.jpg) Völler in 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rudolf Völler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1960-04-13)13 April 1960 (age 64) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Hanau, West Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Germany (director) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1966–1975 | TSV Hanau | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975–1977 | Kickers Offenbach | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1977–1980 | Kickers Offenbach | 79 | (23) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1980–1982 | 1860 Munich | 74 | (49) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982–1987 | Werder Bremen | 174 | (119) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987–1992 | Roma | 198 | (68) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1994 | Marseille | 73 | (28) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1996 | Bayer Leverkusen | 75 | (31) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 673 | (318) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1979–1982 | West Germany U21 | 19 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1980 | West Germany B | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982–1994 | West Germany/Germany | 90 | (47) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–2000 | Bayer Leverkusen (sporting director) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Bayer Leverkusen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2004 | Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Roma | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Bayer Leverkusen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2022 | Bayer Leverkusen (sporting director) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Germany (director) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Germany (caretaker) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rudolf "Rudi"Völler (pronounced[ˈfœlɐ]; born 13 April 1960) is a German professionalfootball manager and former player, who is currently the director of theGermany national team. In Germany, he is nicknamed "Tante Käthe" ("Aunt Kathy"), a name bestowed upon him byThomas Berthold, and in Italy, he is nicknamed "Il tedesco volante" ("The flying German") by supporters ofRoma.[2]
Aforward, Völler began his professional career atKickers Offenbach, before joining1860 Munich, and he was top scorer of the2. Bundesliga in the 1981–82 season. He went on to play forWerder Bremen, where he was noted for his consistent goalscoring, becoming the top scorer of theBundesliga in the 1982–83 season. Völler moved abroad, firstly transferring toSerie A club Roma and then toLigue 1 clubOlympique Marseille. At Roma, he won theCoppa Italia and was runner-up of theUEFA Cup during the 1990–91 season; he was also top scorer of both these tournaments. At Marseille, he won the French title and theChampions League in the 1992–93 season, but following amatch fixing scandal, the club were stripped of their league title and were relegated in 1994. The same year, Völler returned to his native country, ending his career atBayer Leverkusen.
Völler made his debut for the Germany national team, then known as West Germany, in 1982. He represented his country at threeFIFA World Cups andUEFA European Championships each, during a successful period forDie Nationalmannschaft. Völler played in two consecutive World Cup finals, both of which were againstArgentina, and he won the trophy in1990. At the time of his retirement in 1994, he was Germany's second highest goalscorer behindGerd Müller; he is now joint-fourth withJürgen Klinsmann, having been surpassed byMiroslav Klose andLukas Podolski.
After retiring as a player with Bayer Leverkusen, he became thesporting director of the club until 2000, where he was the interim manager for twelve matches, before being succeeded byBerti Vogts. He was then appointed caretaker manager of the Germany national team, despite his lack of coaching experience. In the wake of the drug scandal that involved the preferred choice of theDFB,Christoph Daum, Völler was ultimately kept on, and was able to lead Germany to the2002 FIFA World Cup final, where they lost toBrazil. Along withMário Zagallo,Franz Beckenbauer andDidier Deschamps, Völler has the distinction of reaching a World Cup final as both a player (1986 and1990) and as a manager (2002). Following a group-stage exit atUEFA Euro 2004, Völler resigned as manager, after which he had a short-lived spell as manager of his former club Roma. He later returned to Leverkusen, where he was briefly interim manager again, and became the club's sporting director for the second time, a position he held until 2022.[3] In February 2023, he was appointed director of the Germany national team.[4]
Völler started his career with1860 Hanau, then played for second division sidesKickers Offenbach andTSV 1860 Munich, before joiningBundesliga clubWerder Bremen in 1982, winning his first cap for West Germany that same year. Following a successful season in which he was the Bundesliga's top scorer, foreign clubs became interested in the striker, and in 1987 he was transferred toRoma, where he became a mainstay of the team and earned the nickname"er tedesco" ("the German") and also"il tedesco volante" ("the flying German").[5] He won theCoppa Italia in1991 and was the club's top scorer on several occasions.
