhaka, Hermann was at least as good.”

«Heinz Hermann was an outstanding figure. Every coach could only wish for a player with such a profile. Like me, his trademark was his long hair. The ‘blonde angel’ was very popular with the public, especially women. In 1985 I brought Heinz from GC to Xamax – together with Uli Stielike from Real Madrid. We became champions twice in a row and also played well internationally. We almost knocked out Real Madrid in the round of 16, but we were unlucky and had the referee against us. In 1990, Heinz moved to Servette.

Even in the hours of his greatest success, Heinz never presented himself as a star. He was a down-to-earth man without charisma. A man of big actions, not big words – a down-to-earth leader on the field. In stark contrast to Granit Xhaka, who is very noisy and always plays close to the red card in terms of aggressiveness. While I like guys with personality, Xhaka has a bit too much of it. After public debates like the one with Murat Yakin, I would have disciplined him immediately.

Like Xhaka, Heinz played in midfield, but I preferred to position him as a forward. He was an all-rounder, technically very skilled and good at scoring beautiful goals. Sometimes he was too fond of the ball. With his talent he celebrated dribbling like a skier dancing through the slalom poles. He barely lost the ball, and when it happened it bothered me a lot. Every lost ball made me angry.

Heinz had the format for a top competition abroad. One evening at three o’clock I received a call from Bernard Tapie, the president of Olympique Marseille. He had called my wife earlier, who told him that I would only be back from an away match in Lugano at that time. Tapie wanted to know if Heinz was available. I defended myself and said I still needed him for the European Cup. After that I heard nothing more from Marseille.

I prevented a major transfer, so to speak, at the time. Although I doubt whether Heinz would have found peace at the ball in this vibrant atmosphere in Marseille. This change would have been a minor sensation. At that time, virtually no Swiss played abroad.

Even after his career I continued to keep in touch with Heinz. We still meet regularly today at the Legends Games. At 65 he is still in top form, which never ceases to amaze me. He hasn’t gained an ounce of weight over the years.”

“Heinz came to the FCZ trial training of FC Seefeld as a 19-year-old. Coach Timo Konietzka probably already had too many good players and sent him home again. So Heinz tried his luck in the rankings and was enthusiastically received by trainer Helmuth Johannsen. We saw his extraordinary abilities at first sight.

Heinz also had a very unique personality, was always an authentic leader and always a role model. He has always led a serious life; parties weren’t his thing. Heinz subordinated everything to football. He was every coach’s dream because you could use him almost anywhere. In the first season at Heinz, GC became champions again after a seven-year break.

Heinz always wanted to play in the center, he was strong there too. But on the left wing he was irresistible – simply world class. He was a running prodigy with a nice foot. A rocket. He always gave full throttle and therefore decided many matches. Compared to Granit Xhaka, Heinz was at least as good, if not better.

He had a great influence on the national team. Unfortunately we never qualified for a European Championship or World Cup. But that was brutal at the time: only the first team from the group made it to the final.”

«For me, Heinz Hermann is the most brilliant Swiss footballer, the absolute number 1. You cannot compare him with Granit Xhaka, because the current generation plays much more dynamic football. Now Xhaka is overtaking him in the international matches, but you have to see that in twenty years the national team has been able to play many more matches in a much shorter time due to their regular participation in finals. Under these circumstances, Heinz would probably have made around 200 international appearances. He was a phenomenon and was almost never injured.

Heinz was an exceptional professional, but also outstanding as a person – especially in his values ​​and sensitivity. He always showed great respect for teammates and opponents. And he remained a nice person even after his career. We are still good friends and keep in touch regularly.

You naturally wonder why Heinz never played abroad. The answer is simple: we hardly had that option at the time, because there were only one or two licenses for foreigners in the top competitions. No permits have been issued in Italy and England. But Heinz actually had everything he could wish for in Switzerland – including an above-average salary. After taxes, the NLA was much more attractive than Germany or Spain in the 1980s. That is why real German stars such as Günter Netzer (1976 to GC) and Uli Stielike (1985 to Xamax) came to Switzerland.

In contrast to these colorful characters, Heinz was an introvert. But when he didn’t like something, he broke out violently and banged the table. His words had an impressive effect.”