| Full name | Albert Dusch | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1912-12-06)6 December 1912[1] Germany | ||
| Died | 27 October 2002(2002-10-27) (aged 89)[1] unknown | ||
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1954–1962 | FIFA-listed | Referee | |
Albert Dusch (6 December 1912 – 27 October 2002) was a renowned former Germanfootball referee.[1] He was known as the first German referee to appear in an international match afterWorld War II.[2]
He served as a referee in twoFIFA World Cups (1958 and1962). Before his career in refereeing, he was a goalkeeper for1. FC Kaiserslautern.[3] When he was sent off and banned for three months, he was bored and became interested in refereeing. Dusch became known to a wider audience in the 1950s as the “referee of the grand gesture”. He was an internationally respected referee who was often used in the early days of European club competitions and at football world championships.
The highlight of Dusch's career began with his appearances at the FIFA World Cups1958 in Sweden and1962 in Chile. In Sweden he refereed the group game betweenBrazil andEngland, which ended 0:0. This result was not only the Brazilians' only loss of a point in the tournament but also their first goalless game at a World Cup. Dusch also officiated the game between the USSR and England, which decided the advance to the quarter-finals, which theUSSR won 1-0.
Albert Dusch was used as a linesman in four other games of the tournament. The highlight here was the final between Brazil and Sweden, in which the South Americans secured their first world championship title with a 5-2 victory over the hosts. Dusch is the only German referee - alongsideRudi Glöckner, who was appointed by theGDR association at the time and who led the final between Brazil andItaly in the1970 in Mexico - who was used in a World Cup final.
At the 1962 World Cup in Chile, Dusch officiated the group game in which the USSR defeated the Yugoslavian national team 2-0.[4] This was also the 24th and last international match of his career as the main referee. In three other games, including the game for third place, in whichChile beatYugoslavia 1-0, he acted as a linesman.[5] At this tournament, he was also the oldest referee at the age of 49.
A total of ten participations in final round games of the World Cup is a record for a German referee, which Dusch holds together withMannheimerKurt Tschenscher, who played the same number of games in the World Cups of1966,1970, and1974.
