Ulf Kirsten

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.

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

Club career

Dynamo Dresden

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. The playing style was often compared to that of Gerd Müller. In addition, despite his small height, Kirsten was also a feared header.

Bayer Leverkusen

 

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

 

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

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

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

Career statistics

Club

Including only appearances and goals for Bayer Leverkusen

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bayer Leverkusen	1990–91	Bundesliga	32	11	2	2	5	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	5	36^1	19^1
	1994–95		27	15	1	0	9	10	37	25
	1995–96		29	8	3	2	2	1	34	11
	1996–97		29	22	1	0	—		30	22
	1997–98		27	22	3	2	9	2	40^2	27^2
	1998–99		31	19	2	2	3	2	38^3	24^3
	1999–2000		27	17	—		6	4	35^4	23^4
	2000–01		29	12	2	1	4	3	36^5	17^5
	2001–02		32	11	5	3	14	4	52^6	18
	2002–03		3	0	1	0	—		5^7	0
Total			350	181	31	17	56	33	446	237

• ¹ Including 1 match and 1 goal in 1993 DFB-Supercup.
• ² Including 1 match and 1 goal in 1997 DFB-Ligapokal.
• ³ Including 2 matches and 1 goal in 1998 DFB-Ligapokal.
• ⁴ Including 2 matches and 2 goals in 1999 DFB-Ligapokal.
• ⁵ Including 1 match and 1 goal in 2000 DFB-Ligapokal.
• ⁶ Including 1 match in 2001 DFB-Ligapokal.
• ⁷ Including 1 match in 2002 DFB-Ligapokal.

International

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

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

Club

Dynamo Dresden

• DDR-Oberliga (2): 1988–89, 1989–90
• FDGB-Pokal (2): 1984–85, 1989–90

Bayer Leverkusen

• DFB-Pokal: 1992–93
• UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2001–02

Individual

• East German Footballer of the Year (1): 1989–90
• Bundesliga top scorer (3): 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup top scorer (1): 1993–94
• UEFA Cup top scorer (1): 1994–95
• kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season (2): 1996–97, 1998–99^[8][9]

See also

• List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps

References

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.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ulf Kirsten.

• Ulf Kirsten at fussballdaten.de (in German)
• Ulf Kirsten profile at Leverkusen.com (in German)