Rudi Völler

Völler started his career with 1860 Hanau, then played for second division sides Kickers Offenbach and 1860 Munich, before joining Bundesliga club Werder Bremen in 1982, winning his first cap for West Germany that same year. Following a successful season in which he was the Bundesliga's top scorer, foreign clubs became interested in the striker, and in 1987 he was transferred to Roma, where he became a mainstay of the team and earned the nickname "er tedesco" ("the German") and also "il tedesco volante" ("the flying German"). He won the Coppa Italia in 1991 and was the club's top scorer on several occasions. In 1992, Roma decided to sell Völler to Marseille, where he was intended as replacement for superstar striker Jean-Pierre Papin. That also allowed Roma to add Claudio Caniggia as its third foreigner to the squad, so both parties were happy to let the deal go through. There, he won his biggest club honour in a very successful first season, thanks to the UEFA Champions League won with Marseille against AC Milan coached by Fabio Capello, in 1993 (1–0, goal scored by Basile Boli). Völler started the match, playing 78 minutes. Marseille was then caught in a bribery scandal, however, and was stripped of its 1993 league title, and were relegated despite a second-place finish in 1994. Völler scored 24 league goals for the club but departed after its relegation. Returning to Germany, he joined Bayer Leverkusen in 1994, where he ended his career as a player in 1996 and started a…

Völler was capped 90 times for the Germany national team, scoring 47 goals, including eight in World Cup final rounds. In 1982, Völler represented West Germany at the 1982 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, where he was named the tournament's Golden Player. He scored four goals from three appearances at the tournament finals as the German team finished as runner-up to England. He made his debut for the senior West Germany team in a UEFA Euro 1984 qualifier against Northern Ireland. He scored his first goal for the national team in the following qualifying match against Albania. He went on to score doubles against both Austria and Turkey to end the qualifying campaign with five goals. At the tournament finals in France, he scored both of West Germany's goals in their 2–1 win over Romania in their second group match. A 90th minute defeat against Spain in their next match, however, saw West Germany eliminated. At the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, Völler scored the West Germans' equalizer in a 2–1 win over Scotland in the group stage. He scored an 89th-minute goal against France in the semi-final to seal a 2–0 win and, in the final itself, his 80th-minute goal made it 2–2 against Argentina. Germany had recovered from 2–0 down but eventually lost the match 3–2. Völler became the third player to score as a substitute in the World Cup final, after Dick Nanninga in 1978 and Alessandro Altobelli achieved this feat in 1982. West Germany hosted Euro 1988, and Völler scored twice in…

After a disappointing Euro 2000 for Germany under manager Erich Ribbeck, the German Football Association (DFB) appointed Völler as new manager, accepting his lack of coaching qualifications at the time. Initially, he only planned to take interimistic responsibility for one year, following the decision by Bayer Leverkusen and Völler himself (as sporting director of the club) not to make Christoph Daum step down from the national team before 2001. However, Völler extended his contract due to good results, after Daum became involved in a controversial drug scandal. Despite losing to England 5–1 at home, and two disappointing draws against Finland during qualification, he managed to lead the team to a surprising appearance in the final of the 2002 World Cup against Brazil but lost 2–0. Völler would resign as manager following Germany's group-stage exit from Euro 2004. Following his resignation from the German national job, Völler briefly made a comeback at Roma in 2004 as manager. Hired in late August as a last-minute appointment after the shock resignation of Cesare Prandelli, he left the club only one month later after a series of poor results and high-profile disagreements with players, notably Antonio Cassano. He only signed a one-year contract to allow a return of Prandelli the next year, but presided over only one draw and two defeats in the league. Moving back to the support ranks at Bayer Leverkusen, Völler was named as caretaker manager of Leverkusen on 16 September…

Rudolf Völler was born on 13 April 1960 in Hanau, Hesse, West Germany.