Paul Janes

Paul Janes

Janes (r.) scores against Yugoslavia in 1939
Personal information
Date of birth	(1912-03-11)11 March 1912
Place of birth	Küppersteg, Germany
Date of death	12 June 1987(1987-06-12) (aged 75)
Place of death	Düsseldorf, West Germany
Playing position	Right back, Sweeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1930–1944	Fortuna Düsseldorf
1940–1941	→ Wilhelmshaven 05
1942–1944	→ Hamburger SV
1943	→ Fortuna Glückstadt
1945–1946	Fortuna Düsseldorf
1946	Eintracht Frankfurt
1946–1951	Fortuna Düsseldorf
National team
1932–1942	Germany	71	(7)
Teams managed
1949–1951	Fortuna Düsseldorf
	SV Eintracht Trier 05
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Paul Janes (11 March 1912 – 12 June 1987) was a German football player. He earned 71 caps and scored 7 goals for the Germany national football team from 1932 to 1942, and played in two World Cups: 1934 and 1938. Janes was a member of the Breslau Eleven that beat Denmark 8:0 in Breslau in 1937 and went on to win 10 out 11 games played during that year.

The DFB list him in the top 20 best German footballers of all time.

One of the best full backs of his era, Paul Janes established a record for most German caps which wasn’t broken until 1970. Janes started out as a right half back, but during the 1934 World Cup he debuted as right back and stayed at that position for some 4 seasons before moving back into a sweeper role. He was injured during the 1936 Olympics and thus was spared of the embarrassing defeat of Germany by Norway. During the latter half of the 1930s, Germany possessed one of the strongest full back pairings in European football with Paul Janes on the right and Reinhold Münzenberg on the left side. Vittorio Pozzo, the coach of World Champions Italy, nominated Janes for a 1937 continental selection, but Janes could not participate due to an injury. One of Janes’ best assets was his powerful yet accurate shooting ability, which gave him the nickname "World Champion of Precision". His trademark were hard shots from all possible angles, his seven goals for Germany all came from either freekicks (4) or penalties (3). He was also a very calm player who kept his cool even in nerve-wrecking situations. Sepp Herberger said about Janes’ characteristics: "He rarely was caught off-guard on the pitch, as he had the ability to anticipate what the opponent was planning and he interpreted defensive play always as the first step in building up the next attack." Despite his calmness and overall cleverness, Janes was renowned for an extravaganza that he had imported from South America: He was the first German footballer to specialize in the acrobatic bicycle kick.

During World War II, Janes served in the Kriegsmarine and was able to continue playing, including spells as a wartime guest player with Wilhelmshaven 05 and Fortuna Glückstadt - both from towns with Kriegsmarine ports - as well as Hamburger SV where he played his last league match in November 1944. He captained Germany 31 times. Despite his age of 38, Janes almost would have had a comeback for Germany in the first international game after World War II in 1950, but he broke his foot shortly before and thus had to finish his career for good. Janes was known to be a silent man who didn’t divulge in too much talking. In 1934, he was asked about what it was like playing in the World Cup in Italy, his response was: "Warm".