George Cohen

George Cohen
George Cohen (2007)
Personnel
Surname	George Reginald Cohen
birthday	October 22, 1939
place of birth	Kensington , London ,  England
position	Full-back (right)
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1956-1969	Fulham FC	408 (6)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1964-1967	England	37 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

George Reginald Cohen (born October 22, 1939 in Kensington , London ) was the right full-back of the English national soccer team during the 1966 World Cup in his own country and was thereby soccer world champion .

Career

Cohen has played at Fulham FC throughout his footballing career , where he developed into a high-performing full-back and often supported the wingers with offensive runs .

He joined Fulham's professional squad in 1956 and would be a key player for the club for the next thirteen years. His international appearances initially seemed to be limited to the U23 youth team, as the competitor in his position, Jimmy Armfield from Blackpool FC , was always preferred to him and also played during the 1962 World Cup in Chile .

In April 1964 Armfield played an international game in the defeat against Scotland at Hampden Park , after which England coach Alf Ramsey tried Cohen as an alternative only a month later and thus helped him to his debut in the 2-1 win against Uruguay . When Armfield then fell out longer due to injury and the 1966 World Cup came closer, Cohnen played in 21 of the 23 other preparatory games for this World Cup. Armfield then played two more games after his recovery, but Ramsey chose Cohen as a regular.

Cohen played a flawless tournament on a team that managed without conventional wingers to reinforce midfield play and to allow young, fit players like Martin Peters and Alan Ball to move to the outside position if necessary, to flank from there and then to return to the original position. Both in the moments when the players left their positions due to the wing runs and for their own offensive actions, players like Cohen offered additional options and security during the game.

When England entered the group stage with Uruguay, Mexico and France in the tournament, Cohen's unspectacular style of play was just as helpful to the team as the very popular performances of players like Bobby Charlton . Cohen kept his good shape when the English team beat a very aggressive team from Argentina in the quarter-finals . On a very well-known photo you can see how an angry Ramsey, who after the game called his opponent "animals", prevented Cohen from swapping his shirt.

Three days later, an offensive run by Cohen and a pass to Charlton ensured that England could be beaten 2-1 in the semifinals against a team from Portugal (with players like Eusébio ) who were considered to be tournament favorites .

In the final against Germany Cohen completed his 30th international match and played in his constant manner in a very eventful game. His only spectacular scene showed him extending a free kick from Lothar Emmerich in the penalty area to the free-standing Wolfgang Weber , whose shot then went into the goal and thus forced extra time . England ultimately won the game 4-2.

Cohen also played the next eight games after the World Cup before Ramsey decided to want to use younger full-backs for the 1968 European Championship . Cohen's 37th and last international match took place on November 22, 1967 in a 2-0 win against Northern Ireland at Wembley Stadium . During his entire national team career, he did not score a goal.

In Fulham he played until 1969 and could not win a title. He even got relegated to the second division in 1968. After 459 club appearances, he ended his footballing career. George Best of Manchester United described him as "the best defender I lost I've ever played."

In contrast to his full-back colleague on the left Ray Wilson, Cohen mostly shied away from the limelight, although he always enjoyed reporting on the events of the 1966 World Cup when asked about it. He did not return to the public eye until the 1980s when he contracted cancer and won the battle against it.

A financial emergency later ensured that Cohen had to sell his medal of the World Cup finals, whereby his old club from Fulham bought this for 80,000 pounds and has since exhibited at their own Craven Cottage stadium . In addition, the association named a box area The George Cohen Suite .

Another stroke of fate befell Cohen in 2000 when his brother Peter, the nightclub owner and father of well-known rugby player Ben Cohen, was killed. Three men were acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges but were convicted of a minor offense. Ben Cohen himself was later part of the rugby team that won the World Cup in 2003.

Also in 2000, Cohen, along with four other teammates from the 1966 team, was awarded the Order of the British Empire as an MBE , after previously publicly criticizing the fact that this quintet had never been recognized for success. The four other players included Ball, Wilson, Nobby Stiles and Roger Hunt .

During a documentary for Channel 4 , Cohen was favored by the public in the right-back position in the search for England's top eleven players of all time, favoring players like Phil Neal and Gary Neville . He was one of four players on the 1966 team to make it into the eleven.

In 2003, Cohen published his autobiography . Today he lives in seclusion, where he is a regular guest at charity events to fight cancer.

Web links

• Article about George Cohen in MirrorFootball