Hans Jakob was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 football

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...

 player. He was born in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

.

He played over 1000 games as goalkeeper

Goalkeeper (football)

In association football, the goalkeeper occupies a position that represents the last line of defence between the opponent's offence and his own team's goal. The primary role of the goalkeeper is to defend his team's goal and prevent the opposition from scoring a goal...

 for SSV Jahn Regensburg, and also for FC Bayern Munich

FC Bayern Munich

FC Bayern Munich , is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups....

 from 1942 to 1945. He earned 38 caps for the Germany national football team

Germany national football team

The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

, and was part of two World Cups teams in 1934

1934 FIFA World Cup

The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934....

 and 1938

1938 FIFA World Cup

The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third staging of the World Cup, and was held in France from 4 June to 19 June. Italy retained the championship, beating Hungary 4–2 in the final.-Host selection:...

, but played in only one game, the third-place playoff in 1934. Jakob was a member of the famous "Breslau Elf" that defeated Denmark 8-0 in 1937. In his 38 international games, Jakob kept eleven clean-sheets and while he was in goal, Germany were only defeated eight times.

'Jakl' Jakob was an all-round athlete who managed considerable results in track-and-field, winning the Bavarian hurdles race championships repedeatedly which led a decathlon

Decathlon

The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin . Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not...

 promoter to almost persuade him to pursue a decathlon career. Jakob became Germany’s number one goal keeper after the 1934 World Cup, replacing Willibald Kress who had fallen out of favour with Reich coach Otto Nerz after a momentuous blunder by Kress in the semi final had arguably cost Germany a place in the final. He died in Regensburg

Regensburg

Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...

.

In his 1978 book "Fussball", Helmut Schön

Helmut Schön

Helmut Schön was a German football player and manager. He is best remembered for his exceptional career as manager of West Germany....

characterised Jakob as follows:

"Thanks to his size and physical impact he was especially adept in catching high crosses and usually prevailed in turmoils inside the goal mouth."