FRITZ WALTER

	BORN:  OCT. 31, 1920 COUNTRY: West Germany WORLD CUP APPEARNCES:  2 ('54, '58) CLUBS: Kaiserslautern INTRODUCTION: Captain of the 1954 winning team and the first great German player in the world stage. CAREER INTERNATIONAL GOALS: 33

1962 World Cup - Chile

Fritz Walter was a left-midfielder and inspiration of West Germany's first World Cup success.  His brother Omar also played in the team in Switzerland.  In the Final against the over-whelming favourites Hungary, although West Germany fell behind to two early goals, Walter's guidance and midfield wisdom helped his country to overcome the deficit and fought back to win the game and, thus, the tournament. 1958 World Cup - Sweden
Four years later, at 37, he again led West Germany for the World Cup in Sweden.  Against the host nation in the semi-final, Walter was injured by Swedish midfielder Parling.  Given the unfair advantage, the Swedish team beat the defending champions and went into the final.    In hindsight, Fritz Walter was the German player credited for making his country into a world power.

HIS GOALS IN THE WORLD CUP - COMPLETE RECORD

1954
1st round: play-off	v. Turkey
Semi-final	v. Austria (2)