Ulf Kirsten (; born 4 December 1965) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed Der Schwatte (dialect for Der Schwarze, 'The Black One'), he is the first player in history to reach a total 100 caps playing with two different national teams (first for East Germany, then Reunified Germany). Kirsten's biggest success was the victory of the 1992–93 DFB-Pokal.
Club career
Dynamo Dresden
Kirsten began playing football for local team BSG Chemie Riesa in 1972. He joined BSG Stahl Riesa in 1978 before joining the youth academy of Dynamo Dresden in 1979. Dynamo Dresden was a center of excellence () and the most prominent club in Bezirk Dresden. It was also the most successful club in East Germany at the time. Kirsten made his professional debut for Dynamo Dresden in the 1983–84 DDR-Oberliga season.
Kirsten played 154 matches and scored 57 goals for Dynamo Dresden in the DDR-Oberliga. He won the DDR-Oberliga with Dynamo Dresden in two consecutive seasons: 1988–88 and 1989–90. Kirsten became the Footballer of the Year in East Germany in 1990.
Kirsten had an unusual build: measuring only , but weighing . He therefore had an unusually low centre of gravity, which enabled him to protect the ball in the box against much bigger defenders and turn around quickly for close-range shots. His playing style was often compared to that of Gerd Müller. In addition, despite his small height, Kirsten was also a feared header.
Bayer Leverkusen
Kirsten was one of the first East German men's footballers to enter the Bundesliga after the German reunification. In the German Bundesliga he played 350 matches for Bayer 04 Leverkusen and scored 182 goals (ranked #7 in the Bundesliga all-time top scorer list). He established himself as one of the most dangerous strikers in the Bundesliga, but Bayer Leverkusen regularly ended as runner-up to either Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund. He stayed there until his retirement in 2003. He also played in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final, although his team lost to Real Madrid. In the 1999–2000 season, Kirsten won the EFFIFU award for being the most efficient striker in the league.
Off the pitch, Kirsten was famous for his strong beard growth, which earned him a sponsorship by Braun, who used him to advertise their electrical shavers.
International career
Kirsten's 100 caps are almost evenly split: 49 for East Germany and 51 for the re-unified Germany in a career which spanned 15 years from 1985 until 2000, with the reunified team being formed in late 1990.
Kirsten scored a total of 34 international goals, 14 of them for East Germany. His only major tournaments came late in his career; Kirsten played for his country at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups and Euro 2000.
Personal life Kirsten's son Benjamin is also a footballer and has played as a goalkeeper for Dynamo Dresden and NEC Nijmegen.
Along with several other teammates, Kirsten was allegedly implicated as an Stasi Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter (informant) under the codename "Knut Krüger" during his time at Dynamo Dresden through files recovered from the security service's archives after the fall of East Germany.
Nicknamed "Der Schwatte" by fans due to his southern European appearance and his swarthy hair, he and his son created a gin tonic brand with the same name in 2020. The term "schwatt" is a dialect expression in the Ruhr area and Rhineland for the colour black.
Career statistics
Club + Including only appearances and goals for Bayer LeverkusenClubSeasonLeagueDFB-PokalDFB-LigapokalEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBayer Leverkusen1990–91Bundesliga321122—52—39151991–92231211———24131992–93332073———40231993–94281231—451136191994–95271510—910—37251995–9629832—21—34111996–97292210———30221997–982722321192—40271998–993119222132—38241999–20002717002264—35232000–012912211143—36172001–0232115310144—52182002–03301010——50Career total350181311785563311446237
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsEast Germany198571198610219879419881001989114199053Total5214Germany1992301993621994431995411996101997751998165199951200053Total5120Career total10334
Ulf Kirsten's team's score listed first, score column indicates score after each Ulf Kirsten goal.
+ International goals by Ulf Kirsten Team Cap Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 13Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway1–01–0Friendly210Estádio 1º de Maio, Braga, Portugal2–03–1Friendly316Sportforum Chemnitz, Chemnitz, East Germany2–02–0UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying423Stadion der Freundschaft, Gera, East Germany2–02–0Friendly524Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, East Berlin, East Germany 1–01–1UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying625Ernst Grube Stadium, Magdeburg, East Germany1–03–1UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying73–1837Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt1–04–0Friendly93–01042Zentralstadion, Leipzig, East Germany1–11–11990 FIFA World Cup qualification1143Steigerwaldstadion, Erfurt, East Germany1–01–1Friendly1250Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, Berlin, Germany1–03–2Friendly132–0143–1154Ruhrstadion, Bochum, Germany1–16–1Friendly166Wildparkstadion, Karlsruhe, Germany4–05–0Friendly1710Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates1–02–0Friendly1811Arena Kombëtare, Tirana, Albania2–12–1UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying1912Republican Stadium, Chișinău, Moldova1–03–0UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying2017Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany3–14–1UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying2120Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain1–13–21998 FIFA World Cup qualification222–1233–12423Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany1–11–11998 FIFA World Cup qualification2524Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany4–04–01998 FIFA World Cup qualification2628Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart, Germany1–11–2Friendly2732Carl-Benz-Stadion, Mannheim, Germany1–07–0Friendly284–02940Republican Stadium, Chișinău, Moldova1–13–1UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying302–13144BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany2–06–1UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying3248Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern, Germany1–11–1Friendly3349Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany5–28–2Friendly347–2
Managerial statistics
TeamFromToRecordGWDLGFGAGDWin % Bayer Leverkusen II 1 July 2005 30 June 2011 Total
Honours Club Dynamo Dresden DDR-Oberliga: 1988–89, 1989–90 FDGB-Pokal: 1984–85, 1989–90
Bayer Leverkusen DFB-Pokal: 1992–93 UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2001–02
Individual East German Footballer of the Year: 1990 Bundesliga top scorer: 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98 European Cup Winners' Cup top scorer: 1993–94 UEFA Cup top scorer: 1994–95 kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 1996–97, 1998–99
See also List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
References
External links
Ulf Kirsten profile at Leverkusen.com