Bruno Edmund Pezzey was an Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

.

Club career

Regarded as one of Austria's greatest defenders of all time, Pezzey started his professional career at local side FC Vorarlberg and moved to FC Wacker Innsbruck

FC Wacker Innsbruck

FC Wacker Innsbruck was Austrian association football club from Innsbruck, Tyrol.- History :The Fußball-Club Wacker Innsbruck was established in 1915 by Jakob Hanspeter, Benedikt Hosp, Josef Leitner, Josef Albrecht and other now unknown football enthusiasts and adopted club colours of black and...

 after only one season, winning two league titles and a domestic cup. The sweeper then joined Eintracht Frankfurt

Eintracht Frankfurt

Eintracht Frankfurt is a German sports club, based in Frankfurt, Hesse that is best known for its association football club.- Club origins :...

 in 1978, winning the UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 and a German Cup. Four seasons with Werder Bremen

SV Werder Bremen

SV Werder Bremen is a German sports club best known for its association football team playing in Bremen, in the northwest German federal state of the same name. The club was founded on 4 February 1899 as Fußballverein Werder by a group of sixteen vocational high school students who had won a prize...

 did not bring him any silverware (but runner-up to the league title twice) and he returned to Innsbruck in 1987 to win two league titles and a domestic cup again.

International career

He made his debut for Austria

Austria national football team

The Austria national football team is the association football team that represents the country of Austria in international competition and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association ....

 in June 1975 against Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia national football team

The Czechoslovakia national football team was the national association football team of Czechoslovakia from 1922 to 1993. At the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the team was participating in UEFA qualifying Group 4 for the 1994 World Cup; it completed this campaign under the name...

 and was a participant at the 1978 FIFA World Cup

1978 FIFA World Cup

The 1978 FIFA World Cup, the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Argentina between 1 June and 25 June. The 1978 World Cup was won by Argentina who beat the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time in the final. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth...

 and 1982 FIFA World Cup

1982 FIFA World Cup

The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. The tournament was won by Italy, after defeating West Germany 3–1 in the final.-Host selection:...

. In the latter tournament, he scored Austria's first goal in the 2-2 draw with Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland national football team

The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...

 in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

. He earned 84 caps, scoring 9 goals, still ranked fifth with Friedrich Koncilia

Friedrich Koncilia

Friedrich Koncilia is a former Austrian football goalkeeper.-Club career:Born in Klagenfurt, Koncilia made his debut for local side Austria Klagenfurt at 17, moving to SV Wattens in 1969. After two seasons there he enjoyed his longest and most successful spell at FC Wacker Innsbruck, staying there...

 in Austria's all-time appearances list. His final international appearance was an August 1990 friendly match against Switzerland

Switzerland national football team

The Swiss national football team is the national football team of Switzerland...

.

Death and legacy

Pezzey died of heart failure in an Innsbruck hospital on New Year's Eve 1994 after participating in a game of ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

, just a few weeks short of his 40th birthday. He left behind his wife and two daughters. His youth club, FC Lauterach, named its sports complex in his honour

Honours

• UEFA Cup
  UEFA Cup
  The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
  
   (1):
  • 1980
• Austrian Football Bundesliga (4):
  • 1975, 1977, 1989, 1990
• Austrian Cup
  Austrian Cup
  The Austrian Cup, in German: ÖFB-Cup is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB.It has been held since 1919, with the exception of the time of the Anschluss between 1939 and 1945 and the period between 1950 and 1958 when the competition was deemed of...
  
   (2):
  • 1975, 1989
• German Cup (1):
  • 1981

External links

• Bruno Pezzey - Eintracht Archiv
• Career stats - National Football Teams