Christian Wörns

Christian Wörns

Personal information
Date of birth	10 May 1972 (1972-05-10) (age 39)
Place of birth	Mannheim, West Germany
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Sweeper
Youth career
1980–1985	Phönix Mannheim
1985–1989	Waldhof Mannheim
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1989–1991	Waldhof Mannheim	52	(3)
1991–1998	Bayer Leverkusen	211	(13)
1998–1999	Paris Saint-Germain	28	(2)
1999–2008	Borussia Dortmund	240	(14)
National team
1990–1993	Germany U21	16	(1)
1992–2005	Germany	66	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

The title of this article contains the character ö. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Christian Woerns.

Christian Wörns (born 10 May 1972 in Mannheim) is a retired German footballer who played as a sweeper. Wörns was widely considered one of the finest German defenders of his generation and one of the best sweepers of his era. He started his career with Waldhof Mannheim but played the majority of his career with Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund. He also had a short stint with Paris SG.

Career

Club career

Wörns made his professional debut in the Bundesliga at the young age of 17 years, 3 months and 30 days for Waldhof Mannheim and at the time, was the fourth youngest debutant ever. He played 18 games in his first season and 34 the next in the 2. Bundesliga.

The next year, he transferred to Bayer Leverkusen. Wörns quickly established himself as a defensive stalwart and anchored the strong Leverkusen defense for nearly a decade, together with Jens Nowotny and Markus Happe.

In 1998 he moved abroad to Paris SG in France. He failed to settle in and after one season transferred to Borussia Dortmund. He continued to play at Borussia Dortmund until he retired in 2008.

International career

Wörns represented his country on 66 occasions and did not score.

• Euro 1996: after an injury hit season, Wörns fails to get nominated and misses being on the winning squad.
• World Cup 1998: Considered the best player on the German squad, Wörns played a stellar tournament until he fouled Davor Šuker in the 40th minute of the quarter-final match against Croatia to stop a possible breakaway run on goal following a lazy back pass by Lothar Matthaus. Though Wörns, realizing he's late, appeared to pull out of the tackle, contact was made with Šuker who fell theatrically, rolling several times on the ground. The German got a straight red card from Norwegian referee Rune Pedersen and three unanswered goals were scored against Germany after his sending off, making him the scapegoat for his country's 0-3 loss.
• World Cup 2002: Wörns injures himself at the last moment, nonetheless Germany reached the final.
• Euro Cup 2004: Despite his strong performances against Holland and Latvia, he could not prevent Germany from crashing out in the initial group stage.
• When manager Jürgen Klinsmann announced the 22 players for the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad, 34-year-old Wörns was only a backup squad member. This promped an outrageous interview by Wörns. Due to the fact that he verbally attacked Klinsmann during the interview, the German Football Association took disciplinary action against Wörns: he was banned from playing as an international. This was similar to what happened to Uli Stein (during the 1986 FIFA World Cup) and Stefan Effenberg (during the 1994 FIFA World Cup).

Career statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Germany			League		DFB-Pokal		Europe		Total
1989–90	Waldhof Mannheim	Bundesliga	18	0	0	0	0	0	18	0
1990–91		2. Bundesliga	24	3	0	0	0	0	24	3
1991–92	Bayer Leverkusen	Bundesliga	38	0	0	0	0	0	38	0
1992–93			34	2	0	0	0	0	34	2
1993–94			33	6	0	0	6	1	39	7
1994–95			19	1	0	0	5	0	24	1
1995–96			25	2	0	0	0	0	25	2
1996–97			33	1	0	0	0	0	33	1
1997–98			29	1	0	0	7	0	36	1
France			League		Coupe de France		Europe		Total
1998–99	Paris Saint-Germain	Ligue 1	28	2	0	0	1	0	29	2
Germany			League		DFB-Pokal		Europe		Total
1999–2000	Borussia Dortmund	Bundesliga	26	2	0	0	5	0	31	2
2000–01			23	2	0	0	0	0	23	2
2001–02			29	2	0	0	15	0	44	2
2002–03			30	0	0	0	10	0	40	0
2003–04			31	1	0	0	4	0	35	1
2004–05			29	1	0	0	0	0	29	1
2005–06			28	3	0	0	0	0	28	3
2006–07			24	2	0	0	0	0	24	2
2007–08			20	1	0	0	0	0	20	1
Total	France		28	2	0	0	1	0	29	2
	Germany		503	30	0	0	53	1	556	31
Career total			531	32	0	0	54	1	585	33

Honours

Bayer Leverkusen

• German Cup
  • Winner: 1992–93
• Bundesliga
  • Runners-up: 1996–97

Paris St-Germain FC

• Trophée des champions
  • Winner: 1998
• Coupe de la Ligue
  • Winner: 1998

Borussia Dortmund

• Bundesliga
  • Winner: 2001–02

Germany National Team

• Euro 1992
  • Runner-up: 1992

External links

• Leverkusen who's who

Persondata
Name	Worns, Christian
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 10, 1972
Place of birth	Mannheim, West Germany
Date of death
Place of death