Andreas Hinkel

Andreas Hinkel

Hinkel playing for Celtic in 2009.
Personal information
Full nameAndreas Hinkel
Date of birth26 March 1982
Place of birthBacknang, West Germany
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing positionRight back
Youth career
1987–1992TSV Leutenbach
1992–1999VfB Stuttgart
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1999–2001VfB Stuttgart II31(0)
2000–2006VfB Stuttgart156(1)
2006–2008Sevilla15(0)
2008–2011Celtic79(1)
2011–2012SC Freiburg7(0)
Total282(2)
National team
2002–2003Germany U-218(0)
2002Germany Team 20061(0)
2003–2009Germany21(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Andreas Hinkel (born 26 March 1982 in Backnang, Baden-Württemberg) is a former German footballer. He played as a right back and has 21 caps for Germany. Hinkel was known for his attacking play on the flanks and defensive solidity.[1] He is now the manager of VfB Stuttgart Under-12 and Under-16 teams.

He started his career with Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart in 2000, before moving to La Liga club Sevilla in 2006. In January 2008, he signed for Scottish Premier League club Celtic for £1.9 million. He left Celtic and joined Bundesliga side Freiburg after his contract expired in summer 2011. He had spent the entire 2010–11 season out due to a cruciate ligament injury.

Hinkel played 21 matches for Germany between 2003 and 2009, and was in their squad for Euro 2004.

Club career

Stuttgart

After finishing second with Stuttgart in the 2002–03 season, and already established as first-choice, Hinkel took part in Champions League for the first time in his career. In March 2004, however, he suffered a knee ligament injury.

Sevilla

On 23 June 2006, Hinkel signed a four-year contract with Sevilla, where he won the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. The transfer fee was estimated to be around €4 million. However, he found himself unable to dislodge Sevilla's regular right-back Daniel Alves.[2]

Celtic

On 4 January 2008, Hinkel was confirmed as a Celtic player, for a fee of £1.9 million.[2] Hinkel played his first Celtic game in a 3–0 Scottish Cup win over Stirling Albion eight days later, and scored his first goal for Celtic a month later, in a 3–0 win over Hearts at Celtic Park.[3] Celtic won the SPL title on a dramatic last day of the season and earned Hinkel his first league title medal.

The following season, Hinkel won a Scottish League Cup winners medal after a 2–0 win over Rangers in the final.[4]

Hinkel played a vital part in Celtic's Champions League third qualifying round second-leg victory over Russian outfit Dinamo Moscow on 5 August 2009. The match ended 2–0 to the Hoops with Hinkel assisting Scott McDonald for the opener then hitting a long hopeful punt up the pitch which Georgios Samaras latched onto before netting a last-minute winner.[5] The German also cleared two goal-bound Dinamo strikes off the line. Hinkel was seen as an inherent and important part of the team and his performances were not put into question,[6] as shown by his 29 SPL matches.[7]

For the first match of the 2010–11 season on 14 August, Hinkel was dropped in favour of new signing Cha Du-Ri. The following week, he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury and was ruled out for nine months.[8] He resumed training the following January.[9] On 1 July 2011, Hinkel left Celtic after his contract expired.

SC Freiburg

On 6 October 2011, SC Freiburg signed Hinkel on a free transfer.

On 10 September 2012, Hinkel announced his immediate retirement.[10]

International career

Hinkel has represented Germany on 21 occasions at senior level, making his debut in 2003 against Serbia and Montenegro.[11] He was part of the German squad during Euro 2004 (having recovered from aforementioned knee injury), but missed the 2006 World Cup.[12] Hinkel's international involvement was kept to a minimum when at Sevilla due to lack of first-team football and the emergence of Philipp Lahm as first-choice right back ahead of him.[13] Hinkel was also not called up for Euro 2008[13] or the 2010 World Cup.[12]

Honours

Sevilla
Celtic

References

  1. ↑ Gwilliam, Aleix. "News: Andreas Hinkel Announces Retirement". http://bundesligafanatic.com. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Celtic sign Hinkel from Sevilla". BBC Sport. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "Celtic 3–0 Hearts". BBC Sport. 16 February 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  4. ↑ "Celtic 2–0 Rangers". BBC Sport. 15 March 2009. Archived from the original on 16 March 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
  5. ↑ Spiers, Graham (6 August 2009). "Last-gasp Georgios Samaras goal sends Celtic through in Champions League". Times Online. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  6. ↑ Devlin, Andy (21 July 2010). "Hinkel: Staying another year at Celtic could be a bad Korea move". The Scottish Sun. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  7. ↑ "Andreas Hinkel – Celtic Football Club" (in German). Andreas Hinkel's official website. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  8. ↑ "Andreas Hinkel injury rocks Celtic as German defender is sidelined for nine months". Mail Online. 19 August 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  9. ↑ "Andreas Hinkel's back in town". Celtic FC. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  10. ↑ "Ich freue mich auf meine neue Karriere" (in German). Andreas Hinkel's official website. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  11. ↑ "Andreas Hinkel". Deutscher Fußball-Bund. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Andreas Hinkel – FIFA competition record
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Players Info Hinkel". Deutscher Fußball-Bund. Retrieved 16 August 2011.

External links