Stefan Effenberg

Stefan Effenberg (German pronunciation: [ˈʃtɛfan ˈɛfn̩bɛɐ̯k]; born 2 August 1968) is a German former footballer who most recently acted as sporting director for KFC Uerdingen 05.[2][3] A central midfielder, he was known for his leadership skills, passing range, shooting ability, and physical strength, but was also a temperamental and controversial character.[4]

Stefan Effenberg
Personal information
Date of birth (1968-08-02) 2 August 1968
Place of birth Hamburg, West Germany
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Youth career
0000–1974 Bramfelder SV
1974–1986 Victoria Hamburg
1986–1987 Borussia M'gladbach
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1990 Borussia M'gladbach 73 (10)
1990–1992 Bayern Munich 65 (19)
1992–1994 Fiorentina 56 (12)
1994–1998 Borussia M'gladbach 118 (23)
1998–2002 Bayern Munich 95 (16)
2002–2003 VfL Wolfsburg 19 (3)
2003–2004 Al-Arabi 15 (4)
Total 441 (87)
National team
1988–1990 West Germany U21 5 (1)
1991–1998 Germany 35 (5)
Teams managed
2015–2016 SC Paderborn
2019–2020 KFC Uerdingen 05 (sporting director)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

In the Bundesliga alone – where he represented Bayern Munich most notably, in six seasons and in two different spells – Effenberg collected 109 yellow cards, an all-time record at the time of his retirement. With Bayern, he won three Bundesligas and captained the club to the UEFA Champions League title in 2001.

In a career which was cut short after a run-in with the management, he played for Germany on more than 30 occasions, representing the nation in one World Cup and one European Championship. His nickname is Der Tiger [dɛɐ̯ ˈtiːɡɐ] (the tiger).

Club career

Born and raised in Niendorf, Hamburg on 2 August 1968, Stefan Effenberg started his professional career with Borussia Mönchengladbach, where he became an undisputed first-choice by the age of 20. This attracted the interest of Bundesliga giants FC Bayern Munich, where he scored 19 goals in his first two seasons after his transfer,[5] although the club failed to win any silverware with Effenberg in the lineup.

When legendary Lothar Matthäus (who also represented Mönchengladbach) returned to Bayern in 1992, Effenberg moved to ACF Fiorentina. Despite the presence of Dane Brian Laudrup and Argentine Gabriel Batistuta, Fiorentina was relegated from Serie A in his first season. Effenberg stayed on in the second flight, winning promotion back at the first attempt.

In the summer of 1994, Effenberg then moved back to Gladbach, where he appeared in 118 league matches, scoring 23 goals, before Bayern re-signed him in 1998. Effenberg's second spell with the Bavarians was much more successful. He collected three Bundesliga titles in a row, and Bayern also reached two UEFA Champions League finals, the first of which was a 1–2 defeat to Manchester United F.C. in 1999. Bayern returned to the final in 2001 with Effenberg as captain. He scored Bayern's equalising goal from the penalty spot in a victory against Valencia (1–1, penalty shootout win). After the final, Effenberg was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League.[6] After his departure, club fans voted him one of the eleven greatest Bayern players of all time.[7]

After an unassuming spell at VfL Wolfsburg,[8] Effenberg ended his career in Qatar with Al-Arabi Sports Club, with Gabriel Batistuta as his teammate. He appeared occasionally as a color commentator for German TV after his retirement as a player.

Managerial career

Effenberg was appointed as the head coach of SC Paderborn on 13 October 2015.[9] He was sacked on 3 March 2016.[10]

On 10 October 2019, KFC Uerdingen 05 presented Effenberg as the new sporting director.[2] Following a few troubled months which included the team briefly staying at an Italian hotel with no football pitch for a mid-season training camp,[11] he stepped back from this position prematurely in May 2020.[3]

International career

Effenberg played 35 games for the German national team and scored five goals. His debut came on 5 June 1991, in a Euro 1992 qualifier against Wales, as he played the last 18 minutes of a 0–1 away loss. He would be an everpresent fixture during the final stages, even netting in the second group stage match, a 2–0 win over Scotland.

During a group game against South Korea in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Effenberg "gave the finger" to German fans at the Cotton Bowl in the 35 °C (95 °F) heat of Dallas when he got substituted after a subpar performance; the Germans were then only one goal up, after leading 3–0.[12] German coach Berti Vogts was so outraged by this incident that he dropped Effenberg from the team on the spot, and declared that he was finished as an international player.[13][14]

Effenberg did not appear in another international match again until 1998, when he was briefly re-instated to the national team for a couple of friendly matches in Malta in September, which happened to be Vogts' last two matches as national team coach. They turned out to be his last caps for Germany.

