- Leonard Piątek
Leonard Franciszek Piątek (born "Leonard Piontek",
October 13 1913 in Królewska Huta -July 1 1967 ) was a Polish football player ofUpper Silesian origin who played in the interwar period.An hard-working and ambitious forward, Piątek was the top scorer for Polish first division vice-champions "
AKS Chorzów " in 1937 and went on to lead the league the following season with 21 goals.He represented Poland on the country's national side in 16 games from 1937 to 1939, scoring 11 goals. He scored twice in Poland's 4:0 win over
Yugoslavia in a World Cup qualifier and took part in the legendary1938 FIFA World Cup match againstBrazil in (Strasbourg ,France onJune 5 ,1938 (5:6 Brazil). Piątek also scored a goal in the last international match played in Poland before the outbreak ofWorld War II , a 4:2 victory overHungary onAugust 27 ,1939 .Piątek signed the
Volksliste (German Nationality List ) after theNazi invasion of Poland which allowed him to continue his footballing career. His club "AKS Chorzów" was now playing as "Germania Königshütte" and with Piatek as their key player the team dominated the first division "Gauliga Schlesien" – part of the German football league system – throughout the early '40s far outperforming state-supported rivals "1. FC Katowice ".ee also
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Polish Roster in World Cup Soccer France 1938
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