Harald Konopka (born 18 November 1952 in Düren, West Germany) is a former German

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. Initially a striker, Konopka joined

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ballspi ...

in time to capture the German U19 title in 1971, the summer he turned professional. Sort of an ever-present member of the first-team, the tough tackling defender excelled in a full back role for his club throughout the years. He won three

German Cup The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

's with

and was runner-up with them in two other editions. Ending up on the second best position in

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 ...

with Köln two times, Konopka was part of the famous 1. FC Köln squad that won the Bundesliga under manager Hennes Weisweiler in 1978 to complete a remarkable achievement of a national cup and league in the same season (

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

). A few months into his final year in Bundesliga, Konopka left 1. FC Köln to join

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

for the remainder of his career. In total he played in 352 Bundesliga matches, scoring 21 goals. Konopka's career 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 ...

was a brief one, lasting for only two matches, but earned him a participation in the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

. Making the squad as one of two uncapped players (the other one was

Gerd Zewe Gerd Zewe (born 13 June 1950) is a German former football player and manager. Zewe was a youngster for SV Stennweiler and an amateur for Borussia Neunkirchen. Starting his career with his sole professional club, Fortuna Düsseldorf, in midfield, ...

), Konopka came to action as a substitute for his injured 1. FC Köln team-mate Herbert Zimmermann in the goalless draw against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti Estadio Monumental (), officially Estadio Mâs Monumental for sponsorship reasons,Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

References

1952 births Living people German men's footballers Germany men's international footballers Germany men's B international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers 1. FC Köln players Borussia Dortmund players 1978 FIFA World Cup players Bundesliga players Men's association football defenders Sportspeople from Düren Footballers from Cologne (region) West German men's footballers {{germany-footy-defender-1950s-stub