Erich Juskowiak (7 September 1926 – 1 July 1983) was a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He earned 31

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

and 4 goals for the West Germany national team between 1951 and 1959. He played in the World Cup Finals in 1958 where West Germany reached the semi-final.

Career

Juskowiak was born in Oberhausen. He served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

where he got injured several times and even survived a shot in the head.Bitter, Jürgen. ''Deutschlands Fußball Nationalspieler'', Sportverlag, 1997, p. 222. After the war, Juskowiak joined

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen Rot-Weiß Oberhausen is a German association football club in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was formed as ''Oberhausener SV'' in December 1904 out of the merger of ''Emschertaler SV'' (1902) and the football enthusiasts of ''Oberh ...

where he began as an

outside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. It soon was discovered though that he was more useful as a defender. After switching to the

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

position, he got the attention of West Germany national team coach

Sepp Herberger Josef "Sepp" Herberger (28 March 1897 – 28 April 1977) was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West German national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed '' The Mir ...

and debuted for West Germany on 23 December 1951, against

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. Juskowiak's hopes of making the 1954 West Germany World Cup squad however did not materialize, as it took three years - now together with Toni Turek, the "football god" and world champion of 1954, playing for

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

- before he played again for West Germany (December 1954). Switching from right back to

frequently in the next two years, Juskowiak finally settled as a left back in 1957. By that time, Juskowiak was rated as one of the best full backs in West Germany. Based on his performances in 1958 and 1959, Kicker (sports magazine) rated him ''world class'' in their biennial ''Rangliste des deutschen Fußballs'' (ranking list of German football). He was mostly known for his very hard shot, which earned him his nickname "Hammer". The pinnacle of his career came when he was a starter for West Germany in the 1958 FIFA World Cup. In the semifinal against hosts Sweden, his opponent was

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

Kurt Hamrin Kurt Roland "Kurre" Hamrin (; born 19 November 1934) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a winger. He began his career in his home country with AIK, but later played for several Italian clubs, most notably Fiorentina, with w ...

. After Juskowiak was fouled by Hamrin, he struck Hamrin down in revenge and was sent off in the 59th minute. He was the first German player to be sent off in a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

game.Keppel, Raphael. ''Deutschlands Fußball-Länderspiele'', Sport- und Spielverlag, 1989, p. 251. After several injuries, Juskowiak ended his career in August 1961. His penultimate game for

ended on a less laudable note: after a verbal dispute with spectators in the game against VfB Bottrop, he just left the pitch shortly before the end of the game without returning. He died in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

in 1983 from a heart failure while driving his car. A year earlier, in April 1982 he had traveled to Gothenburg to make up with

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Juskowiak, Erich 1926 births 1983 deaths German footballers Germany international footballers 1958 FIFA World Cup players Wuppertaler SV players Fortuna Düsseldorf players Association football defenders Sportspeople from Oberhausen German military personnel of World War II Footballers from North Rhine-Westphalia Military personnel from North Rhine-Westphalia West German footballers