Klaus Augenthaler pursued and harvested honours like no other player, making him at one point the most successful individual in Bundesliga history. At Bayern, 'Auge' won the championship seven times (1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990), the DFB German Cup three times (1982, 1984, 1986), and was twice a European Champions Cup losing finalist (1982, 1987).
However, the year 1990 was to prove the most glorious in an already illustrious playing career. Augenthaler added spine to the Germany side which doggedly stuck to the task and sealed a 1-0 victory over Argentina in the World Cup final in Rome, just a few weeks after he had hoisted the Bundesliga shield into the Bavarian sky for a record seventh time. "I do admit to a certain pride at being the player with the most championship medals," he confesses nowadays.
'Auge' made 404 appearances for Bayern and 27 for Germany, scoring 52 top flight goals. Easily the most famous of these came on 19 August 1989 when he fired Munich's winner in a 1-0 away victory against Eintracht Frankfurt. The player, captain from 1984 to 1991 and filling the libero position at the time, beat Frankfurt keeper Uli Stein with a shot from the halfway line, earning the "Goal of the Season" and "Goal of the Decade" accolades.
His nickname 'Auge', derived from his surname but meaning "the eye" in German, merely hinted at his ability to read the action and control a match from the back, initially as a centre-half and later in his career as a classic libero.
Augenthaler hung up his boots in 1991 and became assistant coach in Munich, winning the Uefa Cup and finishing Bundesliga runner-up in 1996. From 1991-1997 he worked as assistant to Jupp Heynckes, Sören Lerby, Erich Ribbeck, Franz Beckenbauer, Giovanni Trapattoni and Otto Rehhagel.
When Ottmar Hitzfeld arrived on 1 July 1998 he brought Michael Henke with him and the Bayern board persuaded Augenthaler to take up a head coach position elsewhere. But parting was still a wrench: "Bayern has always been everything to me, I even think in red-and-white," the Record-breaker admitted.