Josef Fath

Josef "Seppl" Fath (born December 27, 1911 in Worms ; † August 11, 1985 ibid) was a German football player from Wormatia Worms . Between 1934 and 1938 he made 13 international matches and scored seven goals.

society

The only 1.60 m tall left winger had his strengths in the acceleration and in his shooting ability. His specialty were gates from acute angles. In 1933 he was in the victorious team from Southern Germany when he won the Reichsbund / Länder Cup and in 1934 in the successful Southwest team in the Kampfspiel-Pokal. With the Wormatia he was eliminated in 1936 in the round of the last four in the Tschammer Cup and played a great final round of the German championship . Behind the group winners 1. FC Nürnberg , the Wormatia took second place and thus failed at the German champions of 1936. Worms was in 1936 , 1937 and 1939 each Gaumeister in the southwest, but because of the consequences of an injury, Fath could not take part in the 1937 finals.

National team

On September 9, 1934, Reich coach Otto Nerz appointed him to the national team for the first time when he played against Poland in Warsaw . It was the first international match for the mink team after the successful soccer World Cup in Italy in 1934 . The storm was formed by Ernst Lehner , Otto Siffling , Karl Hohmann , Fritz Szepan and "Seppl" Fath on the left wing instead of "Tau" Kobierski. The game was won 5-2 goals. Four weeks later, the Worms player came to his second game in the DFB selection. In another 5-2 win against Denmark in Copenhagen, the powerful winger scored three goals. After that, he was unable to defend his place in Prof. Nerz's team for six months due to an injury. Nevertheless, he came in 1935 on eight other missions in the national team. But Fath had his most spectacular appearance on February 23, 1936 at the international match against Spain in Barcelona . Germany won 2-1 goals and both goals against legendary Spanish goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora were scored by “Seppl” Fath.

A protracted knee injury stopped the goalscorer on the left wing - the Wormser was sorely missed at the 1936 Olympic tournament in Berlin. After a break of two years, he returned to the national team on March 20, 1938 at the game in Nuremberg against Hungary. He also stormed on the left wing in the unofficial international match against Austria on April 3, 1938 in Vienna. After Hitler's invasion of Austria, football was also united. He played his 13th and last game in the national jersey on April 24, 1938 in Frankfurt am Main in a 1-1 draw against Portugal. For the 1938 World Cup in France, coach Sepp Herberger relied on Hans Pesser from Rapid Vienna .

Late career end

Despite his serious knee problems, Fath continued his career. After the Second World War he was part of Wormatia's upper league team and played in championship games until 1948, now 36 years old. Then he coached lower-class clubs. He worked in his hometown as a district representative for the Toto / Lotto company.

statement

In the book by KIRN / NATAN published by Ullstein-Verlag in 1958, the following is recorded about "Seppl" Fath:

“The man who lives on in the history of the German national team as the left wing of the quick start, often turning dangerously inward, the player who scored seven goals in the national team alone, two of them against the great Zamora in the international match in Barcelona. A good, withdrawn boy who came from the Fischerweiden-Elf to Wormatia and became famous there. Injuries ended his career too early. "

Web links

• Josef Fath in the database of weltfussball.de
• Josef Fath in the database of fussballdaten.de
• Josef Fath in the database of National-Football-Teams.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Matthias Arnhold: Josef Fath - Goals in International Matches . RSSSF . March 2, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.