Jürgen Sparwasser

Jürgen Sparwasser played football in East Germany for 1. FC Magdeburg and was a three-time national champion, a four-time national cup winner, and in 1974, was on the winning European’s Cup team. Sparwasser earned 49 international cups for East Germany, scoring 14 goals, but was most famous for scoring the only goal at the 1974 World Championships against West Germany, to win the match 1-0, making him a national hero.

Domestically he played with 1.FC Magdeburg from 1966-79 and helped them winning the East German championship in 1972, 1974 and 1975, and the East German cup finals in 1969, 1973, 1978 and 1979. His greatest moment with Magdeburg came in 1974, when they won the European Cup of Cup Winners 2-0 against AC Milano from Italy. With the East German OLympic team he played 11 matches.

During his career he also finished his studies in mechanical engineering. Although he was offered several times to become head coach of 1. FC Magdeburg he accepted a job at the Pädagogische Hochschule at Magdeburg. When his daughter requested to leave East Germany for the West he decided to flee in 1988. He then took over some coaching jobs at clubs in Hessia before he was chosen president of the Federation of German Pro Football Players (Vereinigung Deutscher Vertragsfußballspieler) through 1999. His jersey number 14 today is honored at the Haus der Geschichte Museum in Bonn.