Thomas Broich

Germany

Broich played in several Bavarian youth teams such as ASV Rott am Inn, TSV 1860 Rosenheim and SpVgg Unterhaching. Later he played for the U23 team of Unterhaching and could have earned promotion to the Regionalliga Süd (Then Germany's 3rd league), but the manager did not include him in the first squad so he decided to leave. He signed a contract with SV Wacker Burghausen of the Regionalliga Süd and earned promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in 2002. During this time, he gained the reputation of a "thinking-man's player", being dubbed "Mozart" by his teammates, who often spotted him reading classic German literature and listening to classical music. With Burghausen, he became a standout midfielder and caught the eye of several top Bundesliga teams, including FC Bayern Munich. In January 2004, he decided to sign with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga. Alongside Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski, Broich was considered to be the "bearer of hope" for the Germany national team and many media sources predicted that he would be a future player for the national team. However, he injured his foot in May 2004 and was unable to participate in the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship with the German team. During his injury, he struggled with the pressure to represent his country, drawing comparisons between himself and Sebastian Deisler, another Germany national team player who in 2003 suffered depression as a result of enormous national…

Broich has exceptional footwork and vision. Since his arrival in Australia, Broich has received praise for his footballing talents, some saying that he is the "best foreigner we've seen" in Australian football. Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou called Broich one of the best players in the A-League. Broich is highly influential in the Brisbane Roar squad. When missing because of an injury, Roar managed to win only one in eight games, ending their record-breaking undefeated streak of 36 games. A documentary film about Broich titled Tom Meets Zizou was released to German cinemas in 2011, after eight years in the making.

In August 2017, Broich was appointed an assistant coach of National Premier Leagues Queensland club Brisbane City FC. In March 2020, Broich and former Roar teammate Jérome Polenz were appointed as coaches of Eintracht Frankfurt's U15 team, with the appointments to take effect from 1 July 2020. After serving as Head of Methodology at Hertha BSC, Broich was appointed the head of Borussia Dortmund's youth academy.

From 2002 to 2004, Broich played seven times for the Germany U-21. In 2004 and 2005, he was a member of the "Team 2006", a team that gives players a chance to play international friendlies to gain experience for a future in the national squad.