| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1968-08-02)2 August 1968 (age 57) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Hamburg, West Germany | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| –1974 | Bramfelder SV | ||||||||||||||||
| 1974–1986 | Victoria Hamburg | ||||||||||||||||
| 1986–1987 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1987–1990 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 73 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| 1990–1992 | Bayern Munich | 65 | (19) | ||||||||||||||
| 1992–1994 | Fiorentina | 56 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–1998 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 118 | (23) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–2002 | Bayern Munich | 95 | (16) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | VfL Wolfsburg | 19 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Al-Arabi | 15 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 441 | (87) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1988–1990 | West Germany U21 | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1991–1998 | Germany | 35 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | SC Paderborn | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | KFC Uerdingen 05 (sporting director) | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Stefan Effenberg (German pronunciation:[ˈʃtɛfanˈʔɛfn̩bɛʁk]; born 2 August 1968) is a Germanfootball pundit and former professional player. Amidfielder, he was known for his leadership skills, passing range, shooting ability, and physical strength, but was also a temperamental and controversial character.[2]
In theBundesliga alone – where he representedBayern Munich most notably, in six seasons and in two different spells – Effenberg collected 109yellow cards, an all-time record at the time of his retirement. With Bayern, he won three Bundesliga titles andcaptained the club to theUEFA Champions League title in 2001.
In a career that was cut short after a run-in with the management, Effenberg played forGermany on 35 occasions, representing the nation inUEFA Euro 1992 and the1994 FIFA World Cup. His nickname isDer Tiger (IPA:[deːɐ̯ˈtiːɡɐ], "the tiger").
Born and raised inNiendorf, Hamburg on 2 August 1968, Stefan Effenberg started his professional career withBorussia Mönchengladbach, where he became an undisputed first-choice by the age of 20. This attracted the interest ofBundesliga giantsFC Bayern Munich, where he scored 19 goals in his first two seasons after his transfer,[3] although the club failed to win any silverware with Effenberg in the lineup.
WhenLothar Matthäus, who also represented Mönchengladbach, returned to Bayern in 1992, Effenberg moved toACF Fiorentina. Despite the presence ofBrian Laudrup andGabriel Batistuta, Fiorentina was relegated fromSerie A inhis first season. Effenberg stayed on in thesecond 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 theBavarians was much more successful. He collected threeBundesliga titles in a row, and Bayern also reached twoUEFA Champions League finals, the first of which was a 2–1 defeat toManchester United F.C. in1999. Bayern returned to the final in2001 with Effenberg as captain. He scored Bayern's equalising goal from thepenalty spot in a victory againstValencia (1–1,penalty shootout win). After the final, Effenberg was named theMost Valuable Player of the2000–01 UEFA Champions League.[4] After his departure, club fans voted him one of the eleven greatest Bayern players of all time.[5]
After an unsuccessful spell atVfL Wolfsburg,[6] Effenberg ended his career in Qatar withAl-Arabi Sports Club, with Gabriel Batistuta as his teammate. He appeared occasionally as acolor commentator for German TV after his retirement as a player.
Effenberg was appointed as the head coach ofSC Paderborn on 13 October 2015.[7] He was sacked on 3 March 2016.[8]
On 10 October 2019,KFC Uerdingen 05 presented Effenberg as the new sporting director.[9] 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,[10] he stepped back from this position prematurely in May 2020.[11]
Effenberg played 35 games for theGermany national team and scored five goals. His debut came on 5 June 1991, in aEuro 1992 qualifier againstWales, as he played the last 18 minutes of a 1–0 away loss. He would be an everpresent fixture duringthe final stages, even netting in the second group stage match, a 2–0 win overScotland.
During a group game againstSouth Korea in the1994 FIFA World Cup. Effenberg"gave the finger" to German fans at theCotton Bowl in the 35 °C (95 °F) heat ofDallas when he got substituted after a subpar performance; the Germans were then only one goal up, after leading 3–0.[12] German coachBerti 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 reinstated 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.
Effenberg had a history of attracting attention and ire from fans, managers, and players alike with his behaviour.[15][16]
In 1991, prior to aUEFA Cup game against then-semi-professionalCork City, Effenberg told the press he was sure of a victory, saying Cork City midfielderDave Barry was "like (his) grandfather". Barry got his retribution by scoring the opening goal in the team's 1–1 draw atMusgrave Park.[17]
In the late 1990s, Effenberg, already married to Martina, provoked animosity when his affair with Claudia Strunz, the wife of former club and national teammateThomas Strunz, was revealed.[18]Effenberg published a controversial autobiography, notorious for its blatant contents – which included lashing out at some other football professionals, namely club and national teammateLothar Matthäus.[19]
In 2001, Effenberg was fined after being found guilty of assaulting a woman in a nightclub.[20] The following year, he implied that unemployed people in Germany were too lazy to look for work, and demanded they took benefit cuts. The interview was issued inPlayboy.[21]
Strunz and Effenberg were married in 2004,[22] and the player also had three children from his first marriage; the couple then relocated toFlorida.[23]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 1987–88 | Bundesliga | 15 | 1 | — | — | — | – | 15 | 1 | ||||
| 1988–89 | 29 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | – | 31 | 3 | |||||
| 1989–90 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | – | 32 | 6 | |||||
| Total | 73 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 10 | ||
| Bayern Munich | 1990–91 | Bundesliga | 32 | 9 | 1 | 0 | — | 8 | 1 | 1[a] | 0 | 42 | 10 | |
| 1991–92 | 33 | 10 | 1 | 0 | — | 4 | 1 | – | 38 | 11 | ||||
| Total | 65 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 80 | 21 | ||
| Fiorentina | 1992–93 | Serie A | 30 | 5 | 4 | 2 | — | — | – | 34 | 7 | |||
| 1993–94 | Serie B | 26 | 7 | 4 | 0 | — | — | – | 30 | 7 | ||||
| Total | 56 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 14 | ||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 1994–95 | Bundesliga | 30 | 7 | 5 | 2 | — | — | – | 35 | 9 | |||
| 1995–96 | 31 | 7 | 2 | 1 | — | 6 | 3 | 1[a] | 0 | 40 | 11 | |||
| 1996–97 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 3 | 2 | – | 34 | 3 | ||||
| 1997–98 | 28 | 8 | 1 | 0 | — | — | – | 29 | 8 | |||||
| Total | 118 | 23 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 138 | 31 | ||
| Bayern Munich | 1998–99 | Bundesliga | 31 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 5 | – | 51 | 16 | |
| 1999–2000 | 27 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | – | 44 | 4 | |||
| 2000–01 | 20 | 4 | — | — | 10 | 1 | – | 30 | 5 | |||||
| 2001–02 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | – | 29 | 3 | |||
| Total | 95 | 16 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 154 | 28 | ||
| VfL Wolfsburg | 2002–03 | Bundesliga | 19 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 21 | 3 | |||
| Al-Arabi | 2003–04 | Qatar Stars League | 15 | 4 | — | — | — | – | 15 | 4 | ||||
| Career total | 441 | 87 | 42 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 61 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 550 | 111 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 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 | |
| No. | 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 | 4–1 | |||||
| 5 | 19 June 1993 | Silverdome,Detroit, United States |  England | 1–0 | 2–1 | U.S. Cup |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Paderborn 07 |  | 13 October 2015 | 2 March 2016 | 15 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 013.33 |
| Total | 15 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 013.33 | |||
Bayern Munich
Fiorentina
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Germany
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