Jean Wilhelm Willrich (born April 27, 1953) is a German-American soccer player who played as a forward.
Willrich, born in Koblenz, Germany, to a German mother and a French father, began playing club soccer at TuS Neuendorf and later joined Andernach before heading to Sportfreunde Eisbachtal.
[1] In 1978, Willrich moved to the United States and signed with the San Diego Sockers of the North American Soccer League (NASL).
[2] In 1979 and 1980, the Sockers negotiated a deal with the Mexican Primera Division club UNAM Pumas to exchange players during the offseason.
Willrich was named MVP of the 1984 Indoor Championship Series having scored 7 goals[3] in the three-game sweep of New York.
Willrich gained his U.S. citizenship shortly before the 1984 Olympic Games, he benefited from an expedited processing of his naturalization application.
U.S. Olympic Soccer Team head coach Alkis Panagoulias had supported Willrich's naturalization process, stating in a letter that if Willrich could play for the U.S. Olympic Team that could "dramatically change the chances of the United States winning a medal in the Los Angeles games of 1984".