Willi Schulz
Encyclopedia
Willi Schulz is a former German international
football player.
Schulz played his first of altogether 66 games for West Germany in 1959 at a time when he was still an amateur for lower league club Union Günnigfeld. In 1960 he joined FC Schalke 04
, spending the first three years in the Oberliga West, and in 1963 the Bundesliga
was officially created. In 1965 he changed outfit joining Hamburger SV
.
Schulz started out as a right half back in the late 1950s. With the change from the WM system
to the 4-2-4, Schulz was converted from half back to stopper
by the mid-1960s. During the 1966 World Cup, Schulz acted as the sweeper
of the West German
national team, a role he had taken over from Klaus-Dieter Sieloff
only shortly before the tournament. At that tournament, Schulz was rated as one of the best defenders. During the next four years, Schulz remained the standard sweeper
of West Germany
. During this time, Schulz was acknowledged as one of the best central defenders
in global football. In November 1968, he was part of the FIFA XI that faced Brazil
in Rio de Janeiro
.
Schulz would have been the standard sweeper
of West Germany
during the 1970 World Cup, but an injury of the meniscus
as well as a calf bruise meant that he only started in two of the six World Cup games in Mexico
. In his place, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
played as sweeper
. After the 1970 World Cup Schulz retired from international activities. He continued to play for Hamburger SV
until 1973.
Being a conservative sweeper
with no urge to join the attack of his teams, Schulz focused on marshalling his defense. He was noted for his calmness even under pressure, his positional play, his strength at man-to-man duels, his solid passing game, aerial ability and a special expertise at sliding tackling
. For these traits as well as his consistency at the top level, Schulz was revered by West German
national team coach Helmut Schön
, who preferred Schulz at the sweeper
position to the younger and more adventurous Franz Beckenbauer
, who had to play in midfield
instead.
After his retirement, Willi Schulz established an insurance agency in Hamburg
and also engaged in the gambling machine business. During the 1970s and 1980s, Schulz was also known for his critical sport columns for Hamburg newspapers. After the 1982 FIFA World Cup
match between West Germany and Austria
, in which the two sides colluded to allow West Germany to win 1-0
enabling both sides to progess at the expense of Algeria
, Schulz famously called the West German players "gangsters".
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
football player.
Schulz played his first of altogether 66 games for West Germany in 1959 at a time when he was still an amateur for lower league club Union Günnigfeld. In 1960 he joined FC Schalke 04
FC Schalke 04
Fußball-Club Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04, commonly known as simply FC Schalke 04 or Schalke , is a German, association-football club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Schalke has long been one of the most popular football teams in Germany, even though major...
, spending the first three years in the Oberliga West, and in 1963 the Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
was officially created. In 1965 he changed outfit joining Hamburger SV
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...
.
Schulz started out as a right half back in the late 1950s. With the change from the WM system
Formation (association football)
In association football, the formation describes how the players in a team are positioned on the pitch. Different formations can be used depending on whether a team wishes to play more attacking or defensive football....
to the 4-2-4, Schulz was converted from half back to stopper
Stopper
stopper may refer to:*Stopper , a type of a knot at the end of the rope*Stopper , also known as a cork, a plug or a bung used to temporarily seal a bottle opening...
by the mid-1960s. During the 1966 World Cup, Schulz acted as the sweeper
Sweeper
Sweepers are small, tropical marine perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains approximately 26 species in two genera. One species is the target of subsistence fisheries in Japan, where the fish is much enjoyed for...
of the West German
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
national team, a role he had taken over from Klaus-Dieter Sieloff
Klaus-Dieter Sieloff
Klaus-Dieter Sieloff is a former German football player. He spent 11 seasons in the Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Mönchengladbach. He played in two World Cup Qualifying matches in 1966.During his youth in Kiel, Sieloff aimed to become a boxer, having stood in the ring 25 times by...
only shortly before the tournament. At that tournament, Schulz was rated as one of the best defenders. During the next four years, Schulz remained the standard sweeper
Sweeper
Sweepers are small, tropical marine perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains approximately 26 species in two genera. One species is the target of subsistence fisheries in Japan, where the fish is much enjoyed for...
of West Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
. During this time, Schulz was acknowledged as one of the best central defenders
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
in global football. In November 1968, he was part of the FIFA XI that faced Brazil
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
.
