| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anton Turek | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 18 January 1919 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Duisburg, Germany | |||||||||||||
| Date of death | 11 May 1984 (aged 65) | |||||||||||||
| Place of death | Neuss, West Germany | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 1929–1936 | Duisburger SV | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1936–1941 | TuS Duisburg 48/99 | |||||||||||||
| 1941–1943 | TSG Ulm 1846 | |||||||||||||
| 1943–1946 | TuS Duisburg 48/99 | |||||||||||||
| 1946–1947 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 22 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1947–1950 | TSG Ulm 1846 | 65 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1950–1956 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 133 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1956–1957 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 1950–1954 | West Germany | 20 | (0) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Anton Turek (18 January 1919 – 11 May 1984) was a German footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Born in Duisburg, Turek started his career at Duisburger Sportverein, but he soon switched 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 switched 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.
Turek died in Neuss in 1984.[4] He had been paralyzed from the waist down since August 1973.[6]
He has received numerous honours and is still highly regarded in Germany, especially in the Rhineland.[7]
