All Time Legends (ATLE) - Hans Krankl

A prolific striker, Krankl is regarded by many as the greatest ever Austrian player. He started his professional career at Rapid Wien and stayed there for 8 years, apart from a year at Wiener AC. He won the European Golden Boot at Rapid Wien in 1978, attracting the interest of Barcelona. His spell at Barcelona was successful, winning the Copa del Rey in his first season as well as the Cup Winners' Cup (scoring in the final itself), and picking up the top goalscorer's award in La Liga that season with 29 goals. He returned to Rapid Wien in 1981, captaining the side and again hammering in the goals for them over the next 5 years. He played a major part in the most successful of Rapid teams in the 1980s, claiming the League crown twice and most prominently losing the Cup Winners' Cup Final in 1985 against Everton. In 1986, he moved to become player-manager at Wiener Sport-Club.

Krankl was named Austrian Player of the Year a record five times, and was voted the most popular Austrian player of the last 25 years.

Krankl made his debut for Austria in a June 1973 friendly match against Brazil and was a participant at the 1978 and 1982 World Cups. He earned 69 caps, scoring 34 goals. His final international game was an April 1985 World Cup qualification match against Hungary. In the 1978–79 season of the Spanish Primera División, he was the top goalscorer with 29 goals for Barcelona and was awarded the Pichichi Trophy.

One of his major achievements was helping Austria qualify for the 1978 World Cup, the first time Austria had qualified for the World Cup in twenty years. He then went on to score the winning goal against West Germany in a game dubbed The miracle of Córdoba, which the Austrians won 3–2 and which was Austria's first win against West Germany for 47 years, earning Krankl legendary status in his homeland. Scored in the 88th minute, the live footage of the goal still regularly features on national television, and the audio commentary ("Tor Tor Tor Tor Tor Tor, I werd' narrisch" – "Goal goal goal goal goal goal, I'm going crazy") is immediately recognised by Austrian football fans.



^{This one is requested by "Salmom Khan" from the CBox. Enjoy !}