Ryszard Leon Piec (born Richard Leon Pietz; 17 August 1913 – 24 January 1979) was a Polish

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 ...

. Piec spent whole life in his native town of Lipiny, which now today is a district of Świętochłowice, in

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

. He played for

Naprzód Lipiny GKS Naprzód Świętochłowice Lipiny is a sports club from Świętochłowice's district of Lipiny (Upper Silesia, Poland), founded in 1920 by Alfons Maniura, who became Naprzód first chairman. Throughout the years, the club for many times ch ...

, a team which, in spite of several attempts, never managed to qualify to the Polish Soccer League. In 1935-39 he represented Poland in 24 matches, scoring 5 goals. His debut took place in 1935 against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. He participated in 1936 Olympic Games in

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, where Poland was placed on the 4th position, after losing 2:3 against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. During the Olympics, he played in three games - a qualifier versus

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(3:0), a quarterfinal versus

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(5:4, he scored a goal) and a semifinal versus

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

(1:3). He also took part in a legendary 1938 World Cup Soccer match Poland - Brazil 5:6 (5 June 1938, Strasbourg,

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). During 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 ...

German occupiers allowed Upper Silesians to participate in sports tournaments. Piec's club, Naprzód Lipiny, was forced to change its name to Turn und Sport (TUS) Lipine. Ryszard (then known as Richard Pietz), together with his brother Wilhelm Piec, was a key player in this team. In the 1941-42 season of Germany Cup (DFB-Pokal), TUS Lipine with Piec brothers was a sensation. In round 3 the Silesians beat Adler Deblin 4:1, then in round 4, TUS Lipine beat Blau-Weiss 90 Berlin 4:1. In the semifinals however, professionals from

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members o ...

proved to be too strong, beating TUS 6:0. After the war Piec continued his career in Naprzód Lipiny, playing until 1951. Since then he was a coach.

References

See also