- Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (born
March 31 ,1939 inDüren ) is a former German footballer.A vigorous defender, Schnellinger played most of his career in
Italy . His debut in theSerie A came in1963 , when Schnellinger left1. FC Köln forA.C. Mantova . He made his Serie A debut for a match againstA.C. Milan ended in a surprising 4-1 victory ofA.C. Mantova ; however he played there only for one season, and was signed byA.S. Roma in1964 , and finally byA.C. Milan in1965 . He played nine seasons with the "rossoneri", obtaining several successes both at the national and European level.Schnellinger was a player for the
West Germany national football team in the1970 FIFA World Cup played inMexico . Schnellinger, who never scored a goal in 222 matches forA.C. Milan , became famous for scoring the injury-time equaliser in the famous semi-final against Italy. His goal for 1-1 took the match into extra time, in which another five goals were scored. Although the Germans lost 4-3, the game is known in Germany as the "Jahrhundertspiel", the "Match of the Century".Schnellinger left
A.C. Milan in1974 , and retired after a season back in his nativeGermany withTennis Borussia Berlin .Today Schnellinger still lives in
Milan , and he works as businessman.
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