Oliver Bierhoff
Encyclopedia
Oliver Bierhoff is a retired German former football striker
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

, who scored the first golden goal
Golden goal
The golden goal is a method used in association football, field hockey, ice hockey and korfball to decide the winner of games in elimination matches which end in a draw after the end of regulation time. It is a type of sudden death. Golden goal rules allow the team that scores the first goal during...

 in the history of major international football, for 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....

 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
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...

, 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
Capocannoniere
The Capocannoniere is the name given to the highest goalscorer in Italian football. The Serie A title is currently held by Antonio Di Natale.-SERIE A:...

 with 27 goals for Udinese..

Bierhoff, however, was never a success in 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...

. After failing to shine in Germany, he got his chance in the Austrian Bundesliga. That gave him the chance at Ascoli
Ascoli Calcio 1898
Ascoli Calcio 1898 is an Italian football club based in Ascoli Piceno, Marche. The club was formed in 1898 and currently plays in Italian Serie B, having returned to it after two seasons spent in Serie A...

 in Italy
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...

. 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
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

 in 1998, winning the Serie A title in his first season there. After 4 seasons there, he moved to French Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

 side Monaco
AS Monaco FC
Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club are a French football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. The club was founded in 1924 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. The team plays its home matches at the Stade Louis II located within Fontvieille...

 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.

International career

Bierhoff made his debut for the German national team
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....

 in a friendly against Portugal
Portugal national football team
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...

 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
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...

. Altogether Bierhoff scored 37 goals in 70 caps, including both goals in the 2–1 win over the Czech Republic
Czech Republic national football team
The Czech Republic national football team represents the Czech Republic in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic, the governing body for football in the Czech Republic. Their current head coach is Michal Bílek...

 in the Euro 1996 final after having come on as a substitute.

In an important qualification match
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
-Qualified teams:The following 32 teams qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup: - qualified automatically as hosts - qualified automatically as defending champions-Notes:...

 on 20 August 1997, Germany trailed Northern Ireland, 0–1, with 20 minutes left when the manager of the national team, Berti Vogts
Berti Vogts
Hans-Hubert "Berti" Vogts is a German former footballer. He played for Borussia Mönchengladbach and won the World Cup with West Germany in 1974. He later managed Germany , Scotland and Nigeria...

, decided to send in Thomas Häßler
Thomas Häßler
Thomas Jürgen "Icke" Häßler is a former German football midfielder and is currently a coach for 1. FC Köln. He was formerly a coach for the Nigeria national team....

 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
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...

 in the history of the German national team.

Bierhoff also played in Euro 2000, and both the 1998
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...

 and 2002
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...

 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...

s. 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
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...

, but was unable to help the Germans score in the 0–2 loss.

Career statistics

|-
|1986–87||rowspan="2"|Uerdingen
KFC Uerdingen 05
KFC Uerdingen 05 is a German association football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The one time Bundesliga side enjoyed its greatest successes in the 1980s, but most recently has been part of fifth and sixth tier competition.-History:The club was...

||rowspan="2"|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...

||19||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|1987–88||12||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1988–89||rowspan="2"|Hamburger SV
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...

||rowspan="2"|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...

||24||6||||||||||||||||
|-
|1989–90||10||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1989–90||Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach is a German association football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. The team plays in the Bundesliga and is one of the country's most well-known, well-supported, and successful teams. Borussia Mönchengladbach has over 40,000 members and is the sixth...

||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...

||8||0||||||||||||||||

|-
|1990–91||Austria Salzburg||Bundesliga||33||23||||||||||||||||

|-
|1991–92||rowspan="4"|Ascoli
Ascoli Calcio 1898
Ascoli Calcio 1898 is an Italian football club based in Ascoli Piceno, Marche. The club was formed in 1898 and currently plays in Italian Serie B, having returned to it after two seasons spent in Serie A...

||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...

||17||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1992–93||rowspan="3"|Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

||35||20||||||||||||||||
|-
|1993–94
Serie B 1993-94
This article contains information on the 1993-1994 season of Serie B, the second highest football league in Italy.-Final classification:-Results:...

||32||17||||||||||||||||
|-
|1994–95||33||9||||||||||||||||
|-
|1995–96||rowspan="3"|Udinese
Udinese Calcio
Udinese Calcio is an Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and currently plays in the Serie A. Founded in 1896, Udinese is the second oldest club in the Serie A, after Genoa....

||rowspan="3"|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...

||31||17||||||||||||||||
|-
|1996–97||23||13||||||||||||||||
|-
|1997–98||32||27||||||||||||||||
|-
|1998–99||rowspan="4"|Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

||rowspan="4"|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...

||34||20||||||||||||||||
|-
|1999–00||30||11||||||||||||||||
|-
|2000–01||27||6||||||||||||||||
|-
|2001–02||0||0||||||||||||||||

|-
|2001–02||Monaco
AS Monaco FC
Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club are a French football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. The club was founded in 1924 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. The team plays its home matches at the Stade Louis II located within Fontvieille...

||Division 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

||18||4||||||||||||||||

|-
|2002–03||ChievoVerona
A.C. ChievoVerona
Associazione Calcio Chievo Verona is a professional Italian football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburb of 2,800 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and owned by Paluani, a cake company and the inspiration for their original name, Paluani Chievo...

||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...

||26||7||||||||||||||||
73||10||||||||||||||||
33||23||||||||||||||||
320||149||||||||||||||||
18||4||||||||||||||||
444||186||||||||||||||||
|-
|1996||11||6
|-
|1997||8||7
|-
|1998||17||8
|-
|1999||8||6
|-
|2000||8||3
|-
|2001||7||1
|-
|2002||11||6
|-
!Total||70||37
|}

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
Jürgen Klinsmann
Jürgen Klinsmann is a German football manager and former player who is currently the coach of the United States Men's National Team. As a player, Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe and was part of the West German team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the German one that...

's acceptance of the coaching job. Essentially the duties revolve around the public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....

 aspect of the team as opposed to the coaching responsibilities.

Personal life

Bierhoff is married to Klara Szalantzy, a model from Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 and a former girlfriend of basketball player Drazen Petrovic
Dražen Petrovic
Dražen Petrović was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he initially achieved success playing professional basketball in Europe in the 1980s before joining the American NBA in 1989...

. She gave birth to their daughter on 27 January 2007.

Individual

  • Serie A Top Scorer: 1997–98
  • German Footballer of the Year
    German Footballer of the Year
    The title Footballer of the Year has been awarded in Germany since 1960. In 1996 the title Women's Footballer of the Year was awarded for the first time. Both awards are determined by a poll of German football journalists from the Association of German Sports Journalists and the publication Kicker...

    : 1998
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