Oliver Bierhoff

Oliver Bierhoff

Personal information
Date of birth	1 May 1968 (1968-05-01) (age 43)
Place of birth	Karlsruhe, West Germany
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1986–1988	Bayer Uerdingen	31	(4)
1988–1990	Hamburger SV	34	(6)
1990	Borussia Mönchengladbach	8	(0)
1990–1991	Austria Salzburg	32	(23)
1991–1995	Ascoli	117	(48)
1995–1998	Udinese	86	(57)
1998–2001	Milan	91	(38)
2001–2002	Monaco	18	(5)
2002–2003	Chievo Verona	26	(7)
Total		443	(188)
National team
1988–1990	West Germany U-21	10	(7)
1996–2002	Germany	70	(37)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Oliver Bierhoff (born 1 May 1968 in Karlsruhe) is a retired German former football striker, who scored the first golden goal in the history of major international football, for Germany in the Euro 96 final. He is mostly renowned for his excellent abilities as a target man being able to deliver pin-point headers towards goal.

Club career

The son of a German utility magnate, Bierhoff played for nine different clubs, in four different leagues. He scored a total of 103 goals in Serie A, one of the best totals for a non-Italian in the league's history. In the 1997–98 season, he was the Serie A top scorer with 27 goals for Udinese..

Bierhoff, however, was never a success in the Bundesliga. After failing to shine in Germany, he got his chance in the Austrian Bundesliga. That gave him the chance at Ascoli in Italy. But it was at Udinese, under Alberto Zaccheroni, that Bierhoff found success and won his place in fame and in the German national team. He then transferred to Milan in 1998, winning the Serie A title in his first season there. After 4 seasons there, he moved to French Ligue 1 side Monaco in 2001 for one year, before moving back to Serie A to play for Chievo Verona, where he retired at the end of the 2002-03 season. In his last ever game, he scored a hat-trick for Chievo Verona in a 3–4 defeat to Juventus.^[1]

International career

Bierhoff made his debut for the German national team in a friendly against Portugal on 21 February 1996. In his second appearance on 27 March 1996, he managed to score his first two international goals in his country's 2–0 win over Denmark. Altogether Bierhoff scored 37 goals in 70 caps, including both goals in the 2–1 win over the Czech Republic in the Euro 1996 final after having come on as a substitute.^[2]

In an important qualification match on 20 August 1997, Germany trailed Northern Ireland, 0–1, with 20 minutes left when the manager of the national team, Berti Vogts, decided to send in Thomas Häßler and Oliver Bierhoff. Within seven minutes the former provided the latter with three assists, which Bierhoff turned into three goals, scoring the fastest hat-trick in the history of the German national team.^[3]

Bierhoff also played in Euro 2000, and both the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. He made his last appearance for his country when he was brought on during the second half of the World Cup 2002 final against Brazil, but was unable to help the Germans score in the 0–2 loss.

Career statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Germany			League		DFB-Pokal		Premiere Ligapokal		Europe		Total
1986–87	Uerdingen	Bundesliga	19	3
1987–88			12	1
1988–89	Hamburger SV	Bundesliga	24	6
1989–90			10	0
1989–90	Borussia Mönchengladbach	Bundesliga	8	0
Austria			League		Austrian Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
1990–91	Austria Salzburg	Bundesliga	33	23
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		League Cup		Europe		Total
1991–92	Ascoli	Serie A	17	2
1992–93		Serie B	35	20
1993–94			32	17
1994–95			33	9
1995–96	Udinese	Serie A	31	17
1996–97			23	13
1997–98			32	27
1998–99	Milan	Serie A	34	20
1999–00			30	11
2000–01			27	6
2001–02			0	0
France			League		Coupe de France		Coupe de la Ligue		Europe		Total
2001–02	Monaco	Division 1	18	4
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		League Cup		Europe		Total
2002–03	ChievoVerona	Serie A	26	7
Total	Germany		73	10
	Austria		33	23
	Italy		320	149
	France		18	4
Career total			444	186

^[4]

Germany national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1996	11	6
1997	8	7
1998	17	8
1999	8	6
2000	8	3
2001	7	1
2002	11	6
Total	70	37

