Ernst Wilimowski facts for kids
Willimowski (front, with ball) in a 1937 match for Ruch Chorzów against Warta Poznań.
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ernest Otto Wilimowski | ||
| Date of birth | 23 June 1916 | ||
| Place of birth | Kattowitz, Upper Silesia in German Empire | ||
| Date of death | 30 August 1997 (aged 81) | ||
| Place of death | Karlsruhe, Germany | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1. FC Kattowitz | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1934–1939 | Ruch Chorzów | 86 | (112) |
| 1939–1940 | 1. FC Kattowitz | ||
| 1940–1942 | PSV Chemnitz | (68) | |
| 1942–1944 | TSV 1860 München | (9) | |
| 1946–1947 | SG Chemnitz-West | ||
| 1948 | BC Augsburg | 6 | (3) |
| 1949–1950 | Offenburger FV | 89 | (70) |
| 1950–1951 | FC Singen 04 | 30 | (16) |
| 1951–1955 | VfR Kaiserslautern | 90 | (70) |
| Total | 301 | (348) | |
| National team | |||
| 1934–1939 | Poland | 22 | (21) |
| 1941–1942 | Germany | 8 | (13) |
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Ernest Wilimowski (born Ernest Otto Prandella, nicknamed "Ezi") was a famous football player. He was born on June 23, 1916, and passed away on August 30, 1997. He played as a forward for both the Polish and German national teams.
Wilimowski is known as one of the best goal scorers in the history of Polish football. He was the first player to score four goals in a single FIFA World Cup game. He also holds a record for scoring 107 goals in 45 matches in one season, which is an amazing achievement! Besides football, he also played ice hockey for a team called Pogoń Katowice.
Contents
Early Life and Football Beginnings
Ernest Wilimowski was born in Katowice, which was then part of the German Empire. He grew up in a Silesian family. When he was young, his father passed away during World War I.
At nine years old, he joined a German football team called 1. FC Kattowitz. When he was 13, he was adopted by his Polish stepfather and took on the name Wilimowski. He spoke German at home but often used a Silesian dialect of Polish in public. He considered himself a Silesian.
Playing for Ruch Chorzów
Wilimowski was a very skilled player, known for his dribbling and scoring goals. He even had six toes on his right foot! He started his career with 1. FC Kattowitz. In 1933, at just 17, he moved to the Polish team Ruch Chorzów.
"Ezi" quickly became the team's star player. In his first season, he scored 33 goals, making him the league's top scorer. With other great players like Teodor Peterek and Gerard Wodarz, Ruch Chorzów became champions of the Polish league in 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, and 1938.
Wilimowski played 86 games for Ruch, scoring an incredible 112 goals. He was the top scorer in the league in 1934 and 1936. On May 21, 1939, he scored 10 goals in one match against Union Touring Łódź, helping his team win 12-1. This amazing performance is still a league record today.
Playing for Poland
Soon after starting his club career, "Ezi" joined the Polish national team. His first game was against Denmark on May 21, 1934, when he was only 17 years old. He scored 21 goals in 22 games for Poland, which is almost a goal per game!
However, he was suspended by the Polish football association in 1936. This happened just before the Olympic Games in Berlin. Many people believed that if he had played, Poland could have won a gold medal.
Historic World Cup Performance
Wilimowski had two very memorable games for Poland. One was against Brazil in the 1938 FIFA World Cup in Strasbourg, France. "Ezi" made history by scoring four goals in that single World Cup match. He was also fouled, leading to another goal for Poland. Even with his amazing effort, Poland lost the game 5-6 and was out of the tournament.
His record of four goals in a World Cup match was later matched by others. But it was only beaten 56 years later when Oleg Salenko scored five goals in 1994. Wilimowski's game is still the only World Cup match where a player from the losing team scored four goals.
Last Game Before World War II
Another memorable game was on August 27, 1939, in Warsaw. Poland played against Hungary, who were the 1938 World Cup runner-up. Hungary was one of the best teams in the world at that time.
Hungary was leading 2-0 after 33 minutes. But Wilimowski scored three goals and helped create another penalty goal for his teammate Leonard Piątek. Poland won the game 4-2. This match was the last game played before World War II started just four days later.
Football During the War
During World War II, Wilimowski continued his football career. He played for German clubs and later for the German national team.
He played for 1. FC Kattowitz until February 1940. Then he moved to Chemnitz and played for Polizei-Sportverein Chemnitz from 1940 to 1942. He also played for TSV 1860 München from 1942 to 1944. With TSV 1860 München, he helped them win the German Cup in 1942. He scored the first goal in the final game in Berlin. In the final years of the war, he also played for army football teams.
Playing for Germany
Sepp Herberger, the manager of the German national team, quickly saw Wilimowski's talent. "Ezi" played his first game for Germany on June 1, 1941, against Romania in Bucharest, scoring two goals in a 4-1 win. He then scored three goals against Finland in Helsinki on October 5, 1941, in a 6-0 victory.
On August 16, 1942, Wilimowski played an international match in his home region of Upper Silesia, in Bytom. He scored one goal in a 7-0 win against Romania. About 55,000 fans came to watch him play.
His most famous game for Germany was on October 18, 1942, in Bern, Switzerland. Germany beat a strong Swiss team 5-3, and "Ezi" scored four of those goals.
Wilimowski played a total of eight games for Germany, scoring 13 goals. His last game for Germany was on November 22, 1942, in a 5-2 win against Slovakia. After this, Germany stopped playing international friendly matches because of the war.
Later Career and Life
After the war, Wilimowski settled in the Karlsruhe area of Germany. He continued playing football until 1959, when he was 43 years old! During this time, he played for several German club teams, including Offenburger FV, BC Augsburg, FC Singen 04, and VfR Kaiserslautern. He scored 70 goals in 89 games for VfR Kaiserslautern, even though he was over 35 years old.
After retiring from football, Wilimowski and his wife, Klara, ran a restaurant for a while. Later, he worked in a sewing machine factory until he retired in 1978.
In 1974, during the 1974 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Wilimowski wanted to visit the Polish national team. However, he was not allowed to meet them by the Polish football officials. In 1995, his old club, Ruch Chorzów, invited him to celebrate their 75th anniversary. His daughter, Sylvia Haarke, said that he wanted to go to Poland, but his wife was sick, so he had to stay with her.
Ernest Wilimowski passed away in Karlsruhe, Germany. He had four children: three daughters (Sylvia, Sigrid, and Ulle) and one son (Rainer).
Sylvia Haarke shared some interesting facts about her father. She said he was a very religious Roman Catholic. After his famous game against Brazil in the 1938 World Cup, Brazilian officials wanted him to play for them, and he even signed a first contract, but it didn't work out. One of his biggest disappointments was not being part of the German team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup.
Kazimierz Górski, a legendary coach of the Polish national team, met Wilimowski in 1974. Górski recognized "Ezi" right away because Wilimowski had been one of his idols when he was young.
Images for kids
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Willimowski (front, with ball) in a 1937 match for Ruch Chorzów against Warta Poznań.
See also
In Spanish: Ernest Wilimowski para niños
