Stefan Effenberg assets

Short introduction

Stefan Effenberg was one of the most dazzling personalities of German football during his active football years in the 90s. The gifted midfielder not only drew attention to himself during his active career through sporting achievements on the soccer field, but also through minor and major scandals along the line, thus developing a reputation as an “enfant terrible” in German soccer.

Early life

Effenberg grew up in simple circumstances with two sisters and one brother in Hamburg-Niendorf. His father was a bricklayer and the family lived in a working-class area. Stefan Effenberg was able to free himself from this milieu through football and later immerse himself in the world of glamor and jet sets. The young Stefan started playing football at the age of four. His youth career was rather unremarkable. He first played at SC Victoria Hamburg, then moved to Bramfelder SV, before returning to Victoria Hamburg as a junior. Until then, he had hardly noticed any sighting tournaments. He was then discovered by Wolf Werner, Jupp Heynckes’ assistant coach, who brought Effenberg to Borussia Mönchengladbach when he was 18. “Effe” then played his first Bundesliga game for Borussia in November 1987 and received a professional contract. Before that, he had completed a professional apprenticeship at Swiss Post.

Career

Effenberg initially played for Borussia for two years and was then brought to Bayern in 1990 by Jupp Heynckes, who meanwhile coached Bayern Munich. This first guest appearance in Munich (a second, much more successful one should start in 1998) was not crowned with any great success, so Effenberg left Germany in 1992, quite frustrated, to play for AC Florence in the Italian league. After Florence had to dismount, Effenberg first returned to Mönchengladbach in 1994. During this time he achieved his first major sporting triumph when he won the Borussia Cup after winning 3-0 over VfL Wolfsburg for the first time. In the meantime, the Bavarians became aware of Effenberg again and so he moved again from Mönchengladbach to Säbener Straße in 1998.

Career highlights

Now followed the most successful years of sport for the “Tiger”, as it is now called. As team captain, he led FCB to the German Championship three times in a row from 1999 to 2001. Bayern 2000 also won the German Football Cup, which was Effenberg’s second success in this competition. He reached the crown of his career in 2001 when Bayern Munich won the Champions League and Effe saved Valencia in the final against Valencia by compensating for extra time and ultimately success on penalties. In addition, he also won the World Cup with Bayern and secured the only success on a global level.

In the German national soccer team, things weren’t going so well for the eccentric midfielder. He played 35 caps until 1994 and was then sent home and kicked out of the national team during the World Cup in the United States when he turned his middle finger against some German fans as an obscene gesture. During the heyday of his career, he made a short but unsuccessful comeback in the national jersey.

After his time at Bayern Munich, Effenberg ended his active football time in the dress of VfL Wolfsburg and in Qatar. He then took the coaching certificate, but his coaching career was far less successful than the active time. In the 2015/2016 season he trained the second division club Paderborn with little success. In 2019 he took over a manager position in Uerdingen.

Famous quotes

Effenberg repeatedly attracted attention during his career with spectacular actions off the soccer field. His rage about unemployed was legendary, culminating in the quote “I would keep the support to a minimum” and received a lot of public criticism. Effenberg’s problem was that he often reacted too impulsively and rarely said anything in interviews. So he said about himself, “I have a damn big problem: I’m always honest.” Effenberg also made a name for itself with a few scandals. He slapped a disco visitor and insulted a police officer at a traffic control. When he was caught in another traffic control with 1.07 per thousand alcohol, he said to his own apology only “Everyone has ever driven with 1.07 per thousand.”

Success tips

Effenberg made the rise from the proletarian environment into the glamor and glamor world of professional football. For him, success was always his eccentric but sometimes also hurtful nature. So he was not only a well-known and celebrated football player, but at the same time always a stimulating figure that people were simply interested in. His 115 yellow cards during his Bundesliga season are proof that Effenberg always struggled with the last stake and that he was well placed to achieve his goals. Cheffe Effe gave his account with professional football and the illusory world around the black and white ball with his biography, which appeared under the title “I showed it to everyone”.