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.
[Bitter, Jürgen. Deutschlands Fußball Nationalspieler, Sportverlag, 1997, p. 503.]
In 1950 Turek transferred to Fortuna Düsseldorf. Between 1950 and 1954 he played 20 games for the West Germany national team.[Werner Raupp, Toni Turek – „Fußballgott“, 2019 (see below, Further Reading), p. 107–114.]
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".
Death
Turek died in
Neuss in 1984.
He had been paralyzed from the waist down since August 1973.
[Bitter, Jürgen. Deutschlands Fußball Nationalspieler, Sportverlag, 1997, p. 504.]
Legacy
He has received numerous honours and is still highly regarded in Germany, especially in the Rhineland.
[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
-
(Toni-Turek-Archiv, Private archiv of Werner Raupp, Hohenstein/Schwäb. Alb).
