Playing position Name Stefan Effenberg | Role Footballer 0000–1974 Bramfelder SV Height 1.88 m | |
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Date of birth (1968-08-02) 2 August 1968 (age 47) Spouse Claudia Effenberg (m. 2004), Martina Effenberg (m. 1990–2003) Children Ann-Kathrin Effenberg, Nastassia Effenberg, Noel-Etienne Effenberg Siblings Claudia Effenberg, Frank Effenberg Similar People Claudia Effenberg, Thomas Strunz, Oliver Kahn, Lothar Matthaus, Mehmet Scholl | ||
Top 10 Hardest Men In Football
Bundesliga Legend Stefan Effenberg is Back in Football.
Stefan Effenberg ( [ˈʃtɛfan ˈɛfəmbɛɐ̯k]; born 2 August 1968) is a retired German footballer who last managed SC Paderborn. A midfielder, he possessed leadership skills, fantastic passing range, powerful shooting ability, physical strength, but also a fearsome and controversial character.
Contents
- Top 10 Hardest Men In Football
- Bundesliga Legend Stefan Effenberg is Back in Football
- Club career
- Managerial career
- International career
- International goals
- Club
- International
- Individual
- Controversies and personal life
- References
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 worst at the time of his retirement.
He played for Germany on more than 30 occasions – in a career which was cut short after a run-in with the management – 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, 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 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. After his departure, club fans voted him one of the eleven greatest Bayern players of all time.
After an unassuming spell at VfL Wolfsburg, Effenberg ended his career in Qatar with Al-Arabi Sports Club. 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. He was sacked on 3 March 2016.
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 Dallas when he got substituted after a subpar performance; the Germans were then only one goal up, after leading 3–0. 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.
Effenberg didn't appear in another international match again until 1998, when was briefly re-instated to the national team for a couple of friendly matches in September, under Erich Ribbeck after Vogts was ousted as national team coach. They turned out to be his last caps for Germany.
International goals
Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first.Club
International
Individual
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.
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 team mate 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. 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.
Strunz and Effenberg were married in 2004, and the player also had three children from his first marriage; the couple then relocated to Florida.