.jpg) Hamann in 2011 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dietmar Johann Wolfgang Hamann[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1973-08-27)27 August 1973 (age 52)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Waldsassen, West Germany | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defensive midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1978–1989 | Wacker München | ||||||||||||||||
| 1989–1992 | Bayern Munich | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1992–1994 | Bayern Munich (A) | 24 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 1993–1998 | Bayern Munich | 105 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–1999 | Newcastle United | 23 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2006 | Liverpool | 191 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 2006–2009 | Manchester City | 54 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Milton Keynes Dons | 12 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 409 | (27) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1993 | Germany U20 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1993–1995 | Germany U21 | 10 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–2005 | Germany | 59 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Stockport County | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Dietmar Johann Wolfgang "Didi"Hamann (German pronunciation:[ˈdiːtmaʁˈhaːman]; born 27 August 1973) is a Germanfootball pundit and former professional player.
Throughout his career, he played forBayern Munich,Newcastle United,Liverpool andManchester City primarily in adefensive midfield position. He was a member of theGermany national team from 1997 until 2006 and represented his nation in twoFIFA World Cups and twoUEFA European Championships, reaching the2002 FIFA World Cup final. He is known in Ireland as a football pundit onRTÉ's live coverage of major European and international competitions.
Throughout his playing career Hamann gained a reputation for being a highly consistent and reliable player. He is highly respected by supporters of Liverpool due in large part to his involvement in the club's victory in the2005 UEFA Champions League final.
Hamann began his career at the little-knownWacker München. After impressing as a junior, he joined Bayern Munich as a 16-year-old in 1989 and debuted for the Bayern professional team in 1993.[3] Hamann joined a team led byLothar Matthäus,Thomas Helmer,Christian Ziege andOliver Kahn and played five games, mostly as a right winger. At first, Hamann was only a so-calledVertragsamateur (i.e. anamateur player who had the licence for playing professional games). Still, he won his first German championship as a bench player. In the next season, Bayern suffered a major injury wave which claimed midfielders Matthäus, Swiss internationalAlain Sutter, talentDieter Frey and veteranMarkus Schupp, which allowed Hamann to become a regular; he played 30 Bundesliga games[3] and established himself as a valuable role player, playing either right wing or defensive midfield. He earned himself a full professional contract and was an important player in the tumultuous 1995–96 campaign, in which Bayern recruited strikerJürgen Klinsmann, coachOtto Rehhagel and midfieldersAndi Herzog,Thomas Strunz andCiriaco Sforza, but the team was torn apart by heavy internal struggles. Although Hamann was overshadowed by these new midfield recruits, he played in 20 games and provided some stability for the infighting Bayern squad. Bayern ended a disappointing second and saw Rehhagel sacked, but ended the season by winning theUEFA Cup.
The 1996–97 season was to become Hamann's breakthrough. After being a bench player most of his career until then, new coachGiovanni Trapattoni made him a starting defensive midfielder, and new recruitMario Basler took the right wing. Hamann played in 23 games, also making his debut in the Germany national team and won his second Germany championship with Bayern.[3] In his private life, Hamann had to overcome a scary period when he broke down unconscious and was diagnosed with astroke, but made a full recovery.[4] The next season ended disappointingly for Bayern who lagged behind newlypromotedKaiserslautern for the vast majority of the season and finished second. Now an undisputed starter, Hamann played in 28 games and scored two goals.[5] The season ended on a high for Bayern when they secured theDFB-Pokal againstMSV Duisburg.
After playing for his country in the1998 World Cup, he joinedNewcastle United, managed at the time byKenny Dalglish, for £5.5 million. Overcoming an early foot injury, Hamann played in 31 matches and scored five goals.[3] In July 1999, he opted to join Gerard Houllier'sLiverpool, who signed him for £8 million.[6]Whilst at Newcastle he played in the1999 FA Cup Final.