Schulz would have been the standard sweeper
Sweeper
Sweepers are small, tropical marine perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains approximately 26 species in two genera. One species is the target of subsistence fisheries in Japan, where the fish is much enjoyed for...
of West Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
during the 1970 World Cup, but an injury of the meniscus
Meniscus
The meniscus is the curve in the upper surface of a liquid close to the surface of the container or another object, caused by surface tension. It can be either convex or concave. A convex meniscus occurs when the molecules have a stronger attraction to each other than to the material of the...
as well as a calf bruise meant that he only started in two of the six World Cup games in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. In his place, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
Karl-Heinz Schnellinger is a former German footballer. He was one of the world's best defenders for a decade in the 1960s. He was nicknamed the "Volkswagen" for his continuity of performance, both in quantity and in quality...
played as sweeper
Sweeper
Sweepers are small, tropical marine perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains approximately 26 species in two genera. One species is the target of subsistence fisheries in Japan, where the fish is much enjoyed for...
. After the 1970 World Cup Schulz retired from international activities. He continued to play for Hamburger SV
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...
until 1973.
Being a conservative sweeper
Sweeper
Sweepers are small, tropical marine perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains approximately 26 species in two genera. One species is the target of subsistence fisheries in Japan, where the fish is much enjoyed for...
with no urge to join the attack of his teams, Schulz focused on marshalling his defense. He was noted for his calmness even under pressure, his positional play, his strength at man-to-man duels, his solid passing game, aerial ability and a special expertise at sliding tackling
Sliding tackle
A sliding tackle or slide tackle is a tackle in soccer in which a player attempts to take the ball away from an opposing player by deliberately leaving his feet and sliding along the ground with one leg extended to push the ball away from the opposing player.Sliding tackles can often be sources of...
. For these traits as well as his consistency at the top level, Schulz was revered by West German
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
national team coach Helmut Schön
Helmut Schön
Helmut Schön was a German football player and manager. He is best remembered for his exceptional career as manager of West Germany....
, who preferred Schulz at the sweeper
Sweeper
Sweepers are small, tropical marine perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains approximately 26 species in two genera. One species is the target of subsistence fisheries in Japan, where the fish is much enjoyed for...
position to the younger and more adventurous Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Anton Beckenbauer is a German football coach, manager, and former player, nicknamed Der Kaiser because of his elegant style, his leadership, his first name "Franz" , and his dominance on the football pitch...
, who had to play in midfield
Midfield
Midfield is the part of a sports pitch that lies approximately in the center. It is a term most commonly associated with football to refer to the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region, but it can be used in field hockey to describe the same area, or in...
instead.
After his retirement, Willi Schulz established an insurance agency in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and also engaged in the gambling machine business. During the 1970s and 1980s, Schulz was also known for his critical sport columns for Hamburg newspapers. After the 1982 FIFA World Cup
1982 FIFA World Cup
The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. The tournament was won by Italy, after defeating West Germany 3–1 in the final.-Host selection:...
match between West Germany and Austria
Austria national football team
The Austria national football team is the association football team that represents the country of Austria in international competition and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association ....
, in which the two sides colluded to allow West Germany to win 1-0
West Germany v Austria (1982)
-Aftermath:With West Germany's 1–0 victory, they joined Austria and Algeria with four points in three matches. The teams were separated by goal difference, with West Germany and Austria progressing to the next round of the tournament at the expense of Algeria....
enabling both sides to progess at the expense of Algeria
Algeria national football team
The Algeria national football team , nicknamed الأفنــاك, Les Fennecs , represents Algeria in association football and is controlled by the Fédération Algérienne de Football. Algeria's home ground is the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers and their head coach is Vahid Halilhodžić.Algeria has qualified...
, Schulz famously called the West German players "gangsters".
Honours
- 1966 FIFA World Cup1966 FIFA World CupThe 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final, winning the World Cup for the first time, so becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.-Host selection:England was chosen as...
runner-up. - 1970 FIFA World Cup1970 FIFA World CupThe 1970 FIFA World Cup, the ninth staging of the World Cup, was held in Mexico, from 31 May to 21 June. The 1970 tournament was the first World Cup hosted in North America, and the first held outside South America and Europe. In a match-up of two-time World Cup champions, the final was won by...
3rd place. - UEFA Cup Winners' CupUEFA Cup Winners' CupThe UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
finalist: 1968. - DFB-PokalDFB-PokalThe DFB-Pokal or DFB Cup is a German knockout football cup competition held annually. 64 teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga. It is considered the second most important national title in German football after the Bundesliga...
finalist: 1967.