Oliver Bierhoff (born 1 May 1968) is a German football official and former professional player who played as a striker. He last served as the technical director of the Germany national team. During his playing career, he was a tall, strong and prolific goalscorer and was known for his abilities in the air and as a target man, while also being able to deliver pin-point headers towards goal.
Bierhoff spent his early career playing for Bayer Uerdingen, Hamburger SV and Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga where he had modest success. After a season in the Austrian Bundesliga for Austria Salzburg, he was signed by Ascoli of the Italian Serie A. The club was relegated in his first season and Bierhoff played three seasons with them in the Serie B. He was subsequently signed by an Udinese team led by Alberto Zaccheroni in 1995 where he had great success and earned his first call-up to the Germany national team. He scored the first golden goal in the history of major international football for Germany in the Euro 96 final, a career-defining performance that vaulted him into the international limelight. He finished the 1997–98 season as Serie A's top-scorer. He was subsequently signed by AC Milan in 1998, winning the Serie A title in his first season with the club and setting a Serie A record for most headed goals in a single season, with 15. After three years at the club, Bierhoff had brief stints at Monaco and Chievo before retiring from playing in 2003.
Club career The son of a German utility magnate, Bierhoff played for nine different clubs, in four different countries. He scored a total of 102 goals in Serie A, one of the highest totals for a non-Italian in the league's history. In the 1997–98 season, he was the Serie A top scorer with 27 goals for Udinese.
Bierhoff, however, was never a success in the Bundesliga. After failing to shine in Germany, he got his chance in the Austrian Bundesliga. That gave him the chance at Ascoli in Italy. But it was at Udinese, under Alberto Zaccheroni, that Bierhoff found success and won his place in fame and in the Germany national team. He then transferred to AC Milan in 1998, winning the Serie A title in his first season with the club, scoring 19 goals in the league and 21 in all competitions, including the match-winning goal in the final, title-deciding match of the season, a 2–1 away win over Perugia. During the 1998–99 season, he set a Serie A record for most headed goals in a single season, with 15. After three seasons there, he moved to Ligue 1 side Monaco in 2001 for one year, before moving back to Serie A to play for ChievoVerona, where he retired at the end of the 2002–03 season. In his last game, he scored a hat-trick for Chievo in a 3–4 defeat to Juventus.
International career
Bierhoff debuted for the Germany national team in a friendly against Portugal on 21 February 1996. In his second appearance on 27 March 1996, he scored his first two international goals in his country's 2–0 win over Denmark. Bierhoff was not initially going to be selected by coach Berti Vogts for Germany's UEFA Euro 1996, but Vogts's wife convinced him to take Bierhoff, saying, "he'll repay you." Bierhoff would come on as a substitute in the final against the Czech Republic with Germany 1–0 down, and scored both the equaliser and the golden goal in extra time to win the tournament.
In an important qualification match on 20 August 1997, Germany trailed Northern Ireland, 0–1, with 20 minutes left when the manager of the national team, Berti Vogts, sent in Thomas Häßler and Oliver Bierhoff. Within seven minutes the former provided Bierhoff with three assists, meaning Bierhoff had scored the fastest hat-trick in the history of the Germany national team.
In 1998, he was appointed captain of the national team after the retirement of Jürgen Klinsmann.
Bierhoff also played in Euro 2000, and both the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups. In Germany's opening match of the 2002 tournament at the Sapporo Dome on 1 June, he scored in an 8–0 win over Saudi Arabia. He made his last appearance for his country on 30 June, when he was brought on during the second half of the 2002 FIFA World Cup final against Brazil, but was unable to help the Germans score in the 0–2 loss.
Style of play A large and prolific striker, Bierhoff was an aggressive player who played mainly as a target forward. Although he was not particularly technical, or a strong ball-player, he possessed good movement inside the box as well as strong hold-up play. He was known in particular for his excellent aerial ability; in addition to his height, strength, and elevation, he was able to execute headers with power and precision, having scored several critical goals with his head throughout his career for both club and country, which led him to be regarded as one of the best in the world at headers and as a specialist in the air. In addition to scoring goals, Bierhoff was also capable of providing assists to his teammates with his head through knock-downs. Although he was less adept at scoring with his feet, he also possessed a powerful shot.
Administrative career Bierhoff was the "team manager" (officially Teammanager der Nationalmannschaft) of the Germany national football team from 2004 until December 2017, a new position created as part of Jürgen Klinsmann's acceptance of the coaching job. Essentially the duties revolve around the public relations aspect of the team as opposed to coaching responsibilities. On 1 January 2018, a structural reform in the German Football Association took place and Bierhoff was named the technical director of the Germany national team (officially Direktor Nationalmannschaften und Akademie, "director national teams and football development"). After another early World Cup exit in 2022, Bierhoff had his contract terminated by the DFB, which was supposed to run until 2024.
