Matthias Sindelar

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Matthias Sindelar (February 10, 1903 - January 23, 1939) is regarded by many as Austria's greatest ever footballer.

The man who would eventually be voted Austria's sportsman of the century came from a poor family and began playing football in the streets of Vienna, where he earned the nickname that would stick with him. Sindelar was called Man of Paper for his extraordinary ability to slip unnoticed through defences.

At the age of 15, Sindelar signed for Hertha Vienna before breaking into the first team at FK Austria Vienna, guiding them to three Austrian Cups in his first three seasons there.

In 1926, Sindelar made his debut for Austria, scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory over Czechoslovakia. He then scored two goals in the team's 7-1 destruction of Switzerland. In all, Sindelar played 44 times for his country, scoring 27 goals.

Always refusing to leave his home country, Sindelar refused to play for the newly-formed Austro-Germany team in 1938, citing old age or injury as his excuse.

Not long after this, on January 29, 1939, he and his girlfriend were found dead, the official verdict citing carbon monoxide poisoning as the cause. The Austrian writer Friedrich Torberg later dedicated the poem "Auf den Tod eines Fußballers" ("On the death of a footballer") to Sindelar. The poem suggested that he had committed suicide because of Austria's Anschluss to Nazi Germany in 1938. However, his death is now thought to have been accidental, caused by a defective chimney. [link]

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