Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (born 31 March 1939) is a German former

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 as a defender. An athletic and hard-tackling player, with a strong physique, he was nicknamed the "

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post ...

" for his continuity of performance, both in quantity and in quality, and for his versatility; indeed, although he was usually deployed as a full-back, he was capable of playing anywhere along the back, and could also play as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, as a

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 26 species in two genera. One species (''Pempheris xanth ...

, or even as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. In his prime he was often considered one of the best and most complete

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

s in the world in his era, rivaled only by Giacinto Facchetti, Nilton Santos and Silvio Marzolini.

Club career

Schnellinger was born in

Düren Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a pe ...

(then in

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. It ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

, today

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...

). He won the German Championship with 1. FC Köln in 1962, and was awarded the (

Footballer of the Year (Germany) The title Footballer of the Year (German: ''Fußballer des Jahres'') has been awarded in Germany since 1960. Eligible are German players as well as non-German players playing in Germany. In 1996, the title Women's Footballer of the Year (German ...

), performed well in the

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place b ...

and was subsequently named in the tournament's 'Dream-Team'. After Schnellinger had left Köln for A.C. Mantova in 1963, his debut in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

came in a match against A.C. Milan which ended in a surprising 4–1 victory for Mantova. However, he played there only for one season before he was signed by A.S. Roma in 1964 when they won the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity ...

, and finally by A.C. Milan in 1965, being transferred along with Roma teammates Antonio Valentín Angelillo and Angelo Sormani. He played nine seasons with the ''Rossoneri'', obtaining several successes both at the national and European level. He was one of the first successful German footballers abroad. Schnellinger left Milan in 1974, and retired after a season back in his native Germany with

Tennis Borussia Berlin Tennis Borussia Berlin is a Football in Germany, German football club based in the Boroughs and neighborhoods of Berlin, locality of Westend (Berlin), Westend in Berlin. History The team was founded in 1902 as ''Berliner Tennis- und Ping-Pong ...

International career

Schnellinger participated in his first 1958 World Cup in Sweden at the age of 19, and went on to become one of the few players to play in four World Cups ( 1958,

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

). He was renowned for his physical power, pace, and his winning mentality. His only international goal came in the last minute to draw 1–1 in the thrilling semi-final of the 1970 World Cup 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 ...

, which later became known as the " Game of the Century". His goal led to the famous German radio commentary line "Ausgerechnet Schnellinger!" – roughly: "Of all the players, it's Schnellinger" – which refers to him never having previously scored for the national team, and also to his being one of the two players in the German squad then playing in the Italian Serie A (the other being

Helmut Haller Helmut Haller (; 21 July 1939 – 11 October 2012) was a German footballer who played as a forward. At international level, he represented West Germany at three World Cups. At club level, he played in both Germany and Italy, and won Italian ...

). Italy eventually won 4–3 after extra time. In the previous round, late in the match against England, it was Schnellinger's cross that

Uwe Seeler Uwe Seeler (; 5 November 1936 – 21 July 2022) was a German footballer and football official. As a striker, he was a prolific scorer for Hamburger SV and also made 72 appearances for the West Germany national team. Widely regarded as one of th ...

scored from with a backwards header that tied the score 2–2, a game West Germany won 3–2 after extra time. Schnellinger won his last cap in 1971. He is the last surviving player from the Germany team in the 1958 World Cup.

Personal life

Schnellinger later lived in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

's suburb of

Segrate Segrate ( lmo, label= Milanese, Segraa ) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) located in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy. An eastern suburb of Milan, in its area lies the airport of Milan Linate, the l ...

where he worked as a businessman after retirement from football.

Honours

1. FC Köln * German Championship:

Roma *

: 1963–64 A.C. Milan *

: 1967–68 * Coppa Italia: 1966–67, 1971–72, 1972–73 *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

: 1968–69 *

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised ...

: 1967–68, 1972–73 * Intercontinental Cup:

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 ** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

West Germany *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

: runner-up

, third place

, fourth place 1958 Individual *

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine '' France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...

: third place 1962 *

: 1962 *

FIFA World Cup All-Star Team At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game. Awards *There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA ...

: 1962 * FIFA XI: 1963, 1967FIFA XI´s Matches – Full Info
*A.C. Milan Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schnellinger, Karl-Heinz 1939 births Living people People from Düren Sportspeople from Cologne (region) Footballers from North Rhine-Westphalia German footballers Association football defenders 1. FC Köln players Mantova 1911 players A.C. Milan players A.S. Roma players Tennis Borussia Berlin players Bundesliga players Serie A players UEFA Champions League winning players Germany international footballers 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players 1966 FIFA World Cup players 1970 FIFA World Cup players German expatriate footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy