Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann, who played in the 1956 FA Cup final at Wembley despite having fractured his neck, died on Friday.
The German Football Federation has confirmed Trautmann, 89, died at his home, near Valencia, Spain. He was voted the 1956 English player of the year.
He was injured in a dive at the feet of Birmingham City striker Peter Murphy with 17 minutes left of the Wembley final.
As no substitutes were allowed in that era, he played on despite considerable pain and made crucial saves in the game's dying stages to preserve City's 3-1 lead.
His neck was noticeably crooked when he collected his winner's medal.
Three days later an X-ray revealed he had dislocated five vertebrae, one of which was fractured in two, and the injury nearly cost him his life.
Trautmann later said the collision with Murphy had felt "like a plane crash".
The World War II Eastern Front veteran, who was later captured in Normandy after D-Day, was held as a prisoner of war until 1948 in Lancashire where he started playing football.
He made 545 appearances for City, who he played for until 1964. He later managed national teams in Burma, Tanzania and Pakistan.
Trautmann received the OBE for promoting Anglo-German understanding through football in 2004 and in 2008 was similarly decorated by the DFB.
"Bert Trautmann was a great athlete and a true gentleman," said DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach.
"He came to England as a soldier, and thus an enemy, but was later a celebrated hero in the country.
"His extraordinary career will forever remain in the history books."
