Stefan Effenberg

Stefan Effenberg

Personal information
Date of birth	2 August 1968 (1968-08-02)
Place of birth	Hamburg, West Germany
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	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		431	(87)
National team
1988–1990	West Germany U21	5	(1)
1991–1998	Germany	35	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Stefan Effenberg (born 2 August 1968) is a retired German footballer. A central midfielder, he possessed leadership skills, powerful shooting ability, physical strength, but also a fearsome and controversial character.

In the Bundesliga alone – where he represented most notably Bayern Munich, in six seasons 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.

Club career

Born and raised in Niendorf, Hamburg, Effenberg started his professional career with Borussia Mönchengladbach, being an undisputed first-choice by age 20. This prompted the interest from Bundesliga giants FC Bayern Munich, and he proceeded to score 19 goals in his first two seasons combined, but the club did not win any silverware whatsoever.

After legendary Lothar Matthäus (who also represented M'gladbach) returned to Bayern in 1992, Effenberg moved to ACF Fiorentina, being relegated from Serie A in his first season, on a side that also included Dane Brian Laudrup and Argentine Gabriel Batistuta.

Effenberg then moved again to Borussia, where he amassed a further 118 league matches, with 23 goals, being then re-signed by Bayern. The second spell with the Bavarians was much more successful, as he collected three leagues in a row, and also the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League, scoring in regulation period from the penalty spot in a triumph against Valencia CF (1–1, penalty shootout win). During the latter tournament, he also won the Most Valuable Player award. 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. Subsequently, he had the odd appearance as a color commentator for German TV.

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.

However, Effenberg's international career was marked by controversy and several years in the international wilderness, after the German Football Association refused to consider him for selection following an incident at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In the group game against South Korea, Effenberg had gestured in an inappropriate manner ("gave the finger") to 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. Because of this incident, coach Berti Vogts decided to drop Effenberg from the German national team for the remainder of the tournament.

Effenberg was briefly re-instated to the national team four years later for a couple of friendly matches in September. These games proved to be his last caps and also Vogts' final matches in charge of the national team.

International goals

Scores and results table. Germany's goal tally first:

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	15 June 1992	Idrottsparken, Norrköping, Sweden	Scotland	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 1992
2.	9 September 1992	Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	2–1	2–1	Friendly
3.	14 April 1993	Ruhrstadion, Bochum, Germany	Ghana	2–1	6–1	Friendly
4.	14 April 1993	Ruhrstadion, Bochum, Germany	Ghana	4–1	6–1	Friendly
5.	19 June 1993	Silverdome, Detroit, USA	England	1–0	2–1	U.S. Cup

Statistics

Club

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Germany			League		DFB-Pokal		DFB Ligapokal		Europe		Total
1987–88	Borussia Mönchengladbach	Bundesliga	15	1
1988–89			29	3
1989–90			29	6
1990–91	Bayern Munich	Bundesliga	32	9
1991–92			33	10
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		League Cup		Europe		Total
1992–93	Fiorentina	Serie A	30	5
1993–94		Serie B	26	7
Germany			League		DFB-Pokal		DFB Ligapokal		Europe		Total
1994–95	Borussia Mönchengladbach	Bundesliga	30	7
1995–96			31	7
1996–97			29	1
1997–98			28	8	1	0
1998–99	Bayern Munich	Bundesliga	31	8	6	3
1999–00			27	2	5	0			11	2
2000–01			20	4	0	0			10	1
2001–02			17	2	4	0			7	1
2002–03	Wolfsburg	Bundesliga	19	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	19	2
2003–04	Al-Arabi	Qatar Stars League	15	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	4
Country	Germany		370	71
	Italy		56	12
Total			15	4
Total	Club		431	87

International

Germany national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1991	4	0
1992	12	2
1993	11	3
1994	6	0
1995	0	0
1996	0	0
1997	0	0
1998	2	0
Total	35	5

Honours

Club

• Serie B: 1993–94
• UEFA Champions League: 2000–01; Runner-up 1998–99
• Intercontinental Cup: 2001
• UEFA Super Cup: Runner-up 2001
• German League: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01; Runner-up 1990–91
• German Cup: 1994–95, 1999–2000; Runner-up 1998–99
• German League Cup: 1998, 1999, 2000
• German Super Cup: 1990

Country

• U.S. Cup: 1993
• UEFA European Football Championship: Runner-up 1992

Individual

• UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 2001

Controversies/Personal

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 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 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.

External links

• Stefan Effenberg at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Stefan Effenberg at National-Football-Teams.com
• Official website (German)