View source for Otto Siffling

{{Short description|German footballer (1912–1939)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Otto Siffling
| image = OttoSiffling100Graffiti.jpg
| upright = 
| caption = Graffiti in Mannheim dedicated to Siffling
| full_name = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1912|8|3|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Mannheim]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1939|10|20|1912|8|3|df=y}}
| death_place = Mannheim, [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]
| height = 
| position = [[Forward (association football)|Forward]]
| years1 = 1930–1939
| clubs1 = [[SV Waldhof Mannheim|Waldhof Mannheim]]
| caps1 = 
| goals1 = 
| nationalyears1 = 1934–1938
| nationalteam1 = [[Germany national football team|Germany]]
| nationalcaps1 = 31
| nationalgoals1 = 17
| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's [[Association football|football]]}}
{{MedalCountry|{{fb|GER|1933}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[FIFA World Cup]]}}
{{Medal|3rd|[[1934 FIFA World Cup|1934 Italy]]|}}
}}
'''Otto Siffling''' (3 August 1912 – 20 October 1939) was a German [[association football|footballer]] who played as a [[forward (association football)|forward]] for [[SV Waldhof Mannheim|Waldhof Mannheim]] and the [[Germany national football team|Germany national team]]. As Germany international, he made 31 appearances scoring 17 goals between 1934 and 1938 and was a participant in the [[1934 FIFA World Cup]], where he scored a goal. He was part of the [[Breslau Eleven]] that beat Denmark 8–0 in Breslau in 1937 and went on to win 10 out 11 games played during that year. He was also part of Germany's squad at the [[1936 Summer Olympics]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/25478 |title=Otto Siffling |work=Olympedia |access-date=22 September 2021}}</ref>

Siffling was one of the most talented center forwards of the 1930s. An opinionated and exceptionally gifted player, Siffling was a virtuoso on the pitch who impressed with his ingenuity and imagination when on the ball. Being not keen on overly physical play, he was not a traditional center forward, preferring to create more than to score.<ref name="Bitter p.460">Bitter, Jürgen. ''Deutschlands Fußball Nationalspieler'', Sportverlag, 1997, p. 460.</ref> Taciturn in nature, he did not like to be in the spotlight and ovations at times made him feel uncomfortable.<ref name="Bitter p.461">Bitter, Jürgen. ''Deutschlands Fußball Nationalspieler'', Sportverlag, 1997, p. 461.</ref> His performance for the Breslau Eleven in 1937 was the pinnacle of his career. In 1938, his level suddenly dropped inexplicably, so that he was not starting in the 1938 World Cup. A year later he died of a [[pleurisy]], aged 27.

In his 1978 book ''Fussball'', [[Helmut Schön]] characterised Siffling as follows:

"As a center forward he was not a tank but a playing center forward who still was enormously dangerous in front of the goal; in the famous game in Breslau he scored five goals. He was creating goals and scoring goals."

==International goals==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! No. !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition
|-
| 1. || 27 May 1934 || [[Florence]], [[Italy]] || {{fb|BEL}} || align=center|'''2'''–2 || align=center| 5–2 || [[1934 FIFA World Cup]]
|-
| 2. || rowspan=5| 16 May 1937 || rowspan=5| [[Wrocław|Breslau]], [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] || rowspan=5| {{fb|DEN}} || align=center|'''2'''–0 || rowspan=5 align=center| 8–0 || rowspan=5| [[Breslau Eleven]]
|-
| 3. || align=center|'''3'''–0
|-
| 4. || align=center|'''4'''–0
|-
| 5. || align=center|'''5'''–0
|-
| 6. || align=center|'''6'''–0
|-
| 7. || rowspan=2| 21 November 1937 || rowspan=2| [[Hamburg]], Germany || rowspan=2| {{fb|SWE}} || align=center|'''1'''–0 || rowspan=2 align=center| 5–0 || rowspan=2| [[1938 FIFA World Cup qualification]]
|-
| 8. || align=center|'''4'''–0
|-
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/siffling-intlg.html International career]
* {{NFT|16765}}
* {{Worldfootball.net|otto-siffling}}
* [http://otto-siffling.de/ „Otto Siffling – Eine Fußball-Legende wird 100“ (German)]

{{Bundesliga top scorers}}
{{Germany Squad 1934 World Cup}}
{{Germany football squad 1936 Summer Olympics}}
{{Germany Squad 1938 World Cup}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siffling, Otto}}
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:1939 deaths]]
[[Category:German men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:Germany men's international footballers]]
[[Category:1934 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:1938 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:Olympic footballers for Germany]]
[[Category:Footballers at the 1936 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:SV Waldhof Mannheim players]]
[[Category:Deaths from pleurisy]]
[[Category:Footballers from Mannheim]]
[[Category:People from the Republic of Baden]]
[[Category:20th-century German sportsmen]]