View source for Toni Turek

{{Short description|German footballer (1919–1984)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Toni Turek
| image = Toni Turek, Estadio, 1954-07-17 (583).jpg
| caption = Turek in 1954
| full_name = Anton Turek
| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|01|18|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Duisburg]], [[Weimar Republic|Germany]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1984|05|11|1919|01|18|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Neuss]], [[West Germany]]
| height = 1.81 m
| position = [[Goalkeeper (association football)|Goalkeeper]]
| youthyears1 = 1929–1936
| youthclubs1 = Duisburger SV
| years1 = 1936–1941
| clubs1 = [[TuS Duisburg 48/99]]
| caps1 = 
| goals1 = 
| years2 = 1941–1943
| clubs2 = [[SSV Ulm 1846|TSG Ulm 1846]]
| caps2 = 
| goals2 = 
| years3 = 1943–1946
| clubs3 = TuS Duisburg 48/99
| caps3 = 
| goals3 = 
| years4 = 1946–1947
| clubs4 = [[Eintracht Frankfurt]]
| caps4 = 22
| goals4 = 0
| years5 = 1947–1950
| clubs5 = TSG Ulm 1846
| caps5 = 65
| goals5 = 0
| years6 = 1950–1956
| clubs6 = [[Fortuna Düsseldorf]]
| caps6 = 133
| goals6 = 0
| years7 = 1956–1957
| clubs7 = [[Borussia Mönchengladbach]]
| caps7 = 4
| goals7 = 0
| nationalyears1 = 1950–1954
| nationalteam1 = [[Germany national football team|West Germany]]
| nationalcaps1 = 20
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry|{{fb|FRG}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[FIFA World Cup]]}}
{{Medal|W|[[1954 FIFA World Cup|1954 Switzerland]]|}}
}}
[[File:Denkmal Toni Turek.jpg|thumb|Bronze statue by Toni Turek next to the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf-Stockum.]]
'''Anton Turek''' (18 January 1919 – 11 May 1984) was a German [[association football|footballer]] who played as a [[goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]].

== Career ==
Born in [[Duisburg]], Turek started his career at Duisburger Sportverein, but he soon moved to [[TuS Duisburg 48/99]]. He first came to the attention of later [[West Germany national football team|West Germany national team]] coach [[Sepp Herberger]] was on 27 September 1936, when West Germany played a preparation game against [[Luxembourg national football team|Luxembourg]] in [[Krefeld]]. Before that game, the youth teams of Krefeld and TuS Duisburg 48/99 had met with the 17-year-old Turek standing in the Duisburg goal. During [[World War II]] Turek was lucky things did not turn out worse for him as a shell splinter struck through his helmet.<ref name="Bitter p.503">Bitter, Jürgen. ''Deutschlands Fußball Nationalspieler'', Sportverlag, 1997, p. 503.</ref>

In 1950 Turek transferred to [[Fortuna Düsseldorf]]. Between 1950 and 1954 he played 20 games for the West Germany national team.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://rsssf.com/miscellaneous/tturek-intl.html | title = Anton 'Toni' Turek - International Appearances | first = Matthias | last = Arnhold | date = 28 July 2016 | accessdate = 2 August 2016 | publisher = [[Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation|RSSSF]]}}</ref> He played in "[[The Miracle of Bern]]" [[1954 FIFA World Cup]] final against [[Hungary national football team|Hungary]] and won the Championship.<ref>Werner Raupp, Toni Turek – „Fußballgott“, 2019 (see below, Further Reading), p. 107–114.</ref>

After a fine save from a very close shot by [[Nándor Hidegkuti]], he was described by the sports reporter [[Herbert Zimmermann (football commentator)|Herbert Zimmermann]] with the words "Toni, you're a football God".<ref name="ard">{{cite web|url=http://web.ard.de/special/helden1954/pages/2445.php?ch=3|title=Viel Glück habe ich nicht gehabt|language=German|accessdate=30 June 2009|publisher=web.ard.de|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091224212149/http://web.ard.de/special/helden1954/pages/2445.php?ch=3|archivedate=24 December 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmo6o0NU2iU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/fmo6o0NU2iU| archive-date=12 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Video clip on YouTube|website=[[YouTube]] |accessdate=}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He later had to apologize for that comment because the church complained about the comparison of a football player with God.

==Death==
Turek died in [[Neuss]] in 1984.<ref name ="ard" /> He had been paralyzed from the waist down since August 1973.<ref name="Bitter p.504">Bitter, Jürgen. ''Deutschlands Fußball Nationalspieler'', Sportverlag, 1997, p. 504.</ref>

==Legacy==
He has received numerous honours and is still highly regarded in Germany, especially in the Rhineland.<ref>Werner Raupp, Toni Turek – „Fußballgott“ (see below, Further Reading), p. 171–176, 183 f.</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
Werner Raupp: Toni Turek - "Fußballgott". Eine Biographie, Hildesheim: Arete Verlag 2019 (2018) (ISBN 978-3-96423-008-9).

== External links ==
* https://www.Toni-Turek.info (Toni-Turek-Archiv, Private archiv of Werner Raupp, Hohenstein/Schwäb. Alb). 
* {{NFT player|16821}}
* {{Fussballdaten|turekanton}}
* {{WorldFootball.net|toni-turek}}

{{West Germany squad 1954 FIFA World Cup}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turek, Toni}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:Footballers from Duisburg]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from the Rhine Province]]
[[Category:German men's footballers]]
[[Category:Germany men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football goalkeepers]]
[[Category:SSV Ulm 1846 players]]
[[Category:Eintracht Frankfurt players]]
[[Category:Fortuna Düsseldorf players]]
[[Category:Borussia Mönchengladbach players]]
[[Category:1954 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:FIFA World Cup–winning players]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross]]
[[Category:German military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:West German men's footballers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from North Rhine-Westphalia]]