Ernst Wilimowski

Ernest Otton Wilimowski (Ernst Otto Wilimowski, born Ernst Otto Prandella; 23 June 1916 – 30 August 1997), nicknamed "Ezi", was a footballer who played as a forward.

He ranks among the best goalscorers in the history of both the Poland national team and Polish club football.

After re-taking German citizenship following the invasion of Poland, he also played for the Germany national team.

Wilimowski was the first player to score four goals in a single FIFA World Cup game.

According to RSSSF, Wilimowski scored over 1077 total goals in at least 688 total matches, making him the 14th greatest goalscorer of all time.

He is the most prolific goalscorer in official matches in one season in recorded history according to RSSSF, with 107 goals scored in 45 matches.

Wilimowski also occasionally played ice hockey for the team Pogoń Katowice.

Born in Kattowitz (Katowice), Prussian Silesia, German Empire, Wilimowski was raised in a Silesian family, typical of the Upper Silesian Polish-German borderland.

After eastern Upper Silesia became part of Poland in 1922, he became a citizen of the Second Polish Republic.

His parents, Ernst-Roman and Paulina, were German.

His father, a soldier for the German Empire, died on the Western Front in the First World War.

His mother sent him to a German kindergarten, a German primary school and, when he was nine years old, to the German football team 1. FC Kattowitz.

At the age of 13, he was legally adopted by his stepfather, who was Polish, and took on the surname Wilimowski.

At home, he spoke German for the most part, while in public he often spoke a Silesian dialect of the Polish language.

Officially a citizen of Poland, he referred to himself as an Upper Silesian ("Górnoślązak" - Oberschlesier).

Wilimowski, who had six toes on his right foot, played on the left side as a forward and showed himself to be a very skilled dribbler as well as a natural goalscorer.

He began his career with the ethnically German club 1. FC Kattowitz, then in 1933 at the age of 17, moved to Polish side Ruch Wielkie Hajduki, today known as Ruch Chorzów.

"Ezi" quickly established himself as the team's best player: in his first season he scored 33 goals to lead the league.

With a number of excellent footballers besides Wilimowski (for example Teodor Peterek and Gerard Wodarz), Ruch dominated the Polish soccer and was the league champion in 1933–1936 and 1938.

His first Ekstraklasa game took place on 8 April 1934, a few weeks later, he capped for the Poland national team.

Wilimowski played 86 games for Ruch, scoring 112 goals, and was the league's top scorer in 1934 and 1936.

Soon after beginning his club football career, "Ezi" earned his first cap for Poland when he debuted against Denmark in Copenhagen on 21 May 1934 in a 2:4 loss: he was just 17 years and 332 days old.

In a total of 22 appearances for Poland, Wilimowski netted 21 goals, nearly a goal per game.

However, his off field conduct was less than ideal and in 1936 the young man's penchant for drinking and partying led to a one-year suspension imposed by the Polish football association just before the Olympic Games in Berlin.

Without his goal scoring touch the Poles managed only a fourth-place finish in the Olympic tournament.

Many felt that his presence could have brought the team a gold medal.

Wilimowski's appearances for Poland include two performances that were both historic and memorable.

In a match against Brazil played in Strasbourg, France during the 1938 FIFA World Cup, "Ezi" put on a stunning display by becoming the first player ever to score four goals in a single World Cup match.

His continued attacks on the opposition net also drew a penalty as he was fouled to the ground by Brazilian keeper Batatais, which led to Poland's fifth goal scored from the spot by German-born Fritz Scherfke, from Poznań.

However, it was not enough - Poland lost the match 6–5 and was eliminated from the tournament.

He also led the league in scoring in 1939 until the German invasion of Poland.

On 21 May 1939, he scored 10 goals in a single match against Union Touring Łódź as his club won 12–1.

That performance still stands as a league record.

Wilimowski put on another memorable display on 27 August 1939 in Warsaw in an international friendly against what was then one of the best teams in the world - Hungary, the 1938 World Cup runner-up.

After 33 minutes of play the Hungarians were ahead 2:0.

Wilimowski scored three goals and again drew a penalty through his attacking play which was converted by teammate Leonard Piątek, giving Poland a 4:2 win.

The match was the last game played before the start of World War II just four days later.

After the invasion and occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany, Wilimowski as Volksdeutscher re-took German citizenship, like the majority of the inhabitants of the Eastern part of Upper Silesia, among them all the players of the Poland national team coming from this region.

Wilimowski's record was later equalled by other players, but was bettered only 56 years later, when Oleg Salenko scored five goals against Cameroon during the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

It still remains the only World Cup match when a player from the losing side scored four goals.