Herman Wecke
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Herman Wecke is a former U.S. soccer defender. He earned six caps with the U.S. national team between 1954 and 1957. He was a member of the U.S. Olympic soccer team at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
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[edit] Club career
Wecke grew up in St. Louis, Missouri where he graduated from Cleveland High School in 1945.[1] While in high school, he played for the Schumacher juniors. [2] In 1948, he played for Paul Schulte Motors. In 1951, he was with Zenthoefer Furs when the won the St. Louis Major League title. He then played the 1951-1952 season with St. Louis Raiders. When Tom Kutis began sponsoring the team in 1953, the team was renamed St. Louis Kutis S.C. and Wecke remained with it until 1960. He was part of the Kutis team which won the 1957 U.S. Open Cup and five consecutive U.S. Amateur Cups from 1956 to 1960.
[edit] National and Olympic team
Wecke was a mainstay of the U.S. national team, playing all seven U.S. games from April 3, 1954 through the end of 1957. On April 3 and 4, 1954, the U.S. defeated Haiti in two qualication matches for the 1954 FIFA World Cup. However, by the time the U.S. played these two games, it had already been eliminated due to earlier loses to Mexico. Wecke played the only U.S. game in 1955, a 3-2 loss to Iceland. He then played in all four of the U.S. games in 1957.
While the national team was idle in 1956, Wecke was not. He was part of the U.S. soccer team at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. In the games, the U.S. lost to Yugoslavia in the first round of the single elimination tournament.
In 1959, Wecke played on the U.S. soccer team at the 1959 Pan American games. The U.S. took the silver medal in those games.
Wecke was inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame on October 26, 1983.
[edit] Family
Herman is the father of Matt and Chris Wecke both who played collegiate soccer at Southeast Missouri state. Also father of Rick Wecke who played for Benedictine and won a national championship. Grandfather of Christopher Wecke who played for the Saint Louis University High School Billikens, winning a CYC championship as well as recording 2 CBC tournament victories. He is currently playing in the Missouri State University intramural leagues.
