Chris Wildgoose | Sports Journalist

On this day 73 years ago, Josef Dieter Maier was born in Metten, Bavaria.

Maier, regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all-time, was part of West Germany’s 1974 World Cup winning squad that included legends Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller and Berti Vogts.

The three-time German Footballer of the Year (1975, 1977 and 1978) spent his entire 18 year playing career with Bayern Munich, where he won four Bundesliga titles at a time when Die Roten were just beginning to establish themselves as one of the major players at home and abroad.

Prior to the 1968/69 title win, Bayern had only claimed one Bundesliga championship (1931/32) and were yet to truly make their mark on the European stage.

With Maier in between the sticks, manager Branko Zebec had the perfect foundations on which to build a formidable team, capable of sweeping aside all before it. However, the Yugoslavian joined Stuttgart in 1970 and in came Udo Lattek to start a period of dominance for the Bavarian outfit – a trend that was continued by Dettmar Cramer upon his appointment in January 1975.

In nine years, the three coaches had led Bayern to ten major titles – including three consecutive European Cup crowns.

Maier, as part of the core of this phenomenal team – alongside Beckenbauer and Müller – had proved pivotal in the success, which included four German Cup wins (although, three of these triumphs had come under Zlatko Cajkovski between 1966 and 1969).

However, one moment that Die Katze von Anzing – the Cat from Anzing – is well remembered for, despite all of his success, is a low-point in his glittering career.

Sunday 20 June 1976. West Germany had come from two goals down against Czechoslovakia in the European Championship final in Belgrade, courtesy of a late Bernd Hölzenbein strike. The match went to penalties and with the Czech’s 4-3 ahead in the shootout, Bayern teammate Uli Hoeneß missed his spot kick to give Antonin Panenka the chance to win the competition.

The midfielder stepped up and feigned his shot before dinking the ball down the middle as Maier dived to his left. And so the Panenka penalty technique was born, and has since been used by Francesco Totti, Zinedine Zidane and Alexis Sanchez at major tournaments.

That would prove to be Maier’s last major final and final chance for glory, as Bayern failed to mount a serious title bid until claiming the Bundesliga crown in 1980 – the goalkeeper’s final season with the club, where he didn’t feature.

As well as his domestic titles with the Bavarians, Maier also claimed European Championship glory with West Germany in 1972 as Helmut Schön’s side beat Soviet Union 3-0 in Brussels. He was named in the 1974 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team – an honour previously won by Gordon Banks and since claimed by Dino Zoff, Fabian Barthez, Oliver Khan, Gianluigi Buffon, Iker Casillas and Manuel Neuer.

The Cat may have been before many of our time, but he certainly is a football legend.