Dieter Lange (soccer player)

Dieter Lange (born June 15, 1940 in Jena ) was a German football player in Jena. For SC Motor and FC Carl Zeiss he played in the GDR Oberliga , the top division of the GDR Football Association . Lange is also a multiple junior, junior and B national player.

Athletic career

Long outstanding talent as a football player already appeared in the junior team of SC Motor Jena and in 1957 led to the appointment to the GDR junior national team. With her he played eight international matches until 1958, scoring four goals. In his first junior international match on October 26, 1957, he was used as a half-right striker in the encounter between GDR and Czechoslovakia (2: 3) and scored his first international goal. He was also always used as an attacker in the following international matches. With the SC Motor Jena he was GDR junior champion in 1957.

During the 1958 season, SC Motor Jena had to replace two of its regular attacking players in its league team with Walter Eglmeyer and Karl Schnieke . In addition, Georg Buschner, a new coach, had taken over the team who had set himself the goal of rejuvenating the team. On August 10, 1958, 18-year-old Dieter Lange got the chance to establish himself in the GDR's top division. In the game of the 14th match day between SC Dynamo Berlin and SC Motor Jena (2: 1) he was used as a half-left striker and made a lasting impression on his team with the 1: 2 connecting goal. From the 16th matchday on, Lange had a regular place as a striker in the league team and so came to eleven missions in his first league season and scored three goals.

Until 1966, Lange was a regular striker for Jena and scored goals every season. In 1960 he was rediscovered for the GDR selection area. He was accepted into the junior national team, played there on June 29, 1960 as a half-left striker in his first junior international game (GDR - Norway 5-3) and made a total of five junior international appearances (1 goal) by 1963. In 1960 and 1961 he also played in four international B matches (1 goal). Also in 1960 he won his first men's title. On October 7th, he stood as a half-left striker with the SC engine in the final of the GDR soccer cup , which the Jena won 3-2 after extra time against SC Empor Rostock. In the subsequent competition for the 1961/62 European Cup Winners' Cup , SC Motor Jena surprisingly made it to the semi-finals. Lange also scored his first EC goal in the first European Cup game of Jena (Swansea Town - SC Motor Jena (2: 2). He played all eight matches and was in the two semi-finals against Atlético Madrid (0: 1, 0: 4) With his five goals he was the most successful EC scorer of his team. In the season 1962/63, in the meantime the GDR played in the summer-spring rhythm, Lange was champion with Jena, was called up in all 26 point games and carried with his seven goals played a decisive role in winning the title.

After Lange had once again played a successful league season with 26 league appearances and seven championship goals in the 1965/66 season, at the age of 26 he completed his last first division season in 1966/67. The football section of SC Motor had previously been restructured into FC Carl Zeiss Jena at the beginning of 1966. Lange played the first seven league games as usual, but then only played sporadically. The 26th and final match day of the season 1966/67 (FC Carl Zeiss Jena - FC Vorwärts Berlin, 2: 1) was Lange's last competitive game for Jena. He had come to a total of 199 missions in the league, in which he had scored 54 goals.

literature

• Hanns Leske : Encyclopedia of GDR football . Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89533-556-3 , p. 287.
• Andreas Baingo, Michael Horn: The History of the GDR Oberliga. Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2003, ISBN 3-89533-428-6 , p. 321.
• Uwe Nuttelmann (Ed.): GDR Oberliga. 1962-1991. Self-published, Jade 2007, ISBN 978-3-930814-33-6 .
• GDR sports newspaper Deutsches Sportecho . Born 1957 to 1967

Web links

• Dieter Lange in the database of the German Football Association