Paul Steiner

Football player infobox
playername = Paul Steiner
fullname = Paul Steiner
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1957|1|23
cityofbirth = Waldbrunn
countryofbirth = West Germany
currentclub = Retired
position = Defender
clubs = Waldhof Mannheim
MSV Duisburg 1. FC Köln Total:
years = 1975-1979
1979-1981
1981-1991

caps(goals) = 144 (16)
058 0(7)
291 (20)
493 (43)
nationalyears = 1990
nationalteam = West Germany
nationalcaps(goals) = 001 0(0)
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Paul Steiner (born January 23, 1957 in Waldbrunn) is a former German soccer player.

Club career

Steiner started his career as a defender in his home town Waldbrunn (Odenwald), playing for TSV Strümpfelbrunn. In 1975, he started his professional career, playing four seasons with second division side SV Waldhof Mannheim.

He played in the German Bundesliga 349 games scoring 27 times from 1979 until 1991, with MSV Duisburg and 1. FC Köln and winning the German Cup in 1983 with the latter.

After retiring at 34, Steiner later worked as a scout for FC Köln's Rhine rival, Bayer Leverkusen.

International career

Serving as a (not used) potential replacement for sweeper Klaus Augenthaler during the Football World Cup 1990 in Italy, Steiner was one of the oldest debutants in the German national soccer team when he came on as a substitute in the final friendly ahead of that tournament, against Denmark at Gelsenkirchen's Parkstadion, in May 1990. Steiner had turned 33 in January, and was surprisingly given the nod for the World Cup squad in favour of Bayer Uerdingen's Holger Fach, who had been the expected pick of coach Franz Beckenbauer as Augenthaler's understudy.

Personal

Steiner is commonly quoted in Germany as stating in a talkshow that homosexuals were "too soft" for playing football.

External links

* [http://www.fussballdaten.de/spieler/steinerpaul/ Bundesliga statistics]