Béla Réthy has not commentated on any games for ZDF since this European Championship. But his fans have not forgotten him.
The 2024 European Championship in Germany is the first football tournament since 1994 without Béla Réthy. The long-time ZDF commentator retired after the 2022 World Cup and is now following the European Championship in his own country in a somewhat more relaxed manner (read more about it here).
His fans, however, have not forgotten him yet. During a ZDF broadcast about the European Championship group match between Portugal and Turkey on Saturday, a fan of the Turkish team shyly pushed his way into the picture – and had just one question for reporter Franziska Müllers.
“Where is Béla Réthy?” Müllers' husband wanted to know. “He's retired. But you can say hello to him, I'll send him the video,” the reporter replied. The man didn't need to be told twice. “All the best, Béla Réthy. You were the best. Or: you're still the best, you're still alive,” he waved happily at the camera and formed a heart with Müllers.
The ZDF reporter published the video on Instagram on Monday afternoon, and Réthy also shared it on his official channel – and was delighted with the video. As the cult commentator told t-online, he still has a large Turkish fan base to this day. The reason goes back 16 years. At the 2008 European Championships, Réthy commentated on the semi-final between Germany and Turkey in Basel. The Turkish fans felt that he “treated them fairly and objectively” as a commentator, said the 67-year-old.
Germany won the semi-final 3-2 thanks to a late goal from Philipp Lahm. However, due to a lightning strike at the broadcasting headquarters in Vienna, Réthy did not commentate on the game for the full 90 minutes. But that's another story.