Personal life On 22 June 2001, Bierhoff married Klara Szalantzy, a Munich-born-and-bred German former model of Hungarian ancestry who had formerly dated basketball player Dražen Petrović and was behind the wheel in the fatal June 1993 car crash on Bundesautobahn 9 (A9) near the town of Denkendorf that claimed Petrović's life. Bierhoff and Szalantzy had a daughter on 27 January 2007. He is a Roman Catholic.
Bierhoff features in EA Sports' FIFA video game series; he features in the FIFA 14 Ultimate-Team Legends.
He is a member of the AC Milan Hall of Fame.
Bierhoff was one of several celebrities in 2015 who endorsed the tabloid newspaper Bilds petition against far right group PEGIDA.
Education Bierhoff took a correspondence course and graduated in 2002 with a degree in business economics from the University of Hagen.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBayer Uerdingen1986–87Bundesliga19344—42—2791987–88Bundesliga12110———131Total31454—42—4010Hamburger SV1988–89Bundesliga24631———2771989–90Bundesliga10010———110Total34641———387Borussia Mönchengladbach1989–90Bundesliga80————80Austria Salzburg1990–91Austrian Bundesliga332333———3626Ascoli1991–92Serie A17220———1921992–93Serie B352021———37211993–94Serie B321720———34171994–95Serie B33910———349Total1174871———12449Udinese1995–96Serie A311721———33181996–97Serie A231310———24131997–98Serie A322732—42—3931Total865763—42—9662AC Milan1998–99Serie A341932———37211999–2000Serie A301131—621040142000–01Serie A27651—102—429Total9136114—1641011944Monaco2001–02Division 11844132——257Chievo2002–03Serie A26720—20—307Career total44418542173226810516212
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsGermany199611619978719981781999862000832001712002116Total7037
Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bierhoff goal
+ List of international goals scored by Oliver BierhoffNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 27 March 1996 Olympic Stadium, Munich, Germany 1–0 2–0 Friendly2 2–03 4 June 1996 Carl-Benz-Stadion, Mannheim, Germany 3–0 9–1 Friendly4 30 June 1996 Wembley Stadium, London, England 1–1 2–1 (a.e.t.) UEFA Euro 19965 2–1 6 4 September 1996 Górnik Stadium, Zabrze, Poland 1–0 2–0 Friendly7 30 April 1997 Weserstadion, Bremen, Germany 1–0 2–0 FIFA World Cup 1998 qualifying8 20 August 1997 Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland 1–1 3–1 FIFA World Cup 1998 qualifying9 2–1 10 3–1 11 11 October 1997 Niedersachsenstadion, Hanover, Germany 2–1 4–3 FIFA World Cup 1998 qualifying12 4–3 13 15 November 1997 Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany 2–0 3–0 Friendly14 30 May 1998 Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany 1–0 3–1 Friendly15 2–0 16 5 June 1998 Carl-Benz-Stadion, Mannheim, Germany 5–0 7–0 Friendly17 6–018 21 June 1998 Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens, France 2–2 2–2 FIFA World Cup 199819 25 June 1998 Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France 1–0 2–0 FIFA World Cup 199820 29 June 1998 Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France 2–1 2–1 FIFA World Cup 199821 14 October 1998 Stadionul Republican, Chişinău, Moldova 3–1 3–1 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying22 4 June 1999 BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany 1–0 6–1 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying23 4–024 6–125 4 September 1999 Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland 1–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying26 2–027 8 September 1999 Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany 1–0 4–0 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying28 3 June 2000 Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany 2–1 3–2 Friendly29 3–2 30 7 June 2000 Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany 1–0 8–2 Friendly31 15 August 2001 Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary 5–2 5–2 Friendly32 13 February 2002 Fritz Walter Stadion, Kaiserslautern, Germany 5–1 7–1 Friendly33 27 March 2002 Ostseestadion, Rostock, Germany 3–1 4–2 Friendly34 9 May 2002 Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany 2–0 7–0 Friendly35 4–036 6–037 1 June 2002 Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan 7–0 8–0 FIFA World Cup 2002
Honours Ascoli Anglo-Italian Cup runner-up: 1994–95
AC Milan Serie A: 1998–99
Germany UEFA European Football Championship: 1996 FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2002
Individual Serie A top scorer: 1997–98 Serie B top scorer: 1992–93 Goal of the Year (Germany): 1996 Footballer of the Year (Germany): 1998 FIFA XI (reserve): 1998FIFA XI´s Matches - Full Info AC Milan Hall of Fame
Orders Silbernes Lorbeerblatt: 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
References
External links
Oliver Bierhoff at history-of-soccer.org Retrieved 30 June 2013