In 1992, Roma decided to sell Völler toMarseille, where he was intended as replacement for superstar strikerJean-Pierre Papin. That also allowed Roma to addClaudio Caniggia as its third foreigner to the squad, so both parties were happy to let the deal go through. There, he won his biggest club honour in a very successful first season, thanks to theUEFA Champions League won with Marseille againstAC Milan coached byFabio Capello, in1993 (1–0, goal scored byBasile Boli). Völler started the match, playing 78 minutes. Marseille was then caught in abribery scandal, however, and was stripped of its 1993 league title, and were relegated despite a second-place finish in 1994. Völler scored 24 league goals for the club but departed after its relegation. Returning to Germany, he joinedBayer Leverkusen in 1994, where he ended his career as a player in 1996 and started a career in the management of the club.
Völler was capped 90 times for theGermany national team, scoring 47 goals, including eight in World Cup final rounds.[6]
Völler also played at threeUEFA European Championships, starting withEuro 1984, where he scored twice in a group match againstRomania which the Germans won 2–1. A 90th minute defeat againstSpain in their next match, however, saw West Germany eliminated when all they needed was a draw.
At the1986 FIFA World Cup, Völler scored the West Germans' equalizer in a 2–1 win overScotland in the group stage. He bagged a last minute goal againstFrance in the semi-final to seal a 2–0 win and in thefinal itself his 80th-minute goal made it 2–2 againstArgentina. Germany had recovered from 2–0 down but eventually lost the match 3–2. Völler became the third player to score as a substitute in the World Cup final, afterDick Nanninga in 1978 andAlessandro Altobelli achieved this feat in 1982.
West Germany hosted theEuro 1988, and Völler scored twice in a 2–0 win over Spain but the hosts lost to eventual winners theNetherlands in the semi-final.
Völler was a member of the team that won the1990 World Cup in Italy. He scored three times in the tournament, including one goal in a 4–1 win overYugoslavia, and then found the net twice against theUnited Arab Emirates in a 5–1 win. During the second-round match against the Netherlands, Völler and Dutch playerFrank Rijkaard were sent off the field after the Dutchman spat on Völler twice.[7] In the semi-final againstEngland, Völler limped off injured in the first half and was replaced byKarl-Heinz Riedle.[8] However Völler recovered to start thefinal againstArgentina, which Germany won 1–0 to claim their 3rd World Cup title.
The unsavoury incident that took place during the second-round match with the Netherlands started when Rijkaard was booked for a bad tackle on Völler. As Rijkaard took up position for the free kick, he spat in Völler's hair. Völler complained to the referee and was booked as well. From the resulting free kick, a furious Völler then jumped up and punched the ball with his hand (although it looked like he had used his head) and then dived to avoid a collision with Dutch goalkeeperHans van Breukelen, although it also looked as if he had dived for a penalty. Van Breukelen was angry at this, but Rijkaard again confronted Völler by twisting his ear and stamping on his foot. The temperamental and tough Argentine refereeJuan Carlos Loustau finally had enough of Völler's and Rijkaard's antics and he sent both players off. Rijkaard then again spat in Völler's hair as they left the pitch and was rumoured to have repeated this on the touchline. Rijkaard later stated that it was his fault: "That day I was wrong. There was no insult. I always had much respect for Rudi Völler. But I went berserk when I saw that red card. I talked to him after the match and I apologized. I'm very happy that he accepted. I have no bad feeling about him now. We even posed for a very funny advert together, years after." (Rijkaard had family problems in this time).[7]
Völler was again selected for theEuro 1992 but was sent home when he suffered an injury in the opening game withCIS.
