Ernst WILIMOWSKI | 1938-1939 | PES Stats Database (Golden Era Backup)

WILIMOWSKI PES STATS | 1938-1939

Oriello Joint Collaboration Between Brezza and Oriello with help from Gerd and Plava Čigra Name: Ernst Otton (Pradella) Willimowski or Ernest Wilimowski (Polanized) Ernst WILIMOWSKI | 1938-1939 Club: Ruch Wielkie Hajduki (now: Ruch Chorzów ) Number: -- Position: *SS (Old Fashioned Inside-Left), CF Nationality: German and Polish (Considered himself Silesian) Date of Birth: June 23, 1916 (age: 22) Era: 1938/1939 Foot: Left Side: Left Height: 172 cm Weight: 68 kg Attack: 90 Defence: 32 Balance: 77 Stamina: 84 Top Speed: 85 Acceleration: 91 Response: 90 Agility: 91 Dribble Accuracy: 94 Dribble Speed: 86 Short Pass Accuracy: 75 Short Pass Speed: 74 Long Pass Accuracy: 77 Long Pass Speed: 76 Shot Accuracy: 91 Shot Power: 84 Shot Technique: 92 Free Kick Accuracy: 70 Curling: 77 Header: 76 Jump: 81 Technique: 94 Aggression: 91 Mentality/Tenacity: 75 Goalkeeper Skills: 50 Team Work: 70 Injury Tolerance: A Form/Condition/Fitness: 7 Weak Foot Accuracy: 7 Weak Foot Frequency: 6 Consistency: 8 Growth Type: Early/Lasting CARDS: P07: Mazing Run P17: Free Roaming S01: Reaction S03: 1-on-1 Finish S06: Outside Curve S20: Scooping SPECIAL ABILITIES: *Dribbling *Reaction *Scoring *1-1 Scoring *Outside Attack/Defence Awareness Card: Attack Minded INFO: This short, skinny, redhead with six toes on his left foot was the greatest pre-war footballer to play for Poland and possibly Poland's all-time greatest footballer. Was born to Ernst-Roman Pradella, when his 18 year old father died in the First World War, his mother remarried and Ernst-Otto Pradella became Ernest Wilimowski. Not only was Ernest a talent in football he was also an exceptional attacker in ice hockey and goalkeeper in team handball. He played handball in the summer and hockey in the winter with his hometown team Pogoń Katowice whilst engaging in his football career, his athletic prowess extended into running and was selected to represent East Upper Silesia in track and field competitions. But Ernest concentrated mainly on football and his talent was so potent that even at a young age he over powered and out competed the youth teams and made himself a first team regular with 1. FC Katowice. Ernest came to such acclaim before his 18th birthday that Ruch Wielkie Hajduki spent several thousands of złoty for his transfer, at the time this amounted to 10 months income of a postman, (I do not understand it myself, but apparently there was a lot of money in mail then and one remembers that football was then not yet big business, simply stated it was an enormous sum for the time). At Ruch in his first season he scored 33 goals. Played 86 games for Ruch in total, scoring 112 goals. On May 21, 1939, he scored 10 goals in a single match against Union-Touring Łódź as his club won 12-1. That performance still stands as a league record. He came to be known by fellow footballers as ''Cwaniak'' or 'Trickster', for his technical antics near the goal, was well known for his tendency to humiliate opponents with tricks. With Wilimowski (also Teodor Peterek and Gerard Wodarz), Ruch's dominance of the league was so absolute and with good results against foreign clubs in friendlies, some experts say that the European Cup arrived far to late for this club to make a splash in Europe. Debuted for Poland at the age of 17 years and 332 days. Was capped 22 times and scored 21 goals. Wilimowski's off field conduct was less than ideal and had a penchant for enjoying drink and women, in 1936 this led to a one year suspension imposed by the Polish football association just before the Olympic Games in Berlin. Without his goal scoring touch the Poles managed only a fourth place finish in the Olympic tournament. Many felt that his presence could have brought the team a gold medal. He would go on to represent Poland in the 1938 World Cup becoming the first player to score 4 goals in a single World Cup match, in 6-5 loss to Brazil. When the Second World War started, Wilimowski was leading the league in scoring with 12 goals in the new season, but under German occupation the Polish league was suspended as Poles were forbidden to engage in sport. In the early days of the war Willimowski