Lars Ricken

Born in Dortmund, Ricken joined local Borussia at an early age and made his Bundesliga debut on 8 March 1994 in a 1–2 home defeat against VfB Stuttgart, aged not yet 18. From the following season onward, he became a regular. Ricken scored a memorable long-distance goal in the final of the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League edition against Juventus FC, which stood as the fastest goal in a final of the competition by a substitute, finding the net after just 16 seconds on the field. He also contributed 8 goals in 47 matches in the team’s back-to-back national titles (1994–96). In the following years, Ricken’s success was hampered by a series of injuries. He earned his first cap for Germany on 10 September 1997, in a 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Armenia, but missed that major international tournament as well as UEFA Euro 2000. Later, he restored his form, helping Dortmund claim the league title in 2002 by scoring a career-best six goals and being selected by national coach Rudi Völler for the squad at that year's World Cup; he did not play in the competition, however, as Germany finished runners-up. Ricken’s injury woes returned after the World Cup and, as a consequence, he failed to earn recognition at either the European or international level. In early April 2007, he was demoted to the reserve team by manager Thomas Doll due to substandard performance. In November 2007, Ricken announced his retirement from football. In an attempt to return to the sport, he briefly…

Borussia Dortmund

Bundesliga: 1994–95, 1995–96, 2001–02 DFB-Supercup: 1995, 1996 UEFA Champions League: 1996–97 Intercontinental Cup: 1997 UEFA Cup runner-up: 2002 Germany

FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2002