Otto Decker Explained

Otto Decker
Birth Date:19 September 1930
Birth Place:Germany
Position:Forward
Youthclubs1:Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe
Years1:1948–1950
Clubs1:Wycombe Wanderers
Years2:1952–1954
Clubs2:Brooklyn Hakoah
Nationalyears1:1953
Nationalteam1:United States
Nationalcaps1:1
Nationalgoals1:2

Otto Decker (born 19 September 1930) is a German-American former soccer player who earned one cap, scoring two goals, with the U.S. national team in 1953.

Youth

Decker and his brother Rolf were born in Germany, but grew up in England. In March 1939, their parents, Ilse and Hans, sent the two boys to England as part of the kindertransport at the outset of the Holocaust.[1]

Decker attended the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, England, from 1948 to 1950 after transferring from Wycombe Technical Institute in 1948. While at RGS, he played both soccer and cricket, as the wicket keeper.[2]

National team

Decker earned his lone cap as a first-half substitute in the only U.S. game of 1953, a 6–3 loss to England. He came on after 30 minutes and scored in the 59th and 67th minutes.

He represented the U.S. as a halfback in soccer at the 1965 Maccabiah Games in Israel.[3]

Notes and References

  1. http://open.salon.com/blog/david_decker/2009/06/19/fathers_and_sons_part_i_of_ii Fathers and Sons, Part I of II: Kindertransport
  2. Web site: Letters to the Editor . www.rgshw.com . 2023-09-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20041228130835/http://www.rgshw.com/oldboys/newsletters/04_05.htm . 28 Dec 2004.
  3. News: U.S. Soccer Squad Named For 7th Maccabiah Games. The New York Times .