Hamann established himself as an influential midfielder for Liverpool throughout his seven years at the club. All in all, Hamann played in 191 league games and scored eight goals. In the 2000–01 season, Hamann won his first big English trophy when Liverpool won a much-celebrated cup treble (League Cup,FA Cup andUEFA Cup) and a place in the Champions League.[7][8] Hamann also played the full 90 minutes and assisted Liverpool's second goal (scored byMichael Owen) in the team's 2-0 victory overManchester United in the2003 Worthington Cupfinal.[9]
Hamann established himself as a major first team player for Liverpool throughout his first few seasons.
Hamann played a major part in the2005 Champions League Final win overA.C. Milan. Although he was suffering a broken toe during the final,[10] Hamann's substitution forSteve Finnan at half time was the catalyst for Liverpool's historic fightback. The team rallied after being 3–0 down to bring the game back to 3–3 and finally won in the penalty shootout; Hamann also showed a great amount of composure and bravery, as he took and converted the first Liverpool penalty with his broken foot.[11] This was not the only key part he played in their Champions league success. Earlier in the tournament, Hamann had been forced to stand in for Liverpool's key player Steven Gerrard in the first leg of the last 16 round against Bayer Leverkusen. He excelled in the match and scored a late free-kick as Liverpool won the match 3–1.
Hamann won theFA Cup with Liverpool in May 2006, coming on as a substitute in the second-half. He more than played his part in another trophy win for the Reds, who were 3–2 down toWest Ham United at the time he came on. Steven Gerrard scored an injury-time leveller for Liverpool to take the match to extra-time. Liverpool would go on to win the Cup on penalties after a goalless extra-time. Once again, Hamann scored the first penalty in the shoot-out.[12] When it was clear his time at Liverpool was coming to a close, David Moyes, the manager of Liverpool's rival club Everton, called him to try and convince him to join the club, but Hamann refused, saying: “David, I appreciate the interest, but, after all the years I've had at Liverpool and the things I've experienced, it's just not possible to join Everton".[13]
In June 2006, Hamann was given permission to talk toBolton Wanderers about a potential transfer to the North West club. Hamann admitted that he would be saddened to leave Liverpool but would make "the best decision for my future". Hamann actually signed a pre-contract in June 2006, to become a Bolton Wanderers player but had a "change of heart".[14] He joined Bolton for less than one day before a move to Manchester City.[15]
On 12 July, he instead signed forManchester City, with City agreeing to pay £400,000 compensation to Bolton.[16] On 13 February, he signed a contract until the end of the2008–09 season and scored his first goal for the club in aUEFA Cup qualifying first round match againstEB/Streymur.[17]
However, on 28 August 2013 duringColin Murray's morning radio show with TalkSport Bolton Wanderers chairmanPhil Gartside announced that the club had never officially signed the midfielder and that they had "put (the papers) in the drawer". A Premier League investigation found that this wasn't the case and that Bolton had indeed signed Hamann, and expressed confusion as to why Gartside had lied about it.[18]
On 1 July 2009, he was released by Manchester City as his contract expired.[19] Hamann announced on 16 July that he intended to stay in England.
On transfer deadline day in September 2009, BBC Sport quoted Hamann as stating: "Yes,Sven [-Göran Eriksson] phoned me the other day to see if I wanted to sign forNotts County, but I said I wasn't interested at the moment as I feel I can still play at a higher level. There are a couple of things in Germany and I'll make my mind up by the end of the week. I have spoken to a couple of teams in England but that hasn't come to anything yet. Obviously, I can still sign after the deadline so maybe if teams don't get the players they want today then I will hear something".[20]
On 20 May 2010, Hamann signed a one-year contract as a player-coach atMilton Keynes Dons[21] but only made 12 appearances as a player. When he left the club on 3 February 2011 to joinLeicester City as a First Team Coach,[22] he effectively retired from a playing career.
After retiring in February 2011 and managingStockport County in July 2011, Hamann went back to playing football, and this time for amateur-side TuS Haltern. He signed a contract with the club on 7 March 2015 at the age of 41.[23]
Hamann played forGermany at under-21 level before making his full international debut in a friendly againstSouth Africa in November 1997.[24] He was selected by managerBerti Vogts for the1998 FIFA World Cup, being, at almost 25, the second youngest player in an over-agedGermany squad. During the group stage, Hamann drifted in and out of the starting XI, finally breaking into the team when Germany gained momentum in the second round game againstMexico. However, after a quarter-final defeat againstCroatia, Germany was out of the tournament.