went into hiding, because Georg Joschke a NSDAP official still resented Wilimowski's 1933 transfer from the ethnically-German club 1. FC Kattowitz to the Polish Ruch Chorzów. Allegedly, Joschke threatened that Wilimowski would have to wear the letter ''P'' (for Pole) on his clothes. This never happened, as Wilimowski was too good a player who was well appreciated by other German football officials. Ernest who was born in Silesia considered himself to be a Silesian or 'Górno-śląszak', rather than a Pole or German, and originally being born when Silesia was still a part of the German Empire he signed the Volksliste and re-took German Citizenship so that he could continue to play football in the reorganized 'domestic' league. So Ernest Wilimowski became Ernst Willimowski and since Ruch Chorzów was disbanded he rejoined his hometown club 1. FC Kattowitz. For propaganda purposes Nazi sports officials made 1. FC Kattowitz a model side representative of the German Upper Silesia. The region's best players were assigned to the team Erwin Nyc, Ewald Dytko and Paweł Cyganek joined Willimowski who played there until February 1940, before moving on to Chemnitz, where he took up a post as a policeman to avoid military service, he continued playing football for the local team Polizei- Sportverein Chemnitz, and even managed an astonishing 35 goals in his first 7 matches. Through the course of the war he also played for TSV 1860 München, winning the Tschammerpokal (German Cup) in 1942. Ernst even managed to repeat his earlier feat of 10 goals in one game, on the way to winning the Cup against SS-Sportgemeinshaft Strassburg, in a 15-1 win. During the war Ernst would play along side Fritz Walter in 8 international friendlies for Germany during 1941-1942, scoring 13 goals. His appearances for Germany were limited due to internationals being suspended after 1942, and because then German coach Sepp Herberger was wary playing Wilimowski despite his obvious talent due to his 'extracurricular activities', and even told him once ''Vor dem Spiel keine Liebe, kein Alkohol!'' (Before the game no love, no alcohol!). Fritz Walter later said of Ernst, 'This is probably the only footballer in the world, who scored more goals than he had chances' (''To chyba jedyny piłkarz na świecie, który zdobywał więcej bramek niż miał szans'')[Polish sources]. After the war Willimowski was regarded as a traitor by the Polish Communist government, and his name was purged from records and he was exiled from Poland and thus his Silesian home, this was in response to not only his changing of citizenship during the war but also for wearing the football uniform (which bore the swastika) of the enemy. Even during the 1974 World Cup in Germany when Ernest wished to pay a visit to the Polish squad, he was denied permission by PZPN officials. In 1995 he was invited by Ruch Chorzów to celebrate the club's 75th anniversary, but declined, so he could stay by his ailing wife. He would die in 1997. Recently Wilimowski's family revealed that his mother Paulina had been sent to Auschwitz during the war, Ernst had done a great deal to gain influence so he could have her released, which did happen in 1942. His daughter also told of her father's religious devotion and a story that he always recounted, of him meeting Karol Wojtyla (future Pope) in 1939 when on a ski trip. Sylvia Haarke also claimed that her father being left out of the German 1954 World Cup winning side was one of his greatest dissapointments in life. Despite having colossal world events affect his life and footballing career Wilimowski still managed to score a ridiculous 1175 goals in official matches, and was significantly above the one goal per game average, yet FIFA/RSSSF only recognize ''544+'' goals. HONOURS: Polish League Titles: 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1938 Tschammerpokal (now DFB-Pokal): 1942 VIDEO: Poland(white) vs. Brazil(dark), 1938 World Cup, (incomplete) highlights. Willimowski dribbling and being hauled down for a penalty (0:42), immediately after in the highlights is a Willimowski goal, he chips Batatais. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cecyhZCKu1w[/youtube] Ernst WILIMOWSKI | 1938-1939 | PES Stats Database (Golden Era Backup)