Stefan Szefer ''(also known as Steve Shafer or Shaffer)'' (born May 8, 1942 in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

) is a former

Polish American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.83 ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

defender. He earned six

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 Java ...

during his career, three with

and three with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Club career

Most sources for Szefer’s early career are in Polish. In 1964, he was with

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław, Śląsk Wrocław () or simply Śląsk, is a Polish football club based in Wrocław that plays in Ekstraklasa, the highest level of the Polish fo ...

. He then played for

ŁKS Łódź ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, athletics and in the past ice ...

from 1966 to 1968. In 1968, Szefer moved to the Chicago Mustangs of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. The Mustangs folded at the end of the season. He then moved to Dutch club

MVV Maastricht Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently compete in the Eerst ...

for two seasons, scoring two goals as a left back. In 1971, Szefer moved back to Chicago where he played for two amateur teams, Chicago Wisla (1971-1973) and the Ukrainian Lions (1973-1975). In 1975, he signed with the expansion

Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from 1 ...

of the NASL. In May 1976, Szefer joined the

Chicago Cats The Chicago Cats was an American soccer club based in Chicago, Illinois that was a member of the American Soccer League. They played their home games at Hanson Stadium in Chicago's Belmont-Cragin community. Year-by-year Note: The 1976 Chicago Ca ...

of the American Soccer League, but returned to the Sting for the 1977 season. Szefer played outdoor for the Sting until 1979. He returned briefly in 1980 to play for them during the 1980-1981 NASL indoor season.

International career

Poland

Szefer played three games for the

from 1966 to 1967. He also played for Poland in the 1968 European Championship.

United States

In 1973, Szefer played for the U.S. under the name Steve Shafer. The first game was a 2-0 win over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on August 5. Five days later, he played in a 4-0 loss to Poland. On August 12, he played his last game with the U.S., a 1-0 win over Poland. He was replaced by Jerry Panek in the 60th minute.USA - Details of International Matches 1970-1979
/ref>

References

External links

Stefan Szefer
at elfvoetbal.nl {{DEFAULTSORT:Szefer, Stefan 1942 births American soccer players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Association football defenders Chicago Cats players Chicago Mustangs (1967–68) players Chicago Sting (NASL) players Dual internationalists (football) Living people ŁKS Łódź players MVV Maastricht players Eredivisie players Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Polish footballers Polish expatriate footballers Polish emigrants to the United States Poland international footballers Śląsk Wrocław players Ukrainian Lions players United States men's international soccer players Place of birth missing (living people)