During theUEFA Euro 2000 qualifying, Hamann established himself as a key player for a transitional Germany side. He played in all of Germany's games atthe final tournament as they exited in the first round. Hamann was the last player to score at theold Wembley Stadium before its demolition[25] when he scored the winning goal in Germany's2002 World Cup qualifier againstEngland in October 2000.[26][27]
AlongsideMichael Ballack andBernd Schneider, Hamann was one of the key players in Germany's surprising run to the2002 FIFA World Cup Final. He became only the second Liverpool player afterRoger Hunt in 1966 to play in a World Cup Final while still at the club, but finished on the losing side asBrazil won 2–0 inYokohama. In the 67th minute of that match, Hamann lost the ball to opposing forwardRonaldo, who passed toRivaldo, who shot from outside the area; goalkeeperOliver Kahn gave a rebound, allowing Ronaldo to score and give Brazil a 1–0 lead. The subsequentEuro 2004 turned out to be Hamann's last tournament. Again, the Euro ended with a disappointing first round exit for Germany. A 1–2 defeat against aCzech Republic side resting its key players proved to be Hamann's penultimate international game.
After a strong performance in the 2005 Champions League final, Hamann was recalled for the Germany squad by new managerJürgen Klinsmann. In the 2–2 draw againstthe Netherlands, Hamann produced a lacklustre performance, apparently convincing Klinsmann that he did not possess the required pace for that kind of level anymore. Hamann was dropped from the squad for the subsequent friendlies. Having not been selected for the German squad in the2006 FIFA World Cup, he decided to officially retire from international football.[28]
On 20 May 2010, Hamann signed a one-year contract as a player-coach atMilton Keynes Dons.[21] He left the club on 3 February 2011 to joinLeicester City as a First Team Coach.[22]
On 5 July 2011, Hamann was appointed as the new manager of newly relegatedConference Premier clubStockport County, replacingRay Mathias.[29] His appointment was made after businessman Tony Evans headed a consortium proposing taking over the club.[30] In his first league game in charge of Stockport, Hamann's side drew 1–1 withForest Green Rovers atThe New Lawn.[31] The match was broadcast live onPremier Sports. Hamann resigned as Stockport County boss on 7 November 2011, citing the failure of the proposed takeover by Tony Evans to materialise; his team were languishing in 17th place having taken only three wins from his nineteen league games in charge.[3][32]
Hamann was enlisted byRTÉ Sport for their squad of pundits ahead of the2010 FIFA World Cup inSouth Africa.[33][34][35] He returned to RTÉ's team duringUEFA Euro 2012[36][37] and the2014 FIFA World Cup inBrazil.[38]
More recently, in neighbouring Britain, Hamann has guested as a pundit on theBBC'sMatch of the Day 2. He has also appeared onSky Sports's football coverage as a pundit, usually when the match involves a club he has played for, most commonlyLiverpool, and has also appeared regularly onLFC TV during their live pre-game and post game analysis of Liverpool home games fromAnfield.
He was again part of RTÉ Sport's studio coverage for the finals ofUEFA Euro 2016,[39] beginning with an appearance for the opening night match between tournament hosts France andRomania.[40] In assessing Ireland's chances for the tournament, Hamann also said he had been in Dublin to see Ireland beat world champions Germany during the qualifying campaign.[41]
He was additionally retained by RTÉ Sport as a studio pundit for Champions League and Irish International games for the full football season 2016–2017, having been an occasional pundit on Champions League matches during the 2015-16 season.
He was back on the RTÉ Panel again for the2018 FIFA World Cup, the rescheduledUEFA Euro 2020 in 2021, the2022 FIFA World Cup,[42][43][44] and UEFA Euro 2024.
Hamann also works as a pundit for Sky Sports Bundesliga in Germany.
Hamann is also the European columnist fortwentyfour7, where he passes regular comment on the progress and state of the game on the continent.