Controversies and personal life

Effenberg had a history of attracting attention and ire from fans and other players alike with his behaviour. In 1991, prior to a UEFA Cup game against then-semi-professional Cork City, Effenberg told the press he was sure of a victory, saying Cork City midfielder Dave Barry was "like (his) grandfather". Barry got his retribution by scoring the opening goal in the team's 1–1 draw at Musgrave Park.[15]

In the late 1990s, Effenberg was rarely out of the tabloids, especially when he left his wife Martina and revealed an affair with Claudia Strunz, who at that time was the wife of former teammate Thomas Strunz. Later, the player published a controversial autobiography, notorious for its blatant contents – which included lashing out at some other football professionals, namely club and national side mate, Lothar Matthäus.

In 2001, Effenberg was fined after being found guilty of assaulting a woman in a nightclub.[16] The following year, he implied that unemployed people in Germany were in fact too lazy to look for work, and demanded they took benefit cuts. The interview was issued in Playboy.[17]

Strunz and Effenberg were married in 2004,[18] and the player also had three children from his first marriage; the couple then relocated to Florida.[19]

Career statistics

Club

[20]

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
1987–88Borussia MönchengladbachBundesliga151———151
1988–8929320——313
1989–9029630——326
1990–91Bayern Munich32910—8142110
1991–92331010—413811
1992–93FiorentinaSerie A30542——347
1993–94Serie B26740——307
1994–95Borussia MönchengladbachBundesliga30752——359
1995–9631721—6340211
1996–9729120—32343
1997–9828810——299
1998–99Bayern Munich31863201255116
1999–20002725010112444
2000–01204——101305
2001–02172401071293
2002–03VfL Wolfsburg19320——213
2003–04Al-ArabiQatar Stars League154———154
ClubBorussia Mönchengladbach 19133153—95216141
FC Bayern Munich 16035173405211234249
Fiorentina 561282——6414
VfL Wolfsburg 19320——213
Al-Arabi 154———154
TotalClub 4418742840611655012111

International career statistics

[21]

Germany national team
YearAppsGoals
199140
1992122
1993113
199460
199500
199600
199700
199820
Total355

International goals
Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
115 June 1992Idrottsparken, Norrköping, Sweden Scotland2–02–0UEFA Euro 1992
29 September 1992Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark Denmark2–12–1Friendly
314 April 1993Ruhrstadion, Bochum, Germany Ghana2–16–1Friendly
44–1
519 June 1993Silverdome, Detroit, United States England1–02–1U.S. Cup

Honours

Club

Bayern Munich

Borussia Mönchengladbach

Fiorentina

International

Germany

Individual

References
  1. "Stefan Effenberg - Spielerprofil - DFB" (in German). dfb.de. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  2. Lerch, André. "KFC Uerdingen stellt Stefan Effenberg als Manager vor". Westdeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  3. Hartmann, Ulrich (20 May 2020). "Aus für Stefan Effenberg: Der Kurzzeit-Funktionär wirft hin" (in German). SZ. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  4. Fearon, Matthew (25 March 2009). "Dream Teams: Bayern Munich". UK: The Independent. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  5. Arnhold, Matthias (2 September 2015). "Stefan Effenberg - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  6. "2000/01: Kahn saves day for Bayern". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  7. "Fans name greatest Reds of all time". FC Bayern. 1 June 2005. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  8. "Effenberg quits Wolfsburg with immediate effect". ABC News. 3 April 2003. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  9. "Effenberg neuer Trainer des SC Paderborn" (in German). Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  10. "SC Paderborn trennt sich von Effenberg" (in German). Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  11. "Hotel hatte keinen Fußballplatz: Effenberg vermasselt KFC-Trainingslager". www.n-tv.de (in German). 15 January 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  12. "Stefan Effenberg". 123Football. Archived from the original on 26 October 2005. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  13. "Doing it his own way". China Daily. 15 May 2003. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  14. "Effenberg's day of shame". UEFA.com. 24 June 2002. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  15. "Cork City 1 – Bayern Munich 1" (in German). Archived from the original on 15 July 2010.
  16. "Effenberg pays penalty". BBC Sport. 16 August 2001. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  17. "Scholl hangs up international boots". BBC Sport. 24 April 2002. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  18. "Matthaeus is 'a real quitter,' says Effenberg". Sports Illustrated. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  19. "Stefan Effenberg bids his final farewell". Monsters and Critics. 21 July 2005. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  20. "Effenberg, Stefan" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  21. Arnhold, Matthias (2 November 2002). "Stefan Effenberg – International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  22. "Bundesliga Historie 1990/91" (in German). kicker.
  23. "Bundesliga Historie 1991/92" (in German). kicker.
  24. "Bundesliga Historie 1994/95" (in German). kicker.
  25. "Bundesliga Historie 1995/96" (in German). kicker.
  26. "Bundesliga Historie 1996/97" (in German). kicker.
  27. "Bundesliga Historie 1997/98" (in German). kicker.
  28. "Bundesliga Historie 1999/2000" (in German). kicker.
  29. FIFA XI´s Matches - Full Info
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Thomas Helmer		 Bayern Munich captain
1999–2002		 Succeeded by
Oliver Kahn
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