Fredi Bobic

Fredi Bobic

Bobič at Stuttgart.
Personal information
Full name	Fredi Bobič
Date of birth	(1971-10-30) 30 October 1971
Place of birth	Maribor, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	VfB Stuttgart (director of sport)
Youth career
1979–1980	VfR Bad Cannstatt
1980–1986	VfB Stuttgart
1986–1990	Stuttgarter Kickers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1990–1992	TSF Ditzingen	62	(32)
1992–1994	Stuttgarter Kickers	62	(26)
1994–1999	VfB Stuttgart	148	(69)
1999–2002	Borussia Dortmund	56	(17)
2002	→ Bolton Wanderers (loan)	15	(4)
2002–2003	Hannover 96	27	(14)
2003–2005	Hertha BSC Berlin	54	(8)
2006	NK Rijeka	8	(2)
Total		353	(182)
National team
1994–2004	Germany	37	(10)
Teams managed
2009–2010	Chernomorets Burgas (managing director)
2010–	VfB Stuttgart (director of sport)
Honours VfB Stuttgart Winner DFB-Pokal 1997 Runner-up DFB Liga-Pokal 1997 Runner-up UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1998 Runner-up DFB Liga-Pokal 1998 NK Rijeka Winner Croatian Cup 2006  Germany Winner European Championship 1996
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Fredi Bobic (Slovene: Fredi Bobič) (born 30 October 1971 in Maribor, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a former German football player of Slovene and Croatian descent. He works as board representative for sport for Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart.

Career

Fredi Bobic was born in Maribor, SFR Yugoslavia, to a Slovene father and a Croatian mother. A few months after his birth his parents emigrated with him to Germany and settled down first in Ditzingen, then in Stuttgart. There, he started playing football at VfR Bad Cannstatt but soon switched to the youth team of VfB Stuttgart. While in Stuttgart, he also acquired German citizenship. Bobic reached his prime in the mid-1990s at VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. In his first Bundesliga season (1994–95), he scored a goal in each of his first five games, so he became a candidate for the German national football team after only a few appearances in the first German league. In 1996, he was the Bundesliga's top scorer with 17 goals.^[1] At Stuttgart, he formed part of a successful attacking line-up, along with strike partner Giovane Élber and attacking midfielder Krassimir Balakov, known as the "magic triangle". After four years in Stuttgart, in 1999 he signed with Borussia Dortmund and was the club's top scorer in both 1999–2000 and 2000–01. However, after the signings of Jan Koller and Marcio Amoroso in the summer of 2001, he soon fell out of favor and played only three games in the first half of 2001–02 season. Subsequently, he was loaned to the Premiership side Bolton Wanderers, where he had a successful spell, playing a key role in keeping Bolton in the Premiership. His hat-trick in the 4–1 win against Ipswich at the Reebok Stadium^[2] ensured Bolton stayed up, and remains the last Bolton hat-trick in a competitive game. He scored once more for Bolton, in a 3–2 victory over Aston Villa.^[3] After returning from England he was signed by newly promoted Bundesliga side Hannover 96 where he reestablished himself as one of the league's top scorers, netting 14 times in 27 games. In 2003 he was signed by Hertha BSC, where he played for two seasons, scoring 8 goals in 54 games. He last played for Croatian outfit NK Rijeka before retiring in June 2006, at the end of the 2005–06 season.

He has won 37 caps (10 goals)^[4] for Germany and was part of the UEFA Euro 1996 winning squad. He also played at UEFA Euro 2004, having returned to the national team in 2002 after a four-year absence.

Coaching career

Bobic signed a contract as a managing director of Bulgarian Chernomorets Burgas on 25 March 2009 and worked in the club with his former teammate Krassimir Balakov.

On 27 July 2010, he became new director of sport of VfB Stuttgart.^[5] On 20 January 2012 Bobic extended his contract with VfB Stuttgart until June 2016.^[6] Bobic took on the role as board representative for sport of the club on 10 April 2013.^[7]

Career statistics

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	23 August 1995	King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	2–1	2–1	Friendly
2.	9 October 1996	Hrazdan Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia	Armenia	4–0	5–1	1998 World Cup qualifying
3.	20 November 2002	Arena Auf Schalke, Gelsenkirchen, Germany	Netherlands	1–1	1–3	Friendly
4.	12 February 2003	Estadio Son Moix, Mallorca, Spain	Spain	1–1	1–3	Friendly
5.	1 June 2003	Volkswagen-Arena, Wolfsburg, Germany	Canada	3–1	4–1	Friendly
6.	7 June 2003	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Scotland	1–0	1–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
7.	11 June 2003	Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
8.	10 September 2003	Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany	Scotland	1–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
9.	11 October 2003	Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany	Iceland	2–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
10.	27 May 2004	Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany	Malta	7–0	7–0	Friendly

Honours

• UEFA European Championship: 1996
• DFB-Pokal: 1996–97
• Croatian Cup: 2005–06
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Runner-up 1998

References

External links

• Official website
• Fredi Bobic at fussballdaten.de (German)

Germany Squad v t e 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 (c) 19 Strunz 20 Bierhoff 21 Eilts 22 Reck 23 Todt Coach: Vogts v t e Germany squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 Kahn (c) 2 Hinkel 3 Friedrich 4 Wörns 5 Nowotny 6 Baumann 7 Schweinsteiger 8 Hamann 9 Bobic 10 Kurányi 11 Klose 12 Lehmann 13 Ballack 14 Brdarić 15 Kehl 16 Jeremies 17 Ziege 18 Ernst 19 Schneider 20 Podolski 21 Lahm 22 Frings 23 Hildebrand Coach: Völler