Alexander Zickler

Infobox Football biography


playername = Alexander Zickler
fullname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1974|2|28
cityofbirth = Bad Salzungen
countryofbirth = East Germany
height = height|m=1.88
nickname = Zico
position = Striker
currentclub = Red Bull Salzburg
clubnumber = 7
youthyears = 1980–1992
youthclubs = Dynamo Dresden
years = 1992–1993
1993–2005
2005–
clubs = Dynamo Dresden
Bayern Munich
Red Bull Salzburg
caps(goals) = 018 0(3)
214 (51)
089 (47)
nationalyears = 1993–1996
1998–2002
nationalteam = Germany U-21
Germany
nationalcaps(goals) = 0170(7)
012 0(2)
pcupdate = January 17, 2008
ntupdate = June 21, 2007

Alexander Zickler (Born February 28, 1974 in Bad Salzungen, East Germany) is a German footballer who currently plays for Red Bull Salzburg of Austria.

Early career

Alexander Zickler began his career in 1980 with Dynamo Dresden, where he worked his way through the youth system into the first team. In 1993, Zickler tranferred from Dynamo to Bayern Munich, where he remained as a player until the end of the 2005 Bundesliga season. With Bayern, Zickler won seven German Bundesliga Championships (1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2005) as well as four German Cups (1998, 2000, 2003, and 2005). Additionally, Zickler became a UEFA Cup Winner in 1996, a UEFA Champions League Winner in 2001, as well as a Intercontinental Cup winner in 2001 with Bayern Munich. In the final of the 2001 UEFA Champions League against Valencia CF, Zickler entered the game as a substitute and successfully converted a penalty kick in the match-ending shoot-out. During his time in the Bundesliga he broke the record as the highest goal-scoring substitute of all-time, scoring 18 times in 102 appearances off the bench. However, his prolific career was often hampered by injuries and medical conditions.

Injuries

In 2002 Zickler had surgery to remove a tumor from his right shin bone which caused him to miss out on participation in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. One year later, Zickler was again hospitilized with a break in his previously operated leg, followed by another shin break only a few days before the start of the 2003/04 season. Shortly before his return into Bayern's first team, Zickler broke his shin for the third time while playing with the Bayern Amateur Squad. At this time most critics assumed his career was at an end.

Recovery and Return

Since the start of the 2005/06 season, Zickler has been in the serivce of Austrian Bundesliga team FC Red Bull Salzburg. With the Red Bulls Zickler became Austrian runner-up in 2006 and scored 9 times during the campaign. In the return-leg of the second round of UEFA Champions League qualifying, he scored the second goal through a penalty attempt to give the Red Bulls a 2-0 victory over FC Zurich and advance them into the third round of qualifying where they met Valencia CF. There the Red Bulls were eliminated from Champions League contention losing 0:3 at Valenica after winning at home 1:0. On November 30, 2006, Zickler was voted the APA Footballer of the Year 2006 by the Managers of the Austrian Bundesliga's Clubs. In the 2006/07 season he scored 22 goals, thereby

National Team

Zickler played for the Germany national football team between 1998 and 2002, getting capped a total of 12 times. During his time with the national squad he also scored 2 goals. Both goals were scored during a 4:1 victory over Spain on August 16, 2000. His last match for Germany was played on October 11, 2002 against Bosnia-Herzogovina (final score 1:1).

Honours

* Bundesliga: 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005
* Austrian Bundesliga: 2007
* UEFA Cup: 1996
* DFB Liga-Pokal: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004
* DFB Pokal: 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005; Runner-up: 1999
* Champions League: 2001; Runner-up: 1999
* Intercontinental Cup: 2001
* European Super Cup: Runner-up 2001

Awards

* Top Goalscorer - Austrian Bundesliga: 2006/07, 2007/08
* APA Austrian Footballer of the Year: 2006
* Austrian Footballers Association Austrian Player of the Year: 2007

External links

* [http://www.fussballdaten.de/spieler/zickleralexander/ Career stats at Fussballdaten.de] de icon
* [http://87.106.1.66/rbsb/Team.php?id=8&lang= Profile at Red Bull Salzburg] de icon