Alexander Popovich

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Popovich in the 1910s

Alexander "Xandl" Popovich (born July 18, 1891 in Vienna ; † September 1952 there ), called Poperl , was an Austrian football player and coach . The defender was the first footballer in his country to reach 30 international matches.

Career

Xandl Popovich was short in stature, but well built and did not shy away from showing off his muscles through his often caricatured shorts. He used a British style as a defender and was able to benefit most from his speed and positional play. Xandl Popovich began his career as a youth player at Vienna AC , where he was soon promoted to the reserve team. When a promised mission in the combat team did not materialize, he left the club and switched to Viktoria , where he worked for a year before joining the Vienna Cricket and Football Club . At that time he was still used as a winger, but the cricket players soon saw his talent as a defender. In 1910 he became one of the founding members of the Wiener Amateur-SV and was soon a regular at the new club. He played with the violets in the first class without interruption until 1922 , for a long time without being able to occupy a significant position. In 1920 he commuted between Vienna and Prague and worked at the same time for the amateurs and the DFC Prague .

Although he only played for a smaller club, Xandl Popovich became one of the longstanding pillars of the Austrian national team . From his debut on September 10, 1911 in a 2-1 victory over Germany , he completed the then high number of 33 internationals until 1923, especially in the period from 1915 to 1921. Xandl Popovich played particularly often with Rapidler Vinzenz Dittrich , but also together with the later wonder team player Pepi Blum .

At the end of his playing career, Xandl Popovich also had great successes at club level. After the lost cup final in 1920, Popovich was able to secure the trophy with the amateurs in 1921, but in 1922 his team lost again in the final. In the championship, too, initially only came second in 1920 and 1921. After Xandl Popovich went to district rivals Rapid for the 1922/23 season , the championship worked there, but the crowning glory was the amateurs double in 1923/24 . The defender ended his career at WAC , from there he went to Berlin for Hertha BSC , where he was German runner- up as a coach in 1926 , and then to SC Minerva in 1893 . From 1941 to 1943 he was in charge of Lazio Rome , in the 1945/46 season the FC Bologna and later the AC Pro Sesto .

In the 1910s and 1920s, he was also active as an ice hockey goalkeeper in parallel to football, especially at the Vienna Ice Skating Club , with which he won numerous championships. In 1924 he quarreled with the president of the then ice hockey association, who was also the club president at the WEV, and switched to the Sparta Prague ice hockey team as a guest player .

Stations

As a player

  • Vienna AC
  • AC Viktoria Vienna
  • until 1910: Vienna Cricket and Football Club
  • 1910 to 1922: Wiener Amateur SV
  • 1920 to 1922: DFC Prague
  • 1922 to 1923: SK Rapid Vienna
  • 1923 to 1924: Wiener Amateur SV
  • 1924 to 1925: Vienna AC

As a trainer

  • Hertha BSC
  • Minerva 93 Berlin
  • 1941 to 1943: Lazio Rome
  • 1945 to 1946: Bologna FC
  • AC Pro Sesto

successes

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Popovich at Prague Sparta. In:  Neues Wiener Journal , November 18, 1924, p. 12 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nwj
personal data
SURNAME Popovich, Alexander
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Popovich, Xandl (nickname); Poperl (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian national soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH July 18, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH September 1952
Place of death Vienna