Marco Streller

Marco Streller
Personal information
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	FC Basel
Number	9
	‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 May 2008

Marco Streller (born 18 June 1981 in Basel) is a Swiss international footballer who plays as a striker for FC Basel in the Swiss Super League.

Club career

Streller started his career with local club FC Basel in 2000 where he played one game in his debut season. He left Basel the next season to join feeder club FC Concordia Basel. He scored 16 goals in 30 starts in the Challenge League with Concordia which made Basel sit up and take notice. They bought him back in 2002 but he left in January of the next year to join FC Thun after playing just three games. He scored a decent amount of goals at Thun and was signed again by Basel but this time he was promised first team football.

During the 2003–04 season, he scored 13 goals in 16 games, gathering the interest of a handful of Bundesliga clubs including VfB Stuttgart, who eventually signed him ahead of the 2004–05 season. He scored just four goals in 28 matches in his first half-season in Stuttgart, and was loaned out to 1. FC Köln for the remainder of the 2006 season. After returning from Köln, where he made 14 starts, he still failed to impress at Stuttgart and was allowed to rejoin his boyhood heroes FC Basel on a free transfer in June 2007, for his fourth spell at the club. He was Basel's top goal-scorer during the 2007–08 season with twelve league goals and 16 goals in all competitions, but missed the start of the 2008–09 season season after returning from UEFA Euro 2008 injured, playing his first game of the season in a 1-0 Swiss Cup win over FC Schötz on 20 September 2008.

International career

A full international since 2003, Streller played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was previously in the squad for the 2004 European Football Championship, but pulled out due to injury. During a 2006 WC qualifier against Turkey, he was lashed at and kicked by Turkey player Alpay Özalan. At the tournament's final stage he missed a spot-kick during his side's penalty shootout against Ukraine, who emerged victorious.

His substitution in the last friendly game before the EURO 2008, against the Principality of Liechtenstein, was accompanied by catcalls from Swiss supporters, being dissatisfied with Streller's performance in that game. As a consequence, Marco Streller announced his international retirement after the EURO 2008, citing he does not have "the full support of the fans". He was bashed about announcing such a move in front of the tournament not only by the Swiss press. Ottmar Hitzfeld, designated Swiss manager from July 2008, convinced Streller to continue his international career.

Honours

Basel

Swiss Cup: 2008
Swiss Super League: 2004, 2008
Uhren Cup: 2008

Stuttgart

German Cup Runner Up: 2007
German League: 2007

External links