Michael Schulz

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Michael Schulz

Schulz playing for a Borussia Dortmund veterans team
Personal information
Date of birth (1961-09-03) September 3, 1961
Place of birthWitten, West Germany
Height1.94 m (6 ft 4 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionCentral Defender
Youth career
1967–1972TuS Nettlingen
1972–1980TuS Sulingen
1980–1984TuS Syke
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1984–1987VfB Oldenburg
1987–19891. FC Kaiserslautern51(3)
1989–1994Borussia Dortmund133(4)
1994–1997Werder Bremen59(1)
National team
1988West Germany Olympic7(0)
1992–1993Germany7(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Michael Schulz (born September 3, 1961 in Witten) is a retired German soccer player. He played 243 matches in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen and 1. FC Kaiserslautern and scored eight goals.

Schulz played centre-back and had the reputation of being one of the hardest defenders in the Bundesliga. He collected 48 yellow and 2 red cards. He was a great crowd favourite in Bremen, his fans regularly chanting "Schuuuuuuuuuulz" whenever he had the ball.[citation needed] Fellow Bremen player Christian Schulz, who bears no relationship to him, is regularly celebrated like this because of him. In Paninis World Championship collector's cards edition 1994 he is described as "an anchor as header, strong in duels, feared for his wide throw-ins. The Charles Bronson type of guy overdoes toughness."

He played seven times for the German national team from 1992 to 1993. He also competed for West Germany at the 1988 Summer Olympics.[1]

He works as a player agent at the Hamburg based sport management agency Extratime. He's additionally in the field for several German TV channels and since August 2009 also as a field reporter for Deutsche Telekom's football channel Liga total.

Honours

  • 1988 Olympics bronze.
  • UEFA Euro 1992 runner-up.
  • UEFA Cup finalist: 1993.
  • Bundesliga runner-up: 1992 (Borussia Dortmund), 1995 (Werder Bremen).

Curse of Michael Schulz

Although Schulz was one of the best defenders of his generation, top titles eluded him. The special sting in his case was the fact that each team he played for was highly successful after he was transferred away, leading to speculation he was cursed.

  • 1. FC Kaiserslautern (1987–1989): in this period, FCK was a scrub team which constantly flirted with relegation. After Schulz was shipped away, FCK won the German Cup in 1990 and the German Championship in 1991.
  • Borussia Dortmund (1990–1994): BVB was a midfield team when Schulz was there. But then, Schulz feuded with Matthias Sammer and was sent away, just before BVB won two German Championships in 1995 and 1996 and the UEFA Champions League in 1997.
  • Werder Bremen (1995–1997): Schulz joined Bremen just after Werder had won two German Championships and the German Cup. During his period, Werder suffered a drought and won nothing. However, in 1999, Werder won the German Cup again.

In a 1997 issue of the German soccer magazine kicker, published when Schulz announced his retirement, he was asked in the column Mal ehrlich (Now, seriously), whether Bremen, now that Schulz was stopping, would finally win something. He answered, "This is a sure-fire tip! I'd bet on it anytime", acknowledging the existence of his jinx.

References

  1. ↑ "Michael Schulz Biography and Statistics". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
West Germany football squad – 1988 Summer Olympics – Bronze Medalists
West Germany
Germany squad – UEFA Euro 1992 Runners-up
Germany
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