Mehmet Scholl

Mehmet Scholl
Personal information
Date of birth	16 October 1970 (1970-10-16) (age 39)
Place of birth	Karlsruhe, Germany
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1989–1992 1992–2007	Karlsruher SC FC Bayern Munich Total	058 (11) 334 (87) 392 (98)
National team
1991–1992 1995–2002	Germany U-21 Germany	005 0(3) 036 0(8)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Mehmet Scholl (born Mehmet Yüksel on 16 October 1970) is a former German football player born to a German mother and a Turkish father. He finished his career after the 2006–07 Bundesliga season. Scholl played most of his career as an attacking midfielder for FC Bayern Munich. He is one of the most successful German players in recent history. During his career he won the UEFA Cup (1996), the Euro 1996, the UEFA Champions League (2001) as international titles as well as eight times the German Championships as national titles (all with Bayern Munich). The latter makes him record holder of most won German Championship titles in the German football league tied with his former teammate Oliver Kahn.

Club career

Scholl played for SV Nordwest Karlsruhe (from 1976 to 1982) and Karlsruher SC (from 1982 to 1992) before joining Bayern Munich in July 1992. He stayed at Bayern for the rest of his career, wearing the number 7 jersey. Scholl retired from professional football after the 2006–07 season. In 15 seasons at Bayern he has played in 468 competitive matches for Bayern, scoring 116 goals.

He was one of the Bundesliga's most successful players, winning the championship eight times. Aged 19, he made his Bundesliga debut on 21 April 1990, coming on for Karlsruher SC in the 78th minute of their away match against 1. FC Köln, and promptly scored his team's fifth goal in the 90th minute.^[1] He has scored 98 goals (11 for Karlsruhe, 87 for Bayern) in 392 Bundesliga matches (58 for Karlsruhe, 334 for Bayern). Scholl has been praised for his technical ability, his creative playmaking, his dribbling skills, and his free kicks. In early 2001, he was voted Player of the Year 2000 by the professional players of the First and Second Bundesliga, and in May 2005, fans voted him one of the eleven greatest Bayern players of all time.^[2]

National team

Scholl played 36 matches for the German national team between 1995 and 2002, scoring eight goals.^[3] He was part of Germany's winning team at Euro 96 where he played in the quarterfinal, semifinal, and final. In the 69th minute of the final when the Czech Republic was leading 1–0, he was subbed out for the then relatively unknown Oliver Bierhoff who went on to score the two goals that turned the match around for Germany, catapulting Bierhoff to national and international fame.^[4] Scholl also played in all three of Germany's games at Euro 2000, scoring Germany's only goal in the tournament.

Mehmet Scholl repeatedly suffered injuries throughout his career, preventing him from maintaining a regular spot on the national team and eventually prompting him to retire from the national team prior to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, making him one of Germany's most successful players never to have played in a World Cup. His frequent injuries also seem to have contributed to his often not playing for the full 90 minutes. He is, in fact, the most substituted player in Bayern Munich history. In 468 matches, he was subbed out 149 times and subbed in 147 times.

Among German football fans, Scholl was one of the most popular footballers because of his character and his unique skills. Before the 2006 World Cup Campaign, more than 100,000 people signed an online petition, "Mehmet für Deutschland",^[5] to persuade Jürgen Klinsmann to include Scholl in the German squad. Despite the public support, Scholl was not included.

Scholl was the subject of the 2007 career retrospective documentary film "Frei:Gespielt - Mehmet Scholl: Über das Spiel hinaus" by directors Ferdinand Neumayr and Eduard Augustin.

Career statistics

Honours

• FC Bayern Munich
  • Bundesliga (8): 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006
  • German Cup (5): 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006
  • German League Cup (5): 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004
  • UEFA Champions League (1): 2001
  • UEFA Cup (1): 1996
  • Intercontinental Cup (1): 2001

• Germany national football team
  • Euro 1996: Champions

Private life

Scholl was born in Karlsruhe, the first son of Ergin and Hella Yüksel, a Turkish father and a German mother. When he was five, his parents divorced, and his mother then married Hermann Scholl from whom Mehmet acquired his last name.