He released his autobiography,The Didi Man: My Love Affair with Liverpool, co-written with Malcolm McClean, in February 2012 and it became aSunday Times Best Seller.
Hamann has two daughters, Chiara and Luna. He is the brother ofMatthias Hamann, who also played in the Bundesliga, mainly for Bayern rival1860 Munich. Hamann enjoyscricket and once played for Alderley Edge CC 2nd XI vs Neston CC 2nd XI in theCheshire County Cricket League,[45] taking a catch in the game. He became interested in the sport during the2005 Ashes series.[46][47]
On 23 February 2010, the former German international was found guilty ofdriving under the influence and sentenced to a 16-month driving ban while also being fined nearly £2,000. He had been stopped by police at junction six of theM56 near his home inStyal,Cheshire, at 12.15 am on 12 July 2009.[48][49]
In cooperation withStandard Chartered Bank, an institution for which he also acted as an ambassador, Hamann hosted a football clinicin Nigeria.[50]
In 2012, Hamann revealed thegambling problems he suffered towards the end of his career, an addiction that has been "not healthy or sustainable" and lasted for many years.[51]
Hamann went to Australia on an extended holiday in 2018.[52] In June 2019 he was charged with assault in the country.[52]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Bayern Munich | 1993–94 | Bundesliga | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | |
| 1994–95 | Bundesliga | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | 37 | 0 | ||
| 1995–96 | Bundesliga | 20 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | 29 | 2 | ||
| 1996–97 | Bundesliga | 23 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 30 | 1 | ||
| 1997–98 | Bundesliga | 28 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 41 | 6 | |
| Total | 106 | 6 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 143 | 10 | ||
| Newcastle United | 1998–99 | Premier League | 23 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 5 |
| Liverpool | 1999–2000 | Premier League | 28 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 1 |
| 2000–01 | Premier League | 30 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 53 | 3 | |
| 2001–02 | Premier League | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 47 | 1 | |
| 2002–03 | Premier League | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 41 | 2 | |
| 2003–04 | Premier League | 25 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 35 | 3 | |
| 2004–05 | Premier League | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 43 | 1 | |
| 2005–06 | Premier League | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 31 | 0 | |
| Total | 191 | 8 | 16 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 61 | 2 | 280 | 11 | ||
| Manchester City | 2006–07 | Premier League | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| 2007–08 | Premier League | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | |
| 2008–09 | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 18 | 1 | |
| Total | 54 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 71 | 2 | ||
| Milton Keynes Dons | 2010–11 | League One | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| Career total | 386 | 18 | 41 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 92 | 4 | 538 | 27 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 1997 | 1 | 1 |
| 1998 | 12 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 11 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 12 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 9 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 59 | 5 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 November 1997 | Rheinstadion,Düsseldorf, Germany |  South Africa | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 26 March 1999 | Windsor Park,Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Northern Ireland | 3–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 3 | 7 October 2000 | Wembley Stadium, London, England |  England | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying |
| 4 | 13 February 2002 | Fritz-Walter-Stadion,Kaiserslautern, Germany |  Israel | 3–1 | 7–1 | Friendly |
| 5 | 31 March 2004 | Müngersdorfer Stadion,Cologne, Germany |  Belgium | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Stockport County | 5 July 2011 | 7 November 2011 | 20 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 015.0 | [29][55] |
| Total | 20 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 015.0 | — | ||
Bayern Munich
Liverpool
Germany
Individual
"I think it's bullshit: self-serving bullshit," said Eamon Dunphy of Giovanni Trapattoni's suggestion that the team (his players, not the RTÉ panel) needed to seek a bit of "redemption" against Spain. "Yeah," said Kenny Cunningham. Didi Hamann, sandwiched between the pair, observed the exchange like he might a tennis rally.
According to the broadcaster some international faces will return to bring colour to the matches including former German international Didi Hamann – who was a pundit during the 2010 World Cup.
Joining them will be former German international Didi Hamann, Argentine World Cup winner Ossie Ardiles, former Celtic manager Neil Lennon, ex-USA international Brad Friedel and Real Madrid coach Paul Clement.
Germany squads | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
