- Lars Ricken
Football player infobox
playername = Lars Ricken
fullname = Lars Ricken
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1976|7|10
cityofbirth =Dortmund
countryofbirth =Germany
currentclub = Retired
clubnumber =
position =Midfielder
years = 1993-2008
2002-2008
clubs =Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund II
caps(goals) = 301 (49)
36 (8)
nationalyears = 1997-2002
nationalteam = Germany
nationalcaps(goals) = 16 (1)
pcupdate =July 4 ,2008
ntupdate =July 4 ,2008 Lars Ricken (born
July 10 ,1976 inDortmund ) is a former professional German footballer. He playedmidfielder forBorussia Dortmund during his entire professional career.Ricken joined
German Bundesliga sideBorussia Dortmund at an early age, and debuted with the seniors onMarch 8 ,1994 , in a 1-2 home defeat againstVfB Stuttgart . From the following season onwards, he became a regular, scoring a memorable long distance goal in the1997 UEFA Champions League Final againstJuventus Turin . That goal made Ricken the youngest and fastest player ever to score in a Champions League final, after just 16 seconds on the field as a substitute. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZl9hDm_OfM Ricken 1997 Champions League final goal] de icon]In the following years, Ricken's success was tampered by a series of injuries. An international since
September 10 ,1997 , in a World Cup qualifier against Armenia, he missed two chances to play in big international tournaments, the1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000. Later, he restored his form, helping Dortmund to claim the league title in 2002, and being selected by national coachRudi Völler for the German squad at the 2002 World Cup. Ricken did not play in the tournament, as Germany emerged runners-up.Ricken's injury woes returned after the World Cup. As a consequence, he failed to earn recognition at either european or international level since. In early April 2007, he was demoted to the reserve team by then-Dortmund coach
Thomas Doll , due to substandard performance. On November, Ricken announced to retire from football.In an attempt to return to football, he briefly attended a training camp in February 2008 with the
Columbus Crew of the MLS, but returned to Germany and Dortmund in a few days.On
June 11 ,2008 , Borussia Dortmund sport directorMichael Zorc , also a club former footballer, announced that Ricken was to be hired as youth coordinator, with immediate effect.References
External links
* [http://www.fussballdaten.de/spieler/rickenlars/ Bundesliga statistics] de icon
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