At the1994 World Cup, Völler was kept out of the starting line up for all three group games byJürgen Klinsmann andKarl-Heinz Riedle who scored five between them. He made just one sub appearance in the group stages. He did start the second round tie withBelgium and scored twice in a 3–2 win.
After a disappointingEuro 2000 forGermany under managerErich Ribbeck, theGerman Football Association (DFB) appointed Völler as new manager, accepting his lack of coaching qualifications at the time.[9] Initially, he only planned to take interimistic responsibility for one year,[9] following the decision byBayer 04 Leverkusen and Völler himself (as sporting director of the club) not to makeChristoph Daum step down from the national team before 2001. However, Völler extended his contract due to good results, after Daum became involved in a controversial drug scandal.[10] Despite losing toEngland5–1 at home and two disappointing draws againstFinland during qualification, he managed to lead the team to a surprising appearance in the final of the2002 World Cup against Brazil.
After a group-stage exit fromEuro 2004, he resigned from his post.[11] Following his resignation from the German national job, Völler briefly made a comeback at Roma in 2004 as manager. Hired in late August as a last-minute appointment after the shock resignation ofCesare Prandelli,[12] he left the club only one month later after a series of poor results and high-profile disagreements with players, notablyAntonio Cassano.[13] He only signed a one-year contract to allow a return of Prandelli the next year, but presided over only one draw and two defeats in the league.
Moving back to the support ranks at Bayer Leverkusen, Völler was namedcaretaker manager of Leverkusen on 16 September 2005 after the club sacked coachKlaus Augenthaler. Völler served in that role untilMichael Skibbe was named as the club's new permanent coach that October. After the arrival of Skibbe, Völler was promoted to become for the second time sports director at Leverkusen.
Völler was (and still is) very popular in Germany. Even when the national squad achieved only modest results, Völler never lost his popularity as the German public knew he was achieving as much as possible with a relatively limited squad. His predecessorBerti Vogts, by contrast, was widely criticised, even during periods of success with a far more talented German squad. The public even forgave Völler when – during a TV interview after a 0–0 draw againstIceland in September 2003 – he lost his temper and yelled at the presenter Waldemar Hartmann in order to defend his team against, what he thought was, unfair press statements.
On 1 February 2023, Völler became the director of the Germany national team.[14] On 10 September 2023, following the sacking ofHansi Flick,[15] Völler was named as interim manager of the national team for their friendly againstFrance,[16] which Germany won 2–1.[17]
He has two children from German ex wife Angela; one of them isMarco, a basketball executive and professional player.[18][19] Later on in 1995, he married a local woman fromRome during his stay in Italy, adopting her daughter from a previous relationship and having one more son with her.[20]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Kickers Offenbach | 1977–78 | 2. Bundesliga | 6 | 1 | — | — | — | 6 | 1 | |||
| 1978–79 | 2. Bundesliga | 29 | 11 | 1 | 2 | — | — | 30 | 13 | |||
| 1979–80 | 2. Bundesliga | 38 | 7 | 5 | 2 | — | — | 43 | 9 | |||
| Total | 73 | 19 | 6 | 4 | — | — | 79 | 23 | ||||
| 1860 Munich | 1980–81 | Bundesliga | 33 | 9 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 35 | 10 | ||
| 1981–82 | 2. Bundesliga | 37 | 37 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 39 | 39 | |||
| Total | 70 | 46 | 4 | 3 | — | — | 74 | 49 | ||||
| Werder Bremen | 1982–83 | Bundesliga | 31 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 8[b] | 11 | — | 40 | 36 | |
| 1983–84 | Bundesliga | 31 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 9[b] | 2 | — | 44 | 21 | ||
