Adolph (Adolf) Bachmeier (October 13, 1937 – July 21, 2016) was a U.S.-Romanian soccer player. He spent most of his playing career with various teams in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He also earned fifteen

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with the U.S. national team between 1959 and 1969. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2002.

Professional career

Bachmeier was born in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

but spent his playing career in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He played as either a defender or defensive

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for the Chicago Kickers of the National Soccer League of Chicago beginning in the 1950s. In 1965, Bachmeier was honored as the Sepp Herberger German-American Illinois soccer player of the year. In 1966 and 1968, the Kickers won the National Amateur Cup. In 1968, he joined the Chicago Mustangs of the North American Soccer League (NASL). Bachmeier and the Mustangs spent only a single season in the NASL. In 1969, he returned to the Kickers, winning the National Amateur Cup a third time with them in 1970.

National team

Bachmeier earned his first

with the U.S. national team in a crushing 8–1 loss to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on May 28, 1959. That was the only U.S. game in 1959 and Bachmeier was not called up for either of the U.S. games in 1960. However, he returned to the lineup in 1961 for the only U.S. game that year, a loss to Colombia. Once again, Bachmeier had a multi-year lay off from the national team. His next appearance came in a March 7, 1965, tie with

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He earned two more caps that year, but the U.S. team was inactive in 1966 and 1967. In 1968, Bachmeier finally became a regular, and team captain, on the national team as he earned eight of his caps that year. The U.S. entered the qualification rounds for the 1970 FIFA World Cup that year. He finished his national team career with two more caps in 1969, both loses to Haiti. Those losses put the U.S. out of contention for the World Cup. In addition to his games with the senior U.S. team, Bachmeier was also a member of the 1963 Pan American team which went 0–4 at those games. In 1964, he was also part of the U.S. team which attempted, but failed, to qualify for the 1964 Summer Olympics. He was inducted into the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame in 1984, the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2002 and the USASA Hall of Fame in 2007.Meet the 2007 Hall of Fame Inductees
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References

External links

*

Obituary on Legacy.com
''Interviews''

6 aprilie 2010, ''

Evenimentul Zilei ''Evenimentul Zilei'' is a formerly physical and now exclusively online newspaper in Romania. Its name means "today's even (news)". History and profile ''Evenimentul Zilei'' was founded by Ion Cristoiu, Cornel Nistorescu and Mihai Cârciog, and ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bachmeier, Adolph 1937 births 2016 deaths People from Constanța County American men's soccer players American people of German-Romanian descent United States men's international soccer players Soccer players from Chicago North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Chicago Mustangs (1967–68) players National Soccer Hall of Fame members Romanian emigrants to the United States Footballers at the 1963 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for the United States Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders