Fryderyk Scherfke
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fryderyk Egon "Fryc" Scherfke, was an interwar Polish soccer midfield player. He was born on September 7, 1909 in Posen, Germany (now Poznań, in a German family, and died on September 15, 1983 in Berlin.
Scherfke spent most of career in Warta Poznań, which was one of best teams of Polish Soccer League in the 1920s and 1930s, winning the league in 1929 and finishing second in 1938. Scherfke also played 12 games for the Polish national team, scoring 2 goals. His debut occurred on October 2, 1932 in a 2-1 win against Latvia. He participated in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, where Poland finished fourth, playing in games against Hungary (3-0) and Great Britain (5-4).
His name, however, will always be remembered as the one who scored the first goal for Poland in the 1938 FIFA World Cup soccer finals. This happened on June 5, 1938, in Strasburg, France, during the legendary match Poland - Brazil. Poland lost 5-6 and Scherfke netted on the penalty kick in the 23rd minute.
During the Second World War, as an ethnic German, was called up to the Wehrmacht (some rumors claim that he was a driver for the Gestapo and managed to protect some former soccer colleagues from persecution by the Nazis). At the end of the war he was captured by the British soldiers. He was released on July 25, 1945 and settled in West Berlin, where he died in 1983.
[edit] See also
 |
Poland squad - 1938 FIFA World Cup | |
|---|---|---|
|
FW Baran | GK Brom | FW Cebula | MF Dytko | DF Gałecki | DF Giemsa | MF Góra | FW Habowski | FW Korbas | MF Lis | FW Łyko | GK Madejski | MF Nyc | FW R. Piec | MF W. Piec | FW Piątek | FW Scherfke | DF Szczepaniak | DF Twórz | MF Wasiewicz | FW Wilimowski | FW Wodarz | Coach Kałuża |
||
