View source for Josef Posipal

{{Short description|German footballer (1927–1997)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Josef Posipal
| image = Josef Posipal 1953.jpg
| caption = Posipal in 1953
| birth_date = {{birth date|1927|06|20|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Lugoj]], [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1997|02|21|1927|06|20|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Hamburg]], Germany
| height = 1.76 m
| position = [[Defender (association football)|Defender]]
| youthyears1 = 1943–1944
| youthclubs1 = TSV Badenstedt
| youthyears2 = 1945–1946
| youthclubs2 = Blau-Weiß Wölpinghausen
| youthyears3 = 1946
| youthclubs3 = SV Linden 07
| years1 = 1946–1949
| caps1 = 
| goals1 = 
| clubs1 = [[SV Arminia Hannover]]
| years2 = 1949–1958
| caps2 = 250
| goals2 = 13
| clubs2 = [[Hamburger SV]]
| nationalyears1 = 1951–1956
| nationalcaps1 = 32
| nationalgoals1 = 1
| nationalteam1 = [[Germany national football team|West Germany]]
| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's [[Association football|football]]}}
{{MedalCountry|{{fb|FRG}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[FIFA World Cup]]}}
{{Medal|W|[[1954 FIFA World Cup|1954 Switzerland]]|}}
}}

'''Josef "Jupp" Posipal''' (20 June 1927 – 21 February 1997) was a German [[association football|footballer]]. Born in Romania, he was part of the [[Germany national football team|Germany national team]] that won the [[1954 FIFA World Cup]].<ref>[http://www.fussballdaten.de/spieler/posipaljosef/ Josef Posipal – Nationalspieler von Deutschland – Nationalmannschaft 1956 – Fussballdaten – Die Fußballdatenbank]. Fussballdaten.de. Retrieved on 27 October 2013.</ref> During his club career he played for [[SV Linden 07]], [[SV Arminia Hannover]], and [[Hamburger SV]].<ref>{{Worldfootball.net|jupp-posipal}}</ref>

==Career==
Posipal was born in [[Lugoj]], Romania, to a father of German descent and a mother of Hungarian origin. When he was 16, Posipal's family relocated to Germany. In his youth his sportive activities focused on [[Swimming (sport)|swimming]] and [[track-and-field]] as well as [[Team handball|handball]].<ref name="Bitter p.368">Bitter, Jürgen. ''Deutschlands Fußball Nationalspieler'', Sportverlag, 1997, p. 368.</ref> In 1949 he joined [[Hamburger SV]] as then coach Georg Knöpfle was looking for a forward. However Knöpfle soon discovered that Posipal was a strong defender and withdrew him from attack to a [[Centre back|half back]] position. Already a year later in 1950, [[Germany national football team|West Germany national team]] coach [[Sepp Herberger]] intended to invite Posipal to join the squad for Germany's first international game after [[World War II]], but officials found out that Posipal had a [[Romania]]n citizenship and not German.<ref name="Bitter p.368"/> After he had become a West-German citizen in 1951, Posipal debuted in the international game against [[Turkey national football team|Turkey]] in [[West Berlin]].

In 1952, Posipal was moved from the right [[Centre back|half back]] position to that of [[center half]]. In that position he was considered to be one of Germany's best defenders during these years and one of the best in European football. In October 1953, he was invited to represent Europe in a game against [[England national football team|England]] at [[Wembley Stadium]].<ref name="Bitter p.368"/> However, during the first round of the [[1954 FIFA World Cup]], Posipal had lost his form and after being injured for the quarterfinal against [[Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia]], [[1. FC Kaiserslautern]]’s [[Werner Liebrich]] played as center half instead of Posipal. Being fit again for the semifinal against [[Austria national football team|Austria]], Herberger brought Posipal back to the starting team, but since Liebrich had played exceptionally well against Yugoslavia, Posipal played as a right [[Fullback (association football)|full back]] at the expense of [[Fritz Laband]]. Herberger's trust in Posipal despite his lack of form in previous games paid off as Posipal did very well in the semifinal and the final in the unusual new position. For the rest of his international career, Posipal kept playing as right back with Liebrich as the center half. He finished his football career in 1958.

==Legacy==
In 2012, when his long-time club Hamburger SV celebrated its 125th anniversary, Posipal was elected into the club history's all-star team.

==Personal life and death==
Posipal died at the age of 69 in [[Hamburg]] of [[heart failure]].<ref name="Bitter p.368"/> He was married to Gisela and had two sons with her. His son [[Peer Posipal]], who played for the [[Bundesliga]] team [[Eintracht Braunschweig]], is a former professional football player as well.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.11freunde.de/artikel/die-erben-des-weltmeisters-von-1954 | title = Familie Posipal | date = 5 November 2013 | publisher = [[11 Freunde]] | language = German | accessdate = 5 August 2017 | archive-date = 6 August 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170806023735/https://www.11freunde.de/artikel/die-erben-des-weltmeisters-von-1954 | url-status = dead }}</ref> His grandson [[Patrick Posipal]] is also a professional footballer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/weltmeister-enkel-patrick-posipal-dafuer-spiele-ich-fussball-168320/?no_cache=1&cHash=0eb9550bfc7406890bffa72a6e462225 | title = Weltmeister-Enkel Patrick Posipal: "Dafür spiele ich Fußball" | publisher = dfb.de | language = German | accessdate = 5 August 2017}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

{{West Germany Squad 1954 FIFA World Cup}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Posipal, Josef}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Lugoj]]
[[Category:German people of Romanian descent]]
[[Category:Romanian people of German descent]]
[[Category:Romanian sportspeople of Hungarian descent]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of Germany]]
[[Category:Romanian emigrants to West Germany]]
[[Category:German men's footballers]]
[[Category:West German men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football defenders]]
[[Category:Germany men's international footballers]]
[[Category:1954 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:FIFA World Cup–winning players]]
[[Category:SV Arminia Hannover players]]
[[Category:Hamburger SV players]]