Günter Sawitzki (22 November 1932 – 14 December 2020) was a German football player.

Career

Sawitzki's performances for underdog side SV Sodingen in the then best German division caught the attention of West German 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 made Sawitzki a proposed rival to Heinz Kwiatkowski and Fritz Herkenrath for the role as Toni Turek's successor in the West German goal. Before Sawitzki left tiny Sodingen, who had finished third in Germany in 1955, to join

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...

in 1956, he had already played in two games for

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. Sawitzki's biggest success as a player was winning the West German Cup in 1958 with Stuttgart. Sticking with

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side VfB Stuttgart for the rest of his career, the

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

was in the squads of

at the 1958 FIFA World Cup and

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place be ...

, although he remained reserve on both occasions. Until 1963 he won ten caps.

Honours

* 1958 FIFA World Cup fourth place

References

External links

* * * * 1932 births 2020 deaths German footballers Germany international footballers Germany B international footballers VfB Stuttgart players VfB Stuttgart II players Bundesliga players 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players Association football goalkeepers People from Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia Sportspeople from Arnsberg (region) Footballers from North Rhine-Westphalia {{Germany-footy-goalkeeper-stub