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Ulf Kirsten

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Ulf Kirsten
Kirsten in 2019
Personal information
Date of birth (1965-12-04) 4 December 1965 (age 58)
Place of birth Riesa, East Germany
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1972–1978 BSG Chemie Riesa
1978–1979 BSG Stahl Riesa
1979–1983 Dynamo Dresden
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1990 Dynamo Dresden 154 (57)
1990–2003 Bayer Leverkusen 350 (181)
Total 504 (238)
International career
1984–1986 East Germany U21 10 (4)
1985–1990 East Germany 49 (14)
1990–2000 Germany 51 (20)
Managerial career
2003–2005 Bayer Leverkusen (assistant)
2005–2011 Bayer Leverkusen II
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ulf Kirsten (born 4 December 1965) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker.[1] Nicknamed Der Schwatte (dialect for Der Schwarze, 'The Black One'), he is the first player in history to reach a total 100 caps playing with two different national teams (first for East Germany, then Reunified Germany). Kirsten's biggest success was the victory of the 1992–93 DFB-Pokal.

Club career

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Dynamo Dresden

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Kirsten began playing football for local team BSG Chemie Riesa in 1972. He joined BSG Stahl Riesa in 1978 before joining the youth academy of Dynamo Dresden in 1979. Dynamo Dresden was a center of excellence (German: Leistungszentrum) and the most prominent club in Bezirk Dresden. It was also the most successful club in East Germany at the time. Kirsten made his professional debut for Dynamo Dresden in the 1983–84 DDR-Oberliga season.

Kirsten played 154 matches and scored 57 goals for Dynamo Dresden in the DDR-Oberliga. He won the DDR-Oberliga with Dynamo Dresden in two consecutive seasons: 1988–88 and 1989–90. Kirsten became the Footballer of the Year in East Germany in 1990.

Kirsten had an unusual build: measuring only 172 cm (5'8"), but weighing 81 kg (179 lbs). He therefore had an unusually low centre of gravity, which enabled him to protect the ball in the box against much bigger defenders and turn around quickly for close-range shots. His playing style was often compared to that of Gerd Müller. In addition, despite his small height, Kirsten was also a feared header.

Bayer Leverkusen

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Kirsten in 1997

Kirsten was one of the first East German men's footballers to enter the Bundesliga after the German reunification. In the German Bundesliga he played 350 matches for Bayer 04 Leverkusen and scored 182 goals (ranked #7 in the all-time top scorer list). He established himself as one of the most dangerous strikers in the Bundesliga, but Bayer Leverkusen regularly ended as runner-up to either Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund. He stayed there until his retirement in 2003. He also played in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final, although his team lost to Real Madrid. In the 1999–2000 season, Kirsten won the EFFIFU award for being the most efficient striker in the league.

Off the pitch, Kirsten was famous for his strong beard growth, which earned him a sponsorship by Braun, who used him to advertise their electrical shavers.

International career

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East Germany squad photo from 1986 – Kirsten is seated third from left in the front row

Kirsten's 100 caps are almost evenly split: 49 for East Germany and 51 for the re-unified Germany in a career which spanned 15 years from 1985 until 2000, with the reunified team being formed in late 1990.[2]

Kirsten scored a total of 34 international goals, 14 of them for East Germany. His only major tournaments came late in his career; Kirsten played for his country at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups and Euro 2000.

Personal life

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Kirsten's son Benjamin is also a footballer and has played as a goalkeeper for Dynamo Dresden and NEC Nijmegen.[3]

Along with several other teammates, Kirsten was allegedly implicated as an Stasi informant during his time at Dynamo Dresden through files recovered from the security service's archives after the fall of East Germany.[4][5]

Career statistics

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Club

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Including only appearances and goals for Bayer Leverkusen
Club Season League DFB-Pokal DFB-Ligapokal Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bayer Leverkusen 1990–91 Bundesliga 32 11 2 2 — 5[a] 2 — 39 15
1991–92 23 12 1 1 — — — 24 13
1992–93 33 20 7 3 — — — 40 23
1993–94 28 12 3 1 — 4[b] 5 1[c] 1 36 19
1994–95 27 15 1 0 — 9[a] 10 — 37 25
1995–96 29 8 3 2 — 2[d] 1 — 34 11
1996–97 29 22 1 0 — — — 30 22
1997–98 27 22 3 2 1 1 9[e] 2 — 40 27
1998–99 31 19 2 2 2 1 3[a] 2 — 38 24
1999–2000 27 17 0 0 2 2 6[e] 4 — 35 23
2000–01 29 12 2 1 1 1 4 3 — 36 17
2001–02 32 11 5 3 1 0 14[e] 4 — 52 18
2002–03 3 0 1 0 1 0 — — 5 0
Career total 350 181 31 17 8 5 56 33 1 1 446 237
  1. ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in European Cup Winners' Cup
  3. ^ Appearance in DFB-Supercup
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup
  5. ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

