Hans Krankl

Johann "Hans" Krankl (born 14 February 1953 in Vienna) is a retired Austrian footballer. A prolific striker, Krankl is regarded by many as one of Austria's greatest players.

Krankl 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 scoring over 100 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, in 1982 and 1983, and three consecutive Austrian cup titles. He scored Rapid's only goal in the 3-1 loss in 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 in 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.

Since ending his playing career at Austria Salzburg in 1989, Krankl has worked as a football manager and coach. He was employed by the Austrian national team. He was sacked on 28 September 2005 after Austria failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. He was also manager of LASK Linz.

He has also intermittently featured as a studio guest and co–commentator on Austrian public service broadcaster ORF.

Krankl has also enjoyed domestic success with his music, with several releases entering the Austrian charts. His biggest musical success was the single "Lonely Boy", released in 1985 and peaking at number 2.

Krankl has also appeared on EA Sports FIFA sports games, as he is included as an unlockable in the Classic XI Team.

International goals

Scores and results list Austria's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	27 March 1974	De Kuip, Rotterdam	Netherlands	1–0	1–1	Friendly
2.	4 September 1974	Praterstadion, Vienna	Wales	2–1	2–1	Euro 1976 qualifier
3.	28 September 1974	Praterstadion, Vienna	Hungary	1–0	1–0	Friendly
4.	16 March 1975	Stade Municipal, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	2–1	2–1	Euro 1976 qualifier
5.	24 September 1975	Népstadion, Budapest	Hungary	1–2	1–2	Euro 1976 qualifier
6.	15 October 1975	Praterstadion, Vienna	Luxembourg	2–2	6–2	Euro 1976 qualifier
7.				5–2
8.	22 September 1976	Linzer Stadion, Linz	Switzerland	1–0	3–1	Friendly
9.	13 October 1976	Praterstadion, Vienna	Hungary	1–2	4–2	Friendly
10.				2–2
11.	10 November 1976	Anthi Karagianni Stadium, Kavala	Greece	2–0	3–0	Friendly
12.	5 December 1976	Empire Stadium, Gżira	Malta	1–0	1–0	1978 World Cup qualifier
13.	15 December 1976	National Stadium, Ramat Gan	Israel	3–1	3–1	Friendly
14.	30 April 1977	Stadion Lehen, Salzburg	Malta	1–0	9–0	1978 World Cup qualifier
15.				2–0
16.				3–0
17.				4–0
18.				6–0
19.				8–0
20.	24 August 1977	Praterstadion, Vienna	Poland	2–0	2–1	Friendly
21.	15 February 1978	Nea Filadelfeia Stadium, Athens	Greece	1–1	1–1	Friendly
22.	3 June 1978	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	Spain	2–1	2–1	1978 World Cup
23.	7 June 1978	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	Sweden	1–0	1–0	1978 World Cup
24.	21 June 1978	Estadio Chateau Carreras, Córdoba	West Germany	2–1	3–2	1978 World Cup
25.				3–2
26.	30 August 1978	Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo	Norway	2–0	2–0	Euro 1980 qualifier
27.	28 March 1979	Parc Astrid, Brussels	Belgium	1–1	1–1	Euro 1980 qualifier
28.	29 August 1979	Praterstadion, Vienna	Norway	4–0	4–0	Euro 1980 qualifier
29.	17 October 1979	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Scotland	1–0	1–1	Euro 1980 qualifier
30.	15 November 1980	Praterstadion, Vienna	Albania	5–0	5–0	1982 World Cup qualifier
31	28 May 1981	Praterstadion, Vienna	Bulgaria	1–0	2–0	1982 World Cup qualifier
32.	17 June 1981	Linzer Stadion, Linz	Finland	3–0	3–0	1982 World Cup qualifier
33.	24 March 1982	Népstadion, Budapest	Hungary	1–0	3–2	Friendly
34.	21 June 1982	Estadio Carlos Tartiere, Oviedo	Algeria	2–0	2–0	1982 World Cup

Club

Rapid Wien

• Austrian Football Bundesliga: 2

1982, 1983

• Austrian Cup: 4

1976, 1983, 1984, 1985

Barcelona

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1

1979

• Copa del Rey: 1

1981

Individual

• Ballon d'Or Silver Ball: 1

1978

• IOC European Footballer of the Season: 1

1978–79

• Austrian Player of the Year: 5

1973, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1988

• Austrian Bundesliga Top Goalscorer: 4

1974, 1977, 1978, 1983

• Pichichi Trophy: 1

1979

• European Golden Shoe: 1

1978

• Austrian Manager of the Year: 1

1999