| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1943-04-09)April 9, 1943 (age 82) | ||
| Place of birth | Sremska Mitrovica,Yugoslavia | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1956–1958 | Schwaben AC | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1958–1964 | Schwaben AC | ||
| 1975-76 | Chicago Sting | ||
| International career | |||
| 1972–1973 | United States | 8 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Rudy Getzinger (born April 9, 1943) is a retiredsoccer player who played as amidfielder. He was raised in Austria before coming to the US. He spent most of his career with Chicago-based teams, earned eightcaps with theUnited States and is a member of theNational Soccer Hall of Fame.
Born inSremska Mitrovica,Yugoslavia, Getzinger spent several years as a boy in Austria. In 1958, his family moved to the United States and settled inChicago. When he arrived in Chicago, he joined the Schwaben AC soccer club as a youth player. That season, Schwaben won thePeel Cup. At the time that Getzinger joined the club, it was the dominant team in theNational Soccer League of Chicago, having won the league title several consecutive seasons. Getzinger would spend most of his career with Schwaben, winning theNational Amateur Cup with the team in 1964. In 1975, Chicago was awarded aNorth American Soccer League (NASL) franchise. The new team, named theChicago Sting, drew on local talent to form the core of the roster. Getzinger spent the 1975 and 1976 seasons with the Sting, scoring one goal in sixteen games in 1975 and no goals in three games in 1976 as he was out with knee injuries most games. He quit playing professional soccer due to knee injuries.
In both 1963 and 1968, he was part of the U.S. Olympic soccer teams which failed to qualify for the1964 and1968 Summer Olympics. While Getzinger played with the Olympic team in both 1963 and 1968, he did not earn his firstcaps with theUnited States until 1972. He also played the Olympics during 1976. That year, he scored in his debut, an August 20, 1972 loss toCanada. He went on to play a total of eight caps, but scored only that one goal. His last cap came as a substitute forBarry Barto in a November 3, 1973 loss toHaiti.[1]
In 1991, Getzinger was inducted into theNational Soccer Hall of Fame.[2]