Jürgen Kohler

Club

Kohler enjoyed a lengthy career at the highest level with exactly 500 top flight league matches, playing primarily as a centre back in the German Bundesliga, and in the Italian Serie A, achieving notable success both at domestic and international level with FC Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus. Kohler's professional career began at Waldhof Mannheim, where he made his Bundesliga debut as a substitute against 1. FC Kaiserslautern in April 1984. His first professional goal came in a 5–2 defeat of FC Schalke 04 on 26 January 1985. A two-year spell at 1. FC Köln preceded a transfer to Bayern Munich, with the Bavarian club winning the Bundesliga championship in his first season at the club. In 1991, Kohler transferred to Italian club Juventus. After being named Serie A's best foreign player for 1992, he went on to be part of the team that won the 1992–93 UEFA Cup against Borussia Dortmund, as well as a league and cup double in the 1994–95 season. Returning to Germany to play for Dortmund in 1995, Kohler won another league championship in 1996 and helped the club to the 1997 UEFA Champions League Final. In a reversal of Kohler's previous continental final victory, Dortmund defeated his former club Juventus to become European Champions for the first time. As a result of this success, Kohler was named Footballer of the Year (Germany) for 1997. In the 2001–02 season, the last of his career, Kohler won his third Bundesliga title with Dortmund and reached the…

Regarded by pundits as one of the best defenders of his generation (even being dubbed the best stopper in the world by Maurizio Crosetti e Licia Granello of La Repubblica in 1992), Kohler was a complete and physically strong centre-back, who was famed for his defensive perception, anticipation, quick reactions, and marking, as well as his tactical sense; he was also known for his prowess in the air, courtesy of his height, timing, heading accuracy, and elevation, which also made him a goal threat during set-pieces. Although primarily a powerful and hard-tackling but fair stopper (man-marking centre-back), he was also known for his composure and finesse when in possession, and his ability to play the ball out of defence, which he was able to improve as his career progressed, in particular during his time in Italy, where he showed significant technical developments, after initially being pejoratively nicknamed "Eisenfuss" ("iron foot," in German) in his home-country. Beyond his defensive capabilities, he also stood out for his mentality, professionalism, and leadership qualities. Despite his ability as a defender, however, he also struggled with injuries throughout his career; his physical struggles occasionally limited his playing time and affected his form and consistency. Moreover, he was predominantly a right-footed player, who was not particularly adept with his weaker left foot. He was also known for his professional rivalry with Dutch striker Marco van Basten.

After his playing career was over, he has managed the German under-21 side, and became sports director of Bayer Leverkusen on 31 March 2003, quitting this post on 29 June 2004. On 17 December 2005, he was appointed the coach of MSV Duisburg. In August 2006, he turned down the opportunity to coach the Ivory Coast national team. On 28 August 2008, Kohler signed a three-year contract as manager of German 3. Liga club VfR Aalen. However, on 16 November 2008, he retired due to a heart condition from the coaching job. He continued to work as director of sports for Aalen, but was sacked on 5 May 2009. In April 2013, he started to work as director of sports for his former club SV Waldhof Mannheim.

After his retirement from professional sports, Kohler occasionally played for Alemannia Adendorf in the Kreisliga C (the 11th tier of German club football).