Karlheinz Riedle
Encyclopedia
Karl-Heinz "Air" Riedle (born 16 September 1965 in Weiler im Allgäu) is a former German
professional footballer
, who won the FIFA World Cup
with West Germany in 1990 and the UEFA Champions League
in 1997 with Borussia Dortmund
. Riedle ended his international career with 42 caps
and 16 goals.http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/riedle-intl.html
Riedle's youth clubs are TSV Ellhofen and SV Weiler. He started his senior career at FC Augsburg
. He then moved to SpVgg Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin in 1986, who had just been promoted to the Bundesliga
. However, the club finished last in that season
, but Riedle managed to earn the interest of his next club Werder Bremen. He played for the side, coached by Otto Rehhagel
, from 1987 to 1990. He scored 18 goals in 33 games in his first season and helped Bremen to win the Bundesliga title in that year. That season
, he made his debut for the West German national team as well. He was able to score against Finland
in his first international match. Furthermore, Riedle and Bremen appeared in two DFB-Pokal
finals (1989 & 1990), which they lost both.
In 1990, Riedle was a member of the West German side that won the World Cup
. That same year, he moved to Lazio
of the Italian
Serie A
for a transfer fee of 13 million Deutsche Mark. One of his most memorable matches during that time period was the Euro 1992 semi-final of Germany
against Sweden
, in which he scored 2 goals and helped Germany to reach the final against Denmark
.
Riedle returned to Germany in 1993 and joined Borussia Dortmund
. He helped Dortmund to win two Bundesliga titles in 1995
and 1996. In 1997, he scored two goals in the Champions League Final
to help upset Juventus
3–1.
In 1997, Riedle joined Liverpool
of the English
Premier League. Unable to secure a regular place in the lineup, he joined Fulham
in 1999. Riedle, along with his old Liverpool manager Roy Evans
, served as the caretaker manager
for the end of the 1999/2000
season after Paul Bracewell
had been fired in March, 2000. Riedle retired from football in 2001. He scored his last goal in a 2–0 win over Queens Park Rangers in a Division One match.
Due to his notable jumping and timing skills for headers, he got the nickname "Air Riedle".
Riedle's son, Alessandro
, is now a footballer, playing for Grasshopper
.
Werder Bremen
Borussia Dortmund
Country
Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
professional footballer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, who won the FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
with West Germany in 1990 and the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
in 1997 with Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...
. Riedle ended his international career with 42 caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
and 16 goals.http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/riedle-intl.html
Riedle's youth clubs are TSV Ellhofen and SV Weiler. He started his senior career at FC Augsburg
FC Augsburg
FC Augsburg is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. The team was founded as Fußball-Klub Alemania Augsburg in 1907 and played as BC Augsburg from 1921 to 1969....
. He then moved to SpVgg Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin in 1986, who had just been promoted to the Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
. However, the club finished last in that season
Fußball-Bundesliga 1986/87
Waldhof Mannheim played their matches in nearby Ludwigshafen because their own ground did not fulfil Bundesliga requirements.-League table:-Relegation/Promotion play-off:...
, but Riedle managed to earn the interest of his next club Werder Bremen. He played for the side, coached by Otto Rehhagel
Otto Rehhagel
Otto Rehhagel is a German football coach and former football player. Along with Helmut Schön, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Udo Lattek and Hennes Weisweiler, he is considered one of the most successful German managers....
, from 1987 to 1990. He scored 18 goals in 33 games in his first season and helped Bremen to win the Bundesliga title in that year. That season
Fußball-Bundesliga 1987/88
Waldhof Mannheim played their matches in nearby Ludwigshafen because their own ground did not fulfil Bundesliga requirements.-League table:-Relegation/Promotion play-off:...
, he made his debut for the West German national team as well. He was able to score against Finland
Finland national football team
The Finland national football team represents Finland in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland....
in his first international match. Furthermore, Riedle and Bremen appeared in two DFB-Pokal
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal or DFB Cup is a German knockout football cup competition held annually. 64 teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga. It is considered the second most important national title in German football after the Bundesliga...
finals (1989 & 1990), which they lost both.
