Alfred Pfaff

This article covers the former soccer player. for the politician of the same name see Alfred Pfaff (politician)

Alfred Pfaff
Personnel
birthday	July 16, 1926
place of birth	Frankfurt am Main ,  German Empire
date of death	December 27, 2008
Place of death	Erlenbach am Main ,  Germany
position	midfield
Juniors
Years	station
from 1936	Eintracht Frankfurt
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1945-1946	SC Wirges
1946-1947	1. FC Hochstadt
1947-1949	Rödelheimer FC
1949-1961	Eintracht Frankfurt	301 (103)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1953-1954	Germany B	2 00(3)
1953-1956	Germany	7 00(2)
1 Only league games are given.

Alfred Pfaff (born July 16, 1926 in Frankfurt am Main - Rödelheim ; † December 27, 2008 in Erlenbach am Main ) was a German soccer player and world champion in 1954 . The outstanding technician and playmaker played 301 league games and scored 103 goals at Eintracht Frankfurt from 1949 to 1961 in the then first-class soccer Oberliga Süd . With the "Eagle Bearers" the excellent free-kick taker won the German soccer championship in 1959 and made it to the final of the European Cup in 1960 . In the national soccer team , he was used in seven international matches (2 goals) from 1953 to 1956.

Life

societies

Pfaff began playing football with the Eintracht youth at the age of ten. After the end of the Second World War , the trained plumber first played for SC Wirges (today SpVgg EGC Wirges ) and 1.FC Hochstadt , and then after the 1948/49 season with Rödelheimer FC in the soccer Oberliga Süd (28 games and 11 Tore) to land again at Riederwald near Eintracht Frankfurt. From 1949 to 1961 he completed 301 league games for the eagle carriers and scored 103 goals.

The 21-year-old who returned home in 1947 after moving to Rödelheimer FC for the 1948/49 season, which was in the first class , received the first supraregional attention after three years as a prisoner of war in Le Havre - there he was employed by the fire brigade and was able to play football in camp teams the Oberliga Süd had risen. He made his debut on the start of the round, September 11, 1948, in a 2-1 away win at Ulm 1846 on left winger at the side of the two-time goalscorer Hubert Schieth , in the league. At the end of the round, the blue-yellows, who had played their home games in the Brentanobad stadium, were bottom of the table again in the amateur league. On the last round match day, May 15, 1949, Rödelheim said goodbye with a 4-1 home win against 1. FC Nürnberg from the league; Center forward Schieth scored all four goals for the hosts. Pfaff had scored eleven goals in 28 league games and Eintracht was 13th and FSV 12th. For the new 1949/50 season, Eintracht made use of Rödelheim and signed four of the relegated players: Herbert Kesper , Kurt Krömmelbein , Pfaff and Schieth; In addition, Heinz Kaster , Paul Lemm and Gerhard Schildt were also signed up by the “eagle bearers”. On January 1, 1949, the Rödelheim promotion coach Walter Hollstein took over the team from Riederwald, Eintracht Frankfurt. Pfaff from Rödelheim was eligible to play until mid-September, so that the former Eintracht youth player was only able to make his debut in the Oberliga Süd on the third matchday, September 25, with a 1-0 away win at Schwaben Augsburg in a Eintracht dress . In terms of sport, ups and downs alternated with regularity in the course of the round: In the course of the second half of the season, Pfaff's team was able to work its way up to fifth place, after the 1: 3 derby defeat against FSV, defeats followed in a row. By the end of the season, with 0:16 points and 3:17 goals, there was a crash from fifth to 14th place. Pfaff had scored two goals in 28 league appearances.

In the 1950/51 round, Kurt Windmann, a new trainer came to Eintracht and led the "Eagle Bearers" forward over the next six rounds. The successful performance culminated in the title win in 1952/53 and the runner-up in 1954 , the subsequent finals, as well as the participation in the World Cup by Eintracht playmaker in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. In this phase of time, Pfaff matured into an outstanding linchpin in the offensive game of Eintracht. The ball virtuoso determined the game of the Riederwald team with precise passes, his ball technique and his masterful free kicks. From 1950/51 to 1957/58 he ran in the Oberliga Süd in 169 league games and scored 64 goals as a half-forward.

The outstanding playmaker climbed the peak of performance with Eintracht under coach Paul Oßwald in the two rounds 1958/59 and 1959/60: Pfaff won with Eintracht on June 28, 1959 in Berlin against local rivals Kickers Offenbach with a 5-3 success Extension of the German championship . The “Greater Frankfurt Endgame” advanced to a game full of drama, goals and tragedy. "The 1959 final will go down as one of the most breathtaking in German football history," enthused Friedebert Becker in kicker . After convincing 6-1 and 6-3 successes in the semifinals against Glasgow Rangers  - the free kick expert scored two goals in both games - Pfaff and his team reached the final of the European Cup against Real Madrid . Klaus Leger noted in his book about the European Cup for the first leg in the semi-final against Glasgow Rangers: “After the missed penalty by Kreß after eight minutes, Eintracht continued to play indefatigably, especially since Pfaff had perhaps the best day of his football experience . After the 1-1 halftime score, Pfaff then crowned his brilliant performance within three minutes by first dusting off to lead Eintracht again and then circling a 20-meter free kick around the wall into the net. " On May 18, 1960, the “royal” to Alfredo Di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskás prevailed with 7: 3 goals. "Don Alfredo" was the "head" of the Eintracht team.

