Siegfried Stritzl (April 12, 1944 – November 3, 2022) was an American soccer player who was the 1969 North American Soccer League Rookie of the Year. He also earned eleven

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

, scoring two goals, with the U.S. national team between 1968 and 1973. The Sigi Stritzl Award, given to exceptional high school and college students, is named in his honor.

Professional career

Stritzl was born in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

. He spent six seasons with Blau-Weiss Gottschee of the

German American Soccer League The Cosmopolitan Soccer League is a regional soccer league consisting of semi-pro and amateur teams based in and around New York City. Established in 1923, it is one of the oldest soccer leagues in the United States and has contributed greatl ...

(GASL) between 1961 and 1968. In 1961, he was a member of the GASL Junior All Stars on a tour of Germany.
/sup> In 1963, Blau Weiss-Gottschee won the GASL championship. In 1969, the

Baltimore Bays The Baltimore Bays were a professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland founded in 1967 as one of the ten charter members of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). When the NPSL and the rival United Soccer Association (USA) m ...

of the North American Soccer League (NASL) signed Stritzl. While the Bays finished the season with the league's worst record and folded at the end of the season, Stritzl was named the NASL Rookie of the Year. With the collapse of the Bays, Stritzl returned to the Blau Weiss-Gottschee for the 1970 GASL season. However, in 1971, the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independe ...

of NASL signed Stritzl. He was named as a First Team NASL All Star that season as the Cosmos lost to the

Atlanta Chiefs The Atlanta Chiefs were an American professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The team competed in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1968 to 1973 and again from ...

in the playoff semifinals. In 1972, Stritzl was a Second Team All Star, but this year the Cosmos won the league title, defeating the St. Louis Stars. In 1973, Stritzl played his last season in the NASL. Stritzl played forty-seven NASL regular-season and four post-season games. In 1971, he scored three goals in twenty-one games, several on free kicks where he bent the ball around defensive wall formations. Stritzl dubbed this technique his "banana kick".

International career

Stritzl earned eleven

with the U.S. national team. His first game with the national team came in a 4–0 loss to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

on September 25, 1968. A month later, his second cap came in a world cup qualifying loss to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. Stritzl scored his first of two goals with the national team in the 4–2 loss. Stritzl continued to play for each U.S. national team games in 1968 and 1969. His second goal came in a 5–2 loss to

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

on October 21, 1968. After the U.S. failed to qualify for the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to 21 June in Mexico, it was the first World Cup tournament held outside ...

, Stritzl was not called into the national team again until a March 20, 1973 loss to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

when he came on for

Manfred Seissler Manfred "Manny" Seissler ''(German: Manfred Seißler)'' (born August 8, 1939) is a former soccer player who began his career in the lower German divisions before moving to the United States. He played one season in the National Professional So ...

. That was his last game with the national team.

Personal life and death

Stritzl died on November 3, 2022, at the age of 78.

References

External links

*
Blau-Weiss Gottschee

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stritzl, Siegfried 1944 births 2022 deaths American soccer players Association football midfielders Baltimore Bays players Blau-Weiss Gottschee players German-American Soccer League players New York Cosmos players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players United States men's international soccer players Yugoslav emigrants to the United States