Lars Ricken
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
| Lars Ricken | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lars Ricken | |
| Date of birth | July 10, 1976 | |
| Place of birth | Dortmund, Germany | |
| Height | 178 cm | |
| Playing position | Right Midfield | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Borussia Dortmund | |
| Number | 18 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1993-2007 | Borussia Dortmund | 288 (49) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1997-2002 | Germany | 16 (1) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Lars Ricken (born July 10, 1976 in Dortmund) is a professional German football (soccer) player. He has been playing for Borussia Dortmund for his entire professional career.
Lars Ricken started his career in Borussia Dortmund, playing regularly during mid-1990s. Through a series of exciting performances, he became a local star in Dortmund and a teen idol throughout Germany. Ricken scored a memorable long distance goal in the Champions League final against Juventus Turin, momentarily propelling him to fame. The goal made Ricken the youngest & the fastest player ever to score in a Champions League final, just 16 seconds on the field as a substitute.
In the following years, Ricken's success was hampered by a series of injuries. He missed two chances to play in big international tournaments, the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000. Later, Ricken restored his form, helping Dortmund to claim the Bundesliga title in 2002. He was selected by Rudi Völler for the German team for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The team progressed to the final, only to lose 2-0 to Brazil. Ricken did not play in the tournament.
Ricken's injury woes returned after the 2002 World Cup. As a consequence, he has failed to earn recognition at either european or international level since. In early April 2007 he was demoted to the reserve team by BVB coach Doll due to substandard performance.
Ricken lives in Herdecke, near Dortmund.
At November 2007, Ricken announced to retire from football. In an attempt to return to football, he briefly attended a training camp in February 2008 with the Columbus Crew of the MLS, but returned to Germany after a few days. Columbus coach Sigi Schmid said, “It was a mutual decision. We determined he probably wasn’t the right fit for us and we weren’t the right fit for him.” Healthy.and.Home.
|
|||||||
|
|||||
