- Ryszard Piec
Ryszard Leon Piec - Polish
soccer player, born onAugust 17 ,1913 in Schwientochlowitz (Świętochłowice), Germany,died onJanuary 24 ,1979 in his hometown.Piec spent whole life in his native town of Lipiny, which now today is a district of Świętochłowice, in
Upper Silesia . He played forNaprzód Lipiny , a team which, in spite of several attempts, never managed to qualify to the Polish Soccer League. In 1935-39 he represented Poland in 24 matches, scoring 5 goals. His debiut took place in 1935 againstYugoslavia .He participated in 1936 Olympic Games in
Berlin , where Poland was placed on the 4th position, after losing 2:3 againstNorway . During the Olympics, he played in three games - a qualifier versusHungary (3:0), a quarterfinal versusGreat Britain (5:4, he scored a goal) and a semifinal versusAustria (1:3). He also took part in a legendary 1938 World Cup Soccer match Poland - Brazil 5:6 (June 5 ,1938 ,Strasbourg ,France ).During the
Second World War German occupiers allowed Upper Silesians to participate in sports tournaments. Piec's club, Naprzód Lipiny, was forced to change its name to Turn und Sport (TUS) Lipine. Ryszard (then known as Richard Pietz), together with his brotherWilhelm Piec , was a key player in this team.In the 1941-42 season of
Cup of Germany (DFB-Pokal ), TUS Lipine with Piec brothers was a sensation. In round 3 the Silesians beatAdler Deblin 4:1, then in round 4, TUS Lipine beatBlau-Weiss 90 Berlin 4:1. In the semifinals however, professionals fromTSV 1860 Munich proved to be too strong, beating TUS 6:0.After the war Piec continued his career in Naprzód Lipiny, playing until 1951. Since then he was a coach.
See also
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Polish Roster in World Cup Soccer France 1938
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