Fritz Walter Legend Footballers ~ Top Greatest Player Football

Friedrich "Fritz" Walter (October 31, 1920 – June 17, 2002) was a German football player. In his time with the Germany national football team, he won 61 caps and scored 33 goals.
As the son of a Vereinswirt (clubs innkeeper) of 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Walter began his football career early. At age 8, he joined the Kaiserslautern youth academy, and he made his first team debut at just 17, where he would faithfully remain throughout his career.
Walter debuted with the national team in 1940 under Sepp Herberger, and scored a hat-trick against Romania. Walter was drafted into the armed forces in 1942, however, the end of the war found 24 year old Fritz in a P.O.W. camp in Marmaros-Sziget in which he played with Hungarian and Slowakian guards. When the Soviets arrived they in general took all German P.O.W.'s back to a Gulag in Soviet Union where life expectancy was about five years. Fortunately, one of the Hungarian prison guards had seen Fritz playing for Germany told them that Fritz was not German but Austrian, and his life was spared. Upon his return, Walter, who by now suffered from Malaria, again played for Kaiserslautern, leading them to German championships in 1951 and 1953. Sepp Herberger recalled him to the national team in 1951, and he was named captain.
He was captain of the West German team that won their first World Cup in 1954. Ironically, that win came over Hungary. But in 1956, after the crack down by the Soviets of the Hungarian Uprising, the soccer team got caught away from home, and for two years, Fritz managed their games and provided the financial backing and in small measure, paid them back for having saved his life. Walter received his last cap during the semi-final against Sweden in the 1958 World Cup, suffering an injury which ended his international career, and retired from football in 1959.
Memorial for the 1.FC Kaiserslautern players in the 1954 FIFA World Cup Final. From left to right: Werner Liebrich, Fritz Walter, Werner Kohlmeyer, Horst Eckel and Ottmar Walter.
International pro teams had repeatedly offered him hefty sums, but which support from his wife always declined in order to stay at home, to play for his home town, the national team and "Chef" (German for "boss") Herberger.
Fritz's younger brother Ottmar Walter, born 1924, played with him on the 1954 German team that won the World Cup. Ottmar is still alive, he still lives together with his wife in their house at Kaiserslautern itself. Fritz Walter died in 2002 aged 81. It was his dream to see the World Cup 2006 in "his" town Kaiserslautern as the town had not been selected in the smaller tournament of 1974, but it was denied with his death. But on the fourth year anniversary of his death on June 17, 2006, the United States played Italy in Kaiserslautern and a minute of silence was observed in his memory. Today people may visit the "Fritz Walter Haus" in the town of Enkenbach-Alsenborn approx. 20km east of Kaiserslautern (first exit from Kaiserslautern on Bundesautobahn 6 direction Mannheim).(Wikipedia)

Fritz Walter Legend Footballers