Karl Mai

Karl Mai, known as Charly, was a German footballer who played as a midfielder. He was born in Fürth on 27 July 1928 and died on 15 March 1993. He was part of the West Germany national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup, earning 21 caps and scoring one goal for his country. At club level he played for SpVgg Fürth and Bayern Munich. In the 1954 final he was given the job of marking Sandor Kocsis, who had scored eleven goals in the tournament up to that match, and Mai kept him from scoring in a rigid and disciplined performance. The national coach Sepp Herberger compared his style to that of Andreas Kupfer, a player of the 1930s, and valued his solidity, while Mai was also an outspoken player who did not hide his opinions from Herberger. After playing he worked as a coach in the 1960s and then as a school trainer.