From 1953 to 1959 Pfaff completed 12 final round matches for the German football championship with Eintracht and scored three goals. In total, he was active in ten European Cup games for the Hessians - 1955-57 in three games for the city selection Frankfurt / Offenbach in the Messecup - and distinguished himself as a seven-time goalscorer.

The honorary member and honorary captain of Eintracht Frankfurt was solemnly announced on August 13, 1961, the 2nd match day of the 1961/62 season, before the kick-off for the home game against Kickers Offenbach (5: 4) by the Eintracht president, the two teams and 30,000 Farewell to the audience.

Alfred Pfaff's autograph (2005)

Selection appointments

Between 1953 and 1956 he played seven times for the German national soccer team and scored two goals. The first appointment was made by the national coach Sepp Herberger for the World Cup qualifier on August 19, 1953 in Oslo against Norway. The highlight of his international career was winning the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland . Pfaff played in the preliminary round in the game against Hungary, which the Germans lost 8-3, and scored the goal in the 26th minute to make it 1: 3. It was the second international match for the Frankfurt conductor. Thanks to Fritz Walter , the position of playmaker in the national team was brilliantly filled, so that Pfaff could not play a major role in the national team. Pfaff played his last game in the senior national team on November 25, 1956 in his hometown of Frankfurt in an international match against Switzerland, which he lost 3-1. With Heinz Vollmar , Fritz Walter, Hans Neuschäfer and Hans Schäfer, he formed the attack of the disappointing DFB-Elf on half-left. In the first two rounds after Fritz Walter's era, 1958/59 and 1959/60, in which Pfaff celebrated outstanding successes in the championship and in the European Cup with Eintracht, he was no longer considered by national coach Herberger.

In the B national team he scored three goals in two missions 1953-1954. Two months before his A international debut on August 19 in Oslo against Norway, he was used for the first time in a DFB selection. The B national team defeated Spain 5-2 in Düsseldorf on June 14, 1953 and the left wing of the B-Elf offered an impressive performance: playmaker Pfaff pulled the strings on the half-left and scored two goals, Hans Schäfer from the left 1. FC Köln showed its dynamism and shooting power and scored three goals. This secured her inclusion in the squad for the World Cup qualifier against Norway in Oslo.

In addition, the Frankfurter was also in the selection of southern Germany, was called to various test matches of DFB national teams against club teams and also collected in the Frankfurt / Offenbach city team in the trade fair cup from 1955 to 1957 in the games against the city teams of London and Basel international experience. With Eintracht Pfaff was also on trips abroad in Spain (Christmas 1950), from May 2 to June 3, 1951 in the USA and 14 days over Christmas 1952 in Egypt.

Next to the square

Pfaff was an innkeeper from 1954 and ran his inn first in Frankfurt-Praunheim and later at the Frankfurt Hauptwache . Since 1961 he has lived as an innkeeper and hotelier in Zittenfelden in the Morretal, Odenwald . In 2006 he was awarded the Hessian Order of Merit . Alfred Pfaff died after a long illness on December 27, 2008 at the age of 82. He was buried in the Zittenfelden cemetery. Close to the training ground of Eintracht Frankfurt e. V. in the Frankfurt district of Riederwald, "Alfred-Pfaff-Straße" has been named after him since 2013.

See also

• Germany at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland

literature

• Ulrich Matheja: Schlappekicker and sky striker. The story of Eintracht Frankfurt. Publishing house Die Werkstatt. Göttingen 2004. ISBN 3-89533-427-8 .
• Lorenz Knieriem, Hardy Grüne : Player Lexicon 1890 - 1963 . In: Encyclopedia of German League Football . tape 8 . AGON, Kassel 2006, ISBN 3-89784-148-7 .
• Werner Skrentny (Ed.): When Morlock still met the moonlight. The history of the Oberliga Süd 1945–1963. Klartext, Essen 1993. ISBN 3-88474-055-5 .
• Jürgen Bitter : Germany's national soccer player: the lexicon . SVB Sportverlag, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-328-00749-0 .
• Jürgen Bitter: Germany's football. The encyclopedia. FA Herbig. Munich 2008. ISBN 978-3-7766-2558-5 . P. 553.
• Jörg Heinisch: The game of the century. Eintracht Frankfurt and Real Madrid in the 1960 European Cup. Agon Sportverlag. Kassel 2004. ISBN 3-89784-248-3 .

Web links

• Alfred Pfaff in the Eintracht archive
• spiegel.de: "World Cup goalscorer from 1954: Alfred Pfaff died at the age of 82.", December 28, 2008
• main-spitze.de: "Football world champion Alfred Pfaff has died." December 28, 2008

Individual evidence

1. ^ Jürgen Bitter: Germany's football. The encyclopedia. P. 553
2. ↑ Ulrich Matheja: Schlappekicker and Himmelsstürmer. P. 185
3. ↑ Hardy Greens: Legendary football clubs Hessen. Agon Sportverlag. Kassel 2005. ISBN 3-89784-244-0 . Pp. 296/297
4. ↑ Hardy Greens: 100 Years of the German Championship. Publishing house Die Werkstatt. Göttingen 2003. ISBN 3-89533-410-3 . P. 320
5. ↑ Klaus Leger: Just like Real Madrid once did ... The European Football Cup 1955–1964. Agon Sportverlag. Kassel 1964. ISBN 3-89784-211-4 . P. 68
6. ^ Matthias Kropp: Triumphs in the European Cup. Agon Sportverlag. Kassel 1996. ISBN 3-928562-75-4 . P. 9
7. ↑ The grave of Alfred Pfaff. In: knerger.de. Klaus Nerger, accessed on November 1, 2019 .