Willy ''(Willie)'' Schaller (February 23, 1933 – January 3, 2015) was a U.S.

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 who played most of his career in the German American Soccer League. He also played on the U.S. soccer team at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

. He was inducted into the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

in 1996.

Club career

While born in Germany, Schaller’s family moved to the United States when he was a young boy. He joined Schwaben of the

German American Soccer League The Cosmopolitan Soccer League is a regional soccer league consisting of semi-pro and amateur teams based in and around New York City. Established in 1923, it is one of the oldest soccer leagues in the United States and has contributed greatly ...

when he was in high school. In 1953, he joined the U.S. Army, serving until 1955. At some point, he moved to Blau-Weiss Gottschee, playing with the team through at least 1960.

National teams

In 1952, he was selected to the U.S. soccer team which competed in the

. He was nineteen at the time. The U.S. lost its first game of the single elimination tournament to Italy.1952 Summer Olympic results at RSSSF
/ref> In 1959, he was with the U.S. team which won the bronze medal at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

Coaching

After retiring from playing professionally, Schaller became a youth and high school soccer coach.

References

External links

National Soccer Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaller, Willy 1933 births 2015 deaths American soccer coaches American soccer players Association football defenders Blau-Weiss Gottschee players Chicago Schwaben players Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1959 Pan American Games German emigrants to the United States German-American Soccer League players National Soccer Hall of Fame members Olympic soccer players of the United States Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in football People from Esslingen (district) Sportspeople from Stuttgart (region) United States men's international soccer players Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games