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International goals for East Germany

Score and results list East Germany's goal tally first.[6]
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 19 February 1986 Estádio 1º de Maio, Braga, Portugal  Portugal
2–0
3–1
 Friendly
2. 29 October 1986 Ernst-Thälmann-Stadion, Karl-Marx-Stadt, East Germany  Iceland
2–0
2–0
 UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
3. 23 September 1987 Stadion der Freundschaft, Gera, East Germany  Tunisia
2–0
2–0
 Friendly
4. 10 October 1987 Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, East Berlin, East Germany  Soviet Union
1–0
1–1
 UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
5. 28 October 1987 Ernst-Grube-Stadion, Magdeburg, East Germany  Norway
1–0
3–1
6.
3–1
7. 13 February 1989 Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt  Egypt
1–0
4–0
 Friendly
8.
3–0
9. 20 May 1989 Zentralstadion, Leipzig, East Germany  Austria
1–1
1–1
 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifying
10. 23 August 1989 Georgij-Dimitroff-Stadion, Erfurt, East Germany  Bulgaria
1–0
1–1
 Friendly
11. 28 March 1990 Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, East Berlin, East Germany  United States
1–0
3–2
12.
2–0
13.
3–1

International goals for Germany

Score and results list Germany's goal tally first.[7]
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 14 April 1993 Ruhrstadion, Bochum, Germany  Ghana
1–1
6–1
 Friendly
2. 13 October 1993 Wildparkstadion, Karlsruhe, Germany  Uruguay
4–0
5–0
3. 27 April 1994 Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates  United Arab Emirates
1–0
2–0
4. 16 November 1994 Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania  Albania
2–1
2–1
 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
5. 14 December 1994 Stadionul Republican, Chişinău, Moldova  Moldova
1–0
3–0
6. 6 September 1995 Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany  Georgia
3–1
4–1
7. 2 April 1997 Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain  Albania
1–1
3–2
 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying
8.
2–1
9.
3–1
10. 6 September 1997 Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany  Portugal
1–1
1–1
11. 10 September 1997 Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany  Armenia
4–0
4–0
12. 25 March 1998 Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart, Germany  Brazil
1–1
1–2
 Friendly
13. 5 June 1998 Carl-Benz-Stadion, Mannheim, Germany  Luxembourg
1–0
7–0
14.
4–0
15. 14 October 1998 Stadionul Republican, Chişinău, Moldova  Moldova
1–1
3–1
 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
16.
2–1
17. 4 June 1999 BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany
2–0
6–1
18. 26 April 2000 Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern, Germany   Switzerland
1–1
1–1
 Friendly
19. 7 June 2000 Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany  Liechtenstein
4–2
8–2
20.
6–2

Managerial statistics

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As of 25 May 2012
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Bayer Leverkusen II 1 July 2005 30 June 2011 209 72 50 87 292 313 −21 034.45
Total 209 72 50 87 292 313 −21 034.45

Honours

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Club

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Dynamo Dresden

Bayer Leverkusen

Individual

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Kirsten, Ulf" (in German). kicker.de. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  2. ^ "Ulf Kirsten – International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Kirsten vor 3. Liga-Debüt" (in German). kicker.de. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  4. ^ "Mielkes Rächer unbestraft - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). 16 November 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  5. ^ McDougall, Alan, ed. (2014), "Football and the Stasi", The People's Game: Football, State and Society in East Germany, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 123–146, doi:10.1017/CBO9781107280311.007, ISBN 978-1-107-05203-1, retrieved 23 February 2023
  6. ^ "Ulf Kirsten (Player)". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Ulf Kirsten (Player)". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Bundesliga Historie 1996/97" (in German). kicker.
  9. ^ "Bundesliga Historie 1998/99" (in German). kicker.
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