| 1984–85 | Bundesliga | 32 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 2[b] | 0 | — | 38 | 26 | ||
| 1985–86 | Bundesliga | 13 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 6[b] | 4 | — | 20 | 14 | ||
| 1986–87 | Bundesliga | 30 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | — | 32 | 22 | ||
| Total | 137 | 97 | 11 | 5 | 26 | 17 | — | 174 | 119 | |||
| Roma | 1987–88 | Serie A | 21 | 3 | 7 | 2 | — | — | 28 | 5 | ||
| 1988–89 | Serie A | 29 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 6[b] | 2 | 1[c] | 0 | 43 | 15 | |
| 1989–90 | Serie A | 32 | 14 | 6 | 2 | — | — | 38 | 16 | |||
| 1990–91 | Serie A | 30 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 12[b] | 10 | — | 52 | 25 | ||
| 1991–92 | Serie A | 30 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3[d] | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 36 | 7 | |
| Total | 142 | 45 | 32 | 11 | 22 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 198 | 68 | ||
| Marseille | 1992–93 | Division 1 | 33 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 8[f] | 2 | — | 44 | 22 | |
| 1993–94 | Division 1 | 25 | 6 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 6 | |||
| Total | 58 | 24 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 2 | — | 73 | 28 | |||
| Bayer Leverkusen | 1994–95 | Bundesliga | 30 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 34 | 16 | |
| 1995–96 | Bundesliga | 32 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 4[g] | 3 | — | 41 | 15 | ||
| Total | 62 | 26 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 3 | — | 75 | 31 | |||
| Career total | 542 | 257 | 66 | 27 | 63 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 673 | 318 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 1982 | 1 | 0 |
| 1983 | 10 | 7 | |
| 1984 | 10 | 4 | |
| 1985 | 8 | 4 | |
| 1986 | 10 | 7 | |
| 1987 | 6 | 3 | |
| 1988 | 10 | 4 | |
| 1989 | 5 | 3 | |
| 1990 | 13 | 8 | |
| 1991 | 6 | 2 | |
| 1992 | 6 | 2 | |
| 1993 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 5 | 3 | |
| Total | 90 | 47 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 March 1983 | Qemal Stafa Stadium,Tirana, Albania |  Albania | 1–0 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying |
| 2 | 7 September 1983 | Népstadion,Budapest, Hungary |  Hungary | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 3 | 5 October 1983 | Parkstadion,Gelsenkirchen, West Germany |  Austria | 2–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying |
| 4 | 3–0 | |||||
| 5 | 26 October 1983 | Olympic Stadium, West Berlin, West Germany |  Turkey | 1–0 | 5–1 | UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying |
| 6 | 3–0 | |||||
| 7 | 15 February 1984 | Spartak Stadium,Varna, Bulgaria |  Bulgaria | 2–0 | 3–2 | Friendly |
| 8 | 29 February 1984 | Heysel Stadium,Brussels, Belgium |  Belgium | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 9 | 28 March 1984 | Niedersachsenstadion,Hanover, West Germany |  Soviet Union | 1–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 10 | 17 June 1984 | Stade Félix-Bollaert,Lens, France |  Romania | 1–0 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 1984 |
| 11 | 2–1 | |||||
| 12 | 24 February 1985 | Estádio da Luz,Lisbon, Portugal |  Portugal | 2–0 | 2–1 | FIFA World Cup 1986 qualifying |
| 13 | 17 April 1985 | Rosenaustadion,Augsburg, West Germany | Bulgaria | 1–0 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 14 | 4–1 | |||||
| 15 | 25 September 1985 | Råsunda Stadium,Stockholm, Sweden |  Sweden | 1–0 | 2–2 | FIFA World Cup 1986 qualifying |
| 16 | 11 May 1986 | Ruhrstadion,Bochum, West Germany |  Yugoslavia | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 17 | 14 May 1986 | Westfalenstadion,Dortmund, West Germany |  Netherlands | 1–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 18 | 2–0 | |||||
| 19 | 8 June 1986 | Estadio La Corregidora,Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico |  Scotland | 1–1 | 2–1 | FIFA World Cup 1986 |
