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Bronze statue by Toni Turek next to the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf-Stockum.

Anton Turek (18 January 1919 – 11 May 1984) was a German footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Career

Born in Duisburg, Turek started his career at Duisburger Sportverein, but he soon moved to TuS Duisburg 48/99. He first came to the attention of later West Germany national team coach Sepp Herberger was on 27 September 1936, when West Germany played a preparation game against Luxembourg in Krefeld. Before that game, the youth teams of Krefeld and TuS Duisburg 48/99 had met with the 17-year-old Turek standing in the Duisburg goal. During World War II Turek was lucky things did not turn out worse for him as a shell splinter struck through his helmet.[1]

In 1950 Turek transferred to Fortuna Düsseldorf. Between 1950 and 1954 he played 20 games for the West Germany national team.[2] He played in "The Miracle of Bern" 1954 FIFA World Cup final against Hungary and won the Championship.[3]

After a fine save from a very close shot by Nándor Hidegkuti, he was described by the sports reporter Herbert Zimmermann with the words "Toni, you're a football God".[4][5] He later had to apologize for that comment because the church complained about the comparison of a football player with God.

Death

Turek died in Neuss in 1984.[4] He had been paralyzed from the waist down since August 1973.[6]

Legacy

He has received numerous honours and is still highly regarded in Germany, especially in the Rhineland.[7]

References

  1. ^ Bitter, Jürgen. Deutschlands Fußball Nationalspieler, Sportverlag, 1997, p. 503.
  2. ^ Arnhold, Matthias (28 July 2016). "Anton 'Toni' Turek - International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  3. ^ Werner Raupp, Toni Turek – „Fußballgott“, 2019 (see below, Further Reading), p. 107–114.
  4. ^ a b "Viel Glück habe ich nicht gehabt" (in German). web.ard.de. Archived from the original on 24 December 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  5. ^ "Video clip on YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  6. ^ Bitter, Jürgen. Deutschlands Fußball Nationalspieler, Sportverlag, 1997, p. 504.
  7. ^ Werner Raupp, Toni Turek – „Fußballgott“ (see below, Further Reading), p. 171–176, 183 f.

Further reading

Werner Raupp: Toni Turek - "Fußballgott". Eine Biographie, Hildesheim: Arete Verlag 2019 (2018) (ISBN 978-3-96423-008-9).

External links

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