Josef Posipal

Who was Josef Posipal?

Josef "Jupp" Posipal was a Romanian-born German footballer who was part of the 1954 FIFA World Cup winning German squad.

Posipal was born to an ethnic German family in Lugoj, and lived much of his life in West Germany. During his club career he played for SV Linden 07, SV Arminia Hannover, and Hamburger SV.

At the age of 16, Posipal's family relocated to Germany. In his youth his sportive activities focused on swimming and track-and-field as well as handball. 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 half back position. Already a year later in 1950, West German 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 Romanian citizenship and no German. After he had become a German citizen in 1951, Posipal debuted in the international game against Turkey in Berlin.

In 1952, Posipal was moved from the right half back position to that of center half.