In May 2002 and October 2003, he released two successful mixtapes, featuring his favourite bands. The compilation's title "Mehmet Scholl kompiliert - Vor dem Spiel ist nach dem Spiel" is a reference to Sepp Herberger's famous expression "nach dem Spiel ist vor dem Spiel" ("after the game is before the game"). In an interview, Scholl said he chose this title because he listens to this music before the game, after the game, in the car on the way to the stadium, and in the car when leaving the stadium. The first volume includes songs by The Beta Band, Sportfreunde Stiller, Jimmy Eat World, and The Notwist (complete tracklist) among others. The second volume includes songs by Oasis, Wir sind Helden, and The Flaming Lips (complete tracklist) to name a few.

In 1993, Scholl married Susanne Pfannendörfer. Their son Lucas-Julian was born on 5 July 1996. Scholl and his wife separated just three months later, in October that same year. They are now divorced. His second wife Jessica gave birth to a girl named Polli in April 2006.

As a young player, Scholl was quoted with the words "hängt die Grünen, solange es noch Bäume gibt" ("hang the Greens while there still are trees"), seemingly expressing his dislike for the German Green Party. He was widely criticized for this quote because most people did not understand his point which was to point that in near future there might be no trees left, thereby giving his statement an ironic touch. Even though he made further ironic remarks in this interview ("One thing you'd never do?" "I'd never put a blind man at an advertising pillar and tell him that this is the wall he needs to walk down to get home."), some people did not get the jokes. However, he was sued by a Green politician for instigation to murder and eventually he donated 15,000 DM to charity. Afterwards, Scholl was asked by a journalist which party he would vote for, but he answered: "Of course, green, because I cannot let them down", which is a better pun in German ("Grün natürlich, ich kann sie ja nicht hängenlassen").^[6]

Scholl is officially without religious confession, but is an avid follower of Buddhist principles.^[6]

Since his retirement from football, he has taken up Kegeln, a sport in which he already excelled as a youth.^[7]

References

• "Scholl signs up for one more campaign". fcbayern.de (9 May 2006). Retrieved on 7 March 2008.
• "Seven up for serial champion Mehmet". fcbayern.de (2 May 2006). Retrieved on 7 March 2008.
• "Scholl hangs up international boots". BBC Sport (24 April 2002). Retrieved on 7 March 2006.
• Nick Bidwell (May 2001). "FC Hollywood's leading man". World Soccer 41 (8): 18. 
• "Scholl scoops award". BBC Sport (9 February 2001). Retrieved on 7 March 2006.
• "Mehmet Scholl und Martin Driller ganz vorne" (in German). kicker online (9 February 2001). Retrieved on 7 March 2006.

External links

• Player profile on the Bundesliga's official website
• Mehmet Scholl – International Appearances (RSSSF)

Germany squad – UEFA Euro 1996 Winners (3rd title) 1 Köpke • 2 Reuter • 3 Bode • 4 Freund • 5 Helmer • 6 Sammer • 7 Möller • 8 Scholl • 9 Bobic • 10 Häßler • 11 Kuntz • 12 Kahn • 13 Basler • 14 Babbel • 15 Kohler • 16 Schneider • 17 Ziege • 18 Klinsmann • 19 Strunz • 20 Bierhoff • 21 Eilts • 22 Reck • 23 Todt • Coach: Vogts

Germany squad – 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Lehmann • 2 Wörns • 3 Heinrich • 4 Linke • 5 Doğan • 6 Maul • 7 Scholl • 8 Wosz • 9 Marschall • 10 Matthäus • 11 Preetz • 12 Enke • 13 Neuville • 14 Baumann • 15 Ballack • 16 Schneider • 17 Gerber • 18 Ricken • 19 Heldt • 20 Rink • Coach: Ribbeck

Germany squad – UEFA Euro 2000 1 Kahn • 2 Babbel • 3 Rehmer • 4 Linke • 5 Bode • 6 Nowotny • 7 Scholl • 8 Häßler • 9 Kirsten • 10 Matthäus • 11 Rink • 12 Lehmann • 13 Ballack • 14 Hamann • 15 Wosz • 16 Jeremies • 17 Ziege • 18 Deisler • 19 Jancker • 20 Bierhoff • 21 Ramelow • 22 Butt • Coach: Ribbeck