In 1990, Riedle was a member of the West German side that won the World Cup
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...
. That same year, he moved to Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
of the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
for a transfer fee of 13 million Deutsche Mark. One of his most memorable matches during that time period was the Euro 1992 semi-final of Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
against Sweden
Sweden national football team
The Swedish national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for Football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Råsunda Stadium in Stockholms län and their head coach is Erik Hamrén. Sweden made their first...
, in which he scored 2 goals and helped Germany to reach the final against Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
.
Riedle returned to Germany in 1993 and joined Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...
. He helped Dortmund to win two Bundesliga titles in 1995
Fußball-Bundesliga 1994/95
1860 Munich played four high risk home matches at Olympiastadion.-League table:-Top goalscorers:20 goals Mario Basler Heiko Herrlich 17 goals Toni Polster ...
and 1996. In 1997, he scored two goals in the Champions League Final
1997 UEFA Champions League Final
The 1997 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match won 3-1 by Borussia Dortmund of Germany against Juventus from Italy.-Venue, date and colours:The event took place at the Olympiastadion in Munich on 28 May 1997....
to help upset Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
3–1.
In 1997, Riedle joined Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
of the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Premier League. Unable to secure a regular place in the lineup, he joined Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
in 1999. Riedle, along with his old Liverpool manager Roy Evans
Roy Evans
Roy Evans CBE was a Liverpool football player who eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become team manager.-Career:...
, served as the caretaker manager
Caretaker manager
In association football, a caretaker manager is someone who takes temporary charge of the management of a football club, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caretaker may also be appointed if the regular manager is ill or unable to attend to his...
for the end of the 1999/2000
1999-2000 in English football
-Premier League:Manchester United were crowned FA Premier League champions with an 18-point margin over runners-up Arsenal and with just 3 league defeats all season. This was despite their failure to retain the European Cup and withdrawal from the FA Cup in order to compete in the FIFA Club World...
season after Paul Bracewell
Paul Bracewell
Paul Bracewell , in Heswall, Merseyside), but was brought up in Newport, Shropshire, is an English former international footballer who played as a midfielder, although his career was hampered by injuries as the years went by.-Career:...
had been fired in March, 2000. Riedle retired from football in 2001. He scored his last goal in a 2–0 win over Queens Park Rangers in a Division One match.
Due to his notable jumping and timing skills for headers, he got the nickname "Air Riedle".
Riedle's son, Alessandro
Alessandro Riedle
Alessandro Riedle is a German footballer who plays as a striker for Swiss club AC Bellinzona.-Career:...
, is now a footballer, playing for Grasshopper
Grasshopper-Club Zürich
Grasshopper Club Zürich commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshopper is a Swiss multisports club based in Zürich. The oldest and best known section of Grasshopper Club Zürich is its football team...
.
Honours
ClubWerder Bremen
SV Werder Bremen
SV Werder Bremen is a German sports club best known for its association football team playing in Bremen, in the northwest German federal state of the same name. The club was founded on 4 February 1899 as Fußballverein Werder by a group of sixteen vocational high school students who had won a prize...
- German BundesligaFußball-BundesligaThe Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
Champion: 1988 - DFB-PokalDFB-PokalThe DFB-Pokal or DFB Cup is a German knockout football cup competition held annually. 64 teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga. It is considered the second most important national title in German football after the Bundesliga...
Runner-up: 1989, 1990 - DFL-Supercup Winner: 1988
Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...
- German BundesligaFußball-BundesligaThe Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
Champion: 1995, 1996 - DFL-Supercup Winner: 1995, 1996
- UEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
Winner: 1997
Country
Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
- FIFA World CupFIFA World CupThe FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
Winner: 1990 - European ChampionshipUEFA European Football ChampionshipThe UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...
Runner-up: 1992 - OlympicFootball at the 1988 Summer OlympicsFinal results for the football competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics. The tournament was held from September 17, 1988 to October 1, 1988.-Medal summary:...
Bronze Medalist: 1988