Karl Adam (4 February 1924 – 9 July 1999) was a German

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 three times for the

Germany national football team The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deuts ...

between 1951–1952.

Life

Adam began his career in Koblenz at the age of 16 and by the age of 20, having made himself a career in a post office, he played in the Dresden sports club as a colleague of Helmut Schoen. After the end of the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, Adam returned to Koblenz and was used as a goalkeeper for his club, turning out good performances week after week and attracting attention from

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern () or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club also operates in sev ...

, at which point he would find himself in the midst of players such as

Fritz Walter Friedrich "Fritz" Walter (, ; 31 October 1920 – 17 June 2002) was a German footballer who spent his entire senior career at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He usually played as an attacking midfielder or inside forward. In his time with the Germany an ...

Ottmar Walter Ottmar Kurt Herrmann Walter (6 March 1924 – 16 June 2013) was a German footballer who played as a striker. He played together with his brother, Fritz Walter, at the club 1. FC Kaiserslautern. They also played together for the Germany natio ...

Werner Kohlmeyer Werner Kohlmeyer (19 April 1924 – 26 March 1974) was a German footballer who played as a full back. He was part of the West German team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup. In total he earned 22 caps for West Germany. He also played for 1. FC ...

Werner Liebrich Werner Liebrich (18 January 1927 – 20 March 1995) was a German footballer who played in the centre back position. He is notable for his role in the West Germany triumph in the 1954 FIFA World Cup, and spending his entire playing career of almos ...

and

Horst Eckel Horst Eckel (8 February 1932 – 3 December 2021) was a German footballer. He was part of the West Germany national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup. He was the last surviving player of the 1954 World Cup Final. Club career Eckel debuted ...

. He began to play for Kaiserslautern, displacing Willi Hoelz at the first opportunity he got at the beginning of the 1950–51 season. However, he started making mistakes at the end of the season, compounded further by problems in the defence. Adam infuriated the Koblenz board and was only able to appear in one game in the season. Following a good result on the last day of the season, Adam was thrust immediately into the Germany national team. He made his debut in a 2–0 victory on 21 November 1951 against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, and continued to make two more appearances in international victories 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 ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, before new goalkeepers came to the front of competition. Adam finished his football career in 1955 after a recurring knee injury stopped him from playing.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adam, Karl 1924 births 1999 deaths German footballers Germany men's international footballers Dresdner SC players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players Men's association football goalkeepers Sportspeople from Koblenz People from the Rhine Province FC Bayern Munich footballers Footballers from Rhineland-Palatinate West German footballers Men's association football midfielders TuS Koblenz players