Ulf Kirsten

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (September 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Ulf Kirsten

Kirsten in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Ulf Kirsten
Date of birth	(1965-12-04) 4 December 1965 (age 55)
Place of birth	Riesa, East Germany
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 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)
National team
1984–1986	East Germany U21	10	(4)
1985–1990	East Germany	49	(14)
1990–2000	Germany	51	(20)
Teams managed
2003–2005	Bayer Leverkusen (assistant)
2005–2011	Bayer Leverkusen II
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Ulf Kirsten (born 4 December 1965) is a German former professional footballer and manager, 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[]

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 theefore 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 was one of the first East German 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. 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[]

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]

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	361	191
	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	402	272
	1998–99		31	19	2	2	3	2	383	243
	1999–2000		27	17	—		6	4	354	234
	2000–01		29	12	2	1	4	3	365	175
	2001–02		32	11	5	3	14	4	526	18
	2002–03		3	0	1	0	—		57	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.

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

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^[4][5]

See also[]

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

References[]

External links[]

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