Stefan Effenberg

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Personal information
Stefan Effenberg
Full name	Stefan Effenberg
Date of birth	August 2, 1968
Place of birth	Hamburg, Germany
Height	188 cm
Nickname	Effe
Position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	retired
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1987-1990 1990-1992 1992-1994 1994-1998 1998-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004	Borussia Mönchengladbach Bayern Munich AC Fiorentina Borussia Mönchengladbach Bayern Munich VfL Wolfsburg Al Arabi	73 (10) 65 (19) 56 (12) 118 (23) 95 (16) 19 (3)
National team**
1991-1998	Germany	35 (5)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of June 4, 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of June 4, 2006.

Stefan Effenberg (born August 2, 1968 in Hamburg, West Germany) is a former German soccer player. He was an all-round player and leader, possessing great vision, tackling and a hard shot.

On the club level, Effenberg played for Borussia Mönchengladbach (1987-90 and 1994-98), Bayern Munich (1990-92 and 1998-2002), AC Fiorentina (1992-94), and VfL Wolfsburg (2002-03). He finished his career playing in Qatar.

Effenberg compiled 35 caps and scored three goals for the German national team. He was the captain of Bayern Munich when they won the UEFA Champions League in 2001, his elegant and seemingly lazy style of play will always be his mark in football. That season, he won the UEFA Champions League Most Valuable Player. What he will be remembered most for, however, is showing the finger to the whistling crowd during a 1994 FIFA World Cup match versus South Korea. Due to this rude gesture coach Berti Vogts and the DFB sacked Effenberg and he had to leave the national squad right after the match. Even today performing this gesture is often called in Germany "showing / doing the Effenberg".

In the late 1990s Effenberg was rarely out of the tabloids when he left his wife Martina and pinched Claudia, who at that time was the wife of former team mate Thomas Strunz. Later Effenberg published a controversial autobiography, notorious for its blatant contents and the poor language it was written in. Claudia Strunz and Effenberg were married in 2004.

Preceded by: Fernando Redondo	UEFA Champions League Most Valuable Player 2000-01	Succeeded by: Zinedine Zidane

	Germany squad - 1994 World Cup Quarter-finalists
1 Illgner \| 2 Strunz \| 3 Brehme \| 4 Kohler \| 5 Helmer \| 6 Buchwald \| 7 Möller \| 8 Häßler \| 9 Riedle \| 10 Matthäus \| 11 Kuntz \| 12 Köpke \| 13 Völler \| 14 Berthold \| 15 Gaudino \| 16 Sammer \| 17 Wagner \| 18 Klinsmann \| 19 Kirsten \| 20 Effenberg \| 21 Basler \| 22 Kahn \| Coach: Vogts