Toni Schumacher

Biography

Harald Anton "Toni" Schumacher (born 6 March 1954) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. At club level, he won a Bundesliga title and three DFB-Pokal titles with 1. FC Köln. At international level, he represented West Germany. Schumacher won the 1980 European Championship and lost two World Cup finals, in 1982 and 1986. In the 1982 FIFA World Cup semi-final, he controversially collided with and seriously injured French defender Patrick Battiston. Schumacher was voted German Footballer of the Year in 1984 and 1986. Since April 2012, he has served as vice president at 1. FC Köln. Schumacher made his first-team debut with 1. FC Köln at the age of 19. He played for the club from 1972 to 1987, including in 213 consecutive Bundesliga matches from 1977 to 1983. For most of those years, until well into the mid-1980s, he was widely considered one of the world's top goalkeepers, and he was the automatic first-choice goalkeeper for his country. He backstopped Köln to the double in 1978, winning the Bundesliga title (ahead of Borussia Mönchengladbach on goal difference) and the DFB-Pokal (defeated Fortuna Düsseldorf). The year before he had led Köln to a DFB-Pokal victory (against Hertha BSC in the final), the club's first major trophy win in nine years. He appeared in two other DFB-Pokal finals, in 1980 (lost to Fortuna Düsseldorf) and 1983 (defeated Fortuna Köln). Schumacher was voted German Footballer of the Year twice, in 1984 and 1986, by the nation's football journalists. Schumacher played 76 international matches for West Germany between 1979 and 1986, including 15 World Cup qualifying matches and 14 World Cup matches. He won the 1980 European Championship (defeated Belgium 2–1 in the final) and lost two World Cup finals, in 1982 (to Italy, 3–1) and 1986 (to Argentina, 3–2). In the 1982 tournament, in the controversial semi-final against France, he saved two penalty kicks in the post-extra time shootout, which West Germany ultimately won. In the 1986 quarter-final against tournament hosts, Mexico, he saved two of the three shootout penalties he faced, enabling West Germany to advance. ... Source: Article "Toni Schumacher" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.