Name: Ernst Franz Hermann Happel

Nickname: "Aschyl"



Country: Austria
Club: SK Rapid Wien
Position: *CB, SB, SWP
Side: RF/BS
Age: 23-29 years (29/11/1925)

Height: 178 cm
Weight: 79 kg

Attack: 67
Defence: 89
Balance: 87
Stamina: 80
Top Speed: 75
Acceleration: 72
Response: 83
Agility: 73
Dribble Accuracy: 78
Dribble Speed: 71
Short Pass Accuracy: 79
Short Pass Speed: 75
Long Pass Accuracy: 82
Long Pass Speed: 77
Shot Accuracy: 71
Shot Power: 90
Shot Technique: 70
Free Kick Accuracy: 85
Curling: 77
Header: 82
Jump: 83
Technique: 79
Aggression: 63
Mentality: 85
Goalkeeper Skills: 50
Team Work: 83

Injury Tolerance: B
Condition: 7
Weak Foot Accuracy: 7
Weak Foot Frequency: 7
Consistency: 6
Growth type: Standard

CARDS:
S04 PK Taker
S07 Man Marking
S08 Slide Tackle
S10 DF Leader

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Sliding - D Line Control - Marking - Penalties

Attack / Defence Awareness Card: Defence Minded


INFO:

One of the greatest personalities in football, first as a player and than as a coach. Happel played as a defender, first as one of 2 side backs than in mid 50's Rapid and it's coach Bimbo Binder started to use Happel as a libero which was one of the first cases in Europe. Happel was very strong player, had excellent positioning and good technique, but was most known for his rocket shot and goals from penalties and free kicks. He wasn't especially fast but was great tackler, the commander and perfected the offside trap, had excellent vision and tactical awareness as well as determination and combativeness, two-footed with excellent long passes from the back line. Happel started his professional career at Rapid Wien, where he made his first team debut at 17 years of age. Forming a solid defensive partnership with Max Merkel, he played 14 years for Rapid, from 1943 till 1954 and 1956 till 1959, winning the Austrian Championship title 6 times. He was chosen in Rapid's Team of the Century in 1999. The 2 years in between Happel played for Racing Club de Paris in France. He made his debut for Austria in September 1947 against Hungary and was a participant at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, where he helped them reach 3rd place, and also at the 1958 World Cup. His last international was a September 1958 match against Yugoslavia. He earned 51 caps, scoring 5 goals. After retiring as a player, Happel went on to become one of the greatest coaches of all time. He won the league title in four different countries. He also took two different clubs to gold in the European Champions' Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) and the Netherlands to second place in the 1978 World Cup. His first club was ADO Den Haag in 1962, with whom he won the Dutch Cup in 1968. After Den Haag he coached Feyenoord, with whom he won the Dutch championship in 1971, as well as the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup in 1970. At the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, Happel was coach of the Dutch national team and reached the final against the Argentine national team. Always a man of few words, Happel's pre-match pep talk is said to have consisted of just one sentence: "Gentlemen, two points.". The Dutch subsequently lost. During his career as coach Happel worked for several clubs, including Sevilla, Club Brugge (winning the Belgian Championship title several times) and Hamburg (1981–1987, German champions in 1982 and 1983, German Cup winner 1987). In 1983 he won the European Cup again, 13 years after the triumph with Feyenoord Rotterdam, this time with Hamburg. He is one of 3 coaches in the history of the European Cup (now called UEFA Champions League) to win the title with two different clubs (the others being Ottmar Hitzfeld, who won with both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, and Jose Mourinho, who won with FC Porto and Inter Milan). In 1987 Happel returned to Austria as coach of FC Swarovski Tirol. With FC Tirol he won the Austrian Championship title twice (1989 and 1990) before becoming coach of the Austrian national team in 1992. He died of lung cancer in 1992 aged 66. After his death, the biggest football stadium in Austria, the Praterstadion in Vienna, was renamed Ernst Happel Stadion. Four days after his death Austria played against Germany and reached a 0:0 draw. Ernst Happel's cap lay on the bench during the whole game.