He played as a centre-forward for the celebrated Austrian national side of the early 1930s that became known as the "Wunderteam", which he captained at the 1934 World Cup. Known as "The Mozart of football" or "Der Papierene" ("The Paper Man") for his slight build, he was renowned as one of the finest pre-war footballers, known for his fantastic dribbling ability and creativity. He was voted the best Austrian footballer of the 20th Century in a 1999 poll by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) and was named Austria's sportsman of the century a year before.