International goals list
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	27 March 1996	Olympic Stadium, Munich, Germany	Denmark	1–0	2–0	Friendly
2.	27 March 1996	Olympic Stadium, Munich, Germany	Denmark	2–0	2–0	Friendly
3.	4 June 1996	Carl-Benz-Stadion, Mannheim, Germany	Liechtenstein	3–0	9–1	Friendly
4.	30 June 1996	Wembley Stadium, London, England	Czech Republic	1–1	2–1 (a.e.t.)	UEFA Euro 1996
5.	30 June 1996	Wembley Stadium, London, England	Czech Republic	2–1	2–1 (a.e.t.)	UEFA Euro 1996
6.	4 September 1996	Ernest Pohl Stadium, Zabrze, Poland	Poland	1–0	2–0	Friendly
7.	30 April 1997	Weserstadion, Bremen, Germany	Ukraine	1–0	2–0	FIFA World Cup 1998 qualifying
8.	20 August 1997	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	1–1	3–1	FIFA World Cup 1998 qualifying
9.	20 August 1997	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	2–1	3–1	FIFA World Cup 1998 qualifying
10.	20 August 1997	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	3–1	3–1	FIFA World Cup 1998 qualifying
11.	11 October 1997	Niedersachsenstadion, Hanover, Germany	Albania	2–1	4–3	FIFA World Cup 1998 qualifying
12.	11 October 1997	Niedersachsenstadion, Hanover, Germany	Albania	4–3	4–3	FIFA World Cup 1998 qualifying
13.	15 November 1997	Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany	South Africa	2–0	3–0	Friendly
14.	30 May 1998	Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany	Colombia	1–0	3–1	Friendly
15.	30 May 1998	Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany	Colombia	2–0	3–1	Friendly
16.	5 June 1998	Carl-Benz-Stadion, Mannheim, Germany	Luxembourg	5–0	7–0	Friendly
17.	5 June 1998	Carl-Benz-Stadion, Mannheim, Germany	Luxembourg	6–0	7–0	Friendly
18.	21 June 1998	Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens, France	Yugoslavia	2–2	2–2	FIFA World Cup 1998
19.	25 June 1998	Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France	Iran	1–0	2–0	FIFA World Cup 1998
20.	29 June 1998	Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France	Mexico	2–1	2–1	FIFA World Cup 1998
21.	14 October 1998	Chişinău, Moldova	Moldova	3–1	3–1	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
22.	4 June 1999	BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany	Moldova	1–0	6–1	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
23.	4 June 1999	BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany	Moldova	4–0	6–1	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
24.	4 June 1999	BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany	Moldova	6–1	6–1	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
25.	4 September 1999	Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	1–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
26.	4 September 1999	Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	2–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
27.	8 September 1999	Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany	Northern Ireland	1–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
28.	3 June 2000	Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany	Czech Republic	2–1	3–2	Friendly
29.	3 June 2000	Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany	Czech Republic	3–2	3–2	Friendly
30.	7 June 2000	Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany	Liechtenstein	1–0	8–2	Friendly
31.	15 August 2001	Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	5–2	5–2	Friendly
32.	13 February 2002	Fritz Walter Stadion, Kaiserslautern, Germany	Israel	5–1	7–1	Friendly
33.	27 March 2002	Ostseestadion, Rostock, Germany	United States	3–1	4–2	Friendly
34.	9 May 2002	Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany	Kuwait	2–0	7–0	Friendly
35.	9 May 2002	Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany	Kuwait	4–0	7–0	Friendly
36.	9 May 2002	Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany	Kuwait	6–0	7–0	Friendly
37.	1 June 2002	Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan	Saudi Arabia	7–0	8–0	FIFA World Cup 2002

Managerial career

Bierhoff's current involvement with football is as the manager of the German men's national team, a new position created as part of Jürgen Klinsmann's acceptance of the coaching job. Essentially the duties revolve around the public relations aspect of the team as opposed to the coaching responsibilities.

Personal life

Bierhoff is married to Klara Szalantzy, a model from Munich and a former girlfriend of basketball player Drazen Petrovic. She gave birth to their daughter on 27 January 2007.

Honours

Milan

• Serie A: 1998–99

International

• UEFA European Football Championship: 1996

Individual

• Serie A Top Scorer: 1997–98
• German Footballer of the Year: 1998

References

1. ^ "Juventus 4–3 Chievo Verona". ESPN Soccernet. 24 May 2003. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=65770&cc=5739. Retrieved 23 December 2010. 
2. ^ Lawton, Matt (7 October 2000). "Bierhoff back for more glory". The Daily Telegraph (UK). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/international/4773162/Bierhoff-back-for-more-glory.html. Retrieved 23 December 2010. 
3. ^ "Key player – Oliver Bierhoff". BBC Sport. 3 May 1998. http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_80000/newsid_85600/85622.stm. Retrieved 20 May 2010. 
4. ^ "Oliver Bierhoff – Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/bierhoff-intl.html. Retrieved 23 December 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Bierhoff, Oliver
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1 May 1968
Place of birth	Karlsruhe, West Germany
Date of death
Place of death