| 20 | 25 June 1986 | Estadio Jalisco,Guadalajara, Mexico |  France | 2–0 | 2–0 | FIFA World Cup 1986 |
| 21 | 29 June 1986 | Estadio Azteca,Mexico City, Mexico |  Argentina | 2–2 | 2–3 | FIFA World Cup 1986 |
| 22 | 29 October 1986 | Prater Stadium,Vienna, Austria | Austria | 1–1 | 1–4 | Friendly |
| 23 | 12 August 1987 | Olympic Stadium, West Berlin, West Germany | France | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 24 | 2–0 | |||||
| 25 | 23 September 1987 | Volksparkstadion,Hamburg, West Germany |  Denmark | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 26 | 17 June 1988 | Olympic Stadium,Munich, West Germany |  Spain | 1–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 1988 |
| 27 | 2–0 | |||||
| 28 | 31 August 1988 | Olympic Stadium,Helsinki, Finland |  Finland | 1–0 | 4–0 | FIFA World Cup 1990 qualifying |
| 29 | 2–0 | |||||
| 30 | 22 March 1989 | Vasil Levski National Stadium,Sofia, Bulgaria | Bulgaria | 1–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 31 | 4 October 1989 | Westfalenstadion,Dortmund, West Germany | Finland | 4–0 | 6–1 | FIFA World Cup 1990 qualifying |
| 32 | 15 November 1989 | Müngersdorfer Stadion,Cologne, West Germany |  Wales | 1–1 | 2–1 | FIFA World Cup 1990 qualifying |
| 33 | 25 April 1990 | Neckarstadion,Stuttgart, West Germany |  Uruguay | 2–1 | 3–3 | Friendly |
| 34 | 30 May 1990 | Parkstadion,Gelsenkirchen, West Germany | Denmark | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 35 | 10 June 1990 | Stadio Giuseppe Meazza,Milan, Italy | Yugoslavia | 4–1 | 4–1 | FIFA World Cup 1990 |
| 36 | 15 June 1990 | Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy |  United Arab Emirates | 1–0 | 5–1 | FIFA World Cup 1990 |
| 37 | 5–1 | |||||
| 38 | 10 October 1990 | Råsunda Stadium,Stockholm, Sweden | Sweden | 2–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 39 | 31 October 1990 | Stade Josy Barthel,Luxembourg City, Luxembourg |  Luxembourg | 3–0 | 3–2 | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 40 | 19 December 1990 | Neckarstadion,Stuttgart, Germany |  Switzerland | 1–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 41 | 16 October 1991 | Frankenstadion,Nuremberg, Germany | Wales | 2–0 | 4–1 | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 42 | 20 November 1991 | King Baudouin Stadium,Brussels, Belgium | Belgium | 1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 43 | 30 May 1992 | Parkstadion,Gelsenkirchen, Germany | Turkey | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 44 | 14 October 1992 | Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion,Dresden, Germany |  Mexico | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 45 | 8 June 1994 | Varsity Stadium,Toronto, Canada |  Canada | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 46 | 2 July 1994 | Soldier Field,Chicago, United States | Belgium | 1–0 | 3–2 | FIFA World Cup 1994 |
| 47 | 3–1 | 3–2 |
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | Ref. | |||
| Germany | 2 July 2000[9] | 24 June 2004[11] | 53 | 29 | 11 | 13 | 054.72 | [22] |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 21 October 2000[23] | 11 November 2000[23] | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 058.33 | [23] |
| Roma | 31 August 2004[12] | 27 September 2004[13] | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 016.67 | [24] |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 16 September 2005 | 9 October 2005 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 040.00 | [23] |
| Germany | 10 September 2023[15] | 22 September 2023 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | [17] |
| Total | 77 | 40 | 16 | 21 | 051.95 | — | ||
Roma
Marseille
Germany
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Germany
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| International | |
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| National | |
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| Other | |
