Fritz Walter

Fritz Walter, born on October 31, 1920, was one of the most popular German football players. In his time with the German and West German national team, he earned 61 caps and scored 33 goals. Walter began his football career at early age, when he was 8 he joined the Kaiserslautern youth academy, and made his first team debut at just 17. Walter debuted with the national team in 1940, scoring a hat-trick against Romania.

Walter was drafted into the armed forces in 1942 and by the end of the war, Fritz found himself in a P.O.W. camp in Hungary. Fortunately, one of the Hungarian prison guards had seen Fritz playing for Germany and told the Russians that Fritz was not German but Austrian, and his life was spared.

After he returned, Walter started playing for Kaiserslautern, leading them to German championships in 1951 and 1953. He returned to the national team in 1951, and was named the captain. He was captain of the West German team that won their first World Cup in 1954. Walter received his last cap during the semi-final against Sweden in the 1958 World Cup, suffering an injury which ended his international career, and retired from football in 1959.