Steffen Hofmann

Football player infobox
playername = Steffen Hofmann


fullname = Steffen Hofmann
nickname = Balle
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1980|9|9
cityofbirth = Würzburg
countryofbirth = FRG
currentclub = SK Rapid Wien
position = Midfielder
clubnumber = 11
youthyears = 1985–1993
1993–1996
1996–2000
youthclubs = 1. FC Kirchheim
Würzburger FV
FC Bayern München
years = 2000-2002
2001-2002
2002-2005
2005-2006
seit 2006
clubs = FC Bayern München II
FC Bayern München
SK Rapid Wien
TSV 1860 München
SK Rapid Wien
caps(goals) = 057 (21)
001 0(0)
119 (26)
016 0(2)
060 (13)
nationalyears =
nationalteam = Deutschland U 16
Deutschland U 17
Deutschland U 18
Team 2006
nationalcaps(goals) = 06 (-)
12 (1)
03 (1)
03 (1)
pcupdate = August 2008
ntupdate = August 2008

Steffen Hofmann (born September 9, 1980) is a German footballer, playing for SK Rapid Wien. He plays as an attacking midfielder.

Career

In his early years, Steffen played for the youth team of his home town Würzburg, before joining the Bayern Munich Junior Team in 1997. After leading the team to a championship and a runner-up finish in the German Youth Leagues, he received a chance to play in the second team of Bayern Munich in 2000. After scoring 12 goals in 36 games for the second team, he got a chance to play for Bayern Munichs first team on October 27, 2001 in their game against 1. FC Köln, where he came in the game as a substitute for Claudio Pizarro in the 90th minute. This was his only game for the first team.In 2002, he joined the Austrian team SK Rapid Wien and quickly became the teams fan favourite. He also formed the leagues best midfield duo along with Andreas Ivanschitz and the two led the team to his 31st league championship in 2005 and to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in 2006. After finishing last in their group and the transfer of his team mate Ivanschitz, Steffen decided to join the German club TSV 1860 München in January 2006, but after desperately trying to find his form there, he returned to Rapid Wien in the summer. After his return, he got injured in the first game of the season and therefore missed half the season. His comeback came in late October and is since then one of the key players and the captain of Rapid Wien. He is also called "soccer-god" by the fans because of his technical skills, his commitment in the game and his endurance (He didn't miss a minute of the 2008 season). Hofmann is also known as a player, who rather passes the ball to a better positioned player, than shooting at the goal himself.

Controversy over the Austrias National Team

The Austrian Football Association tried in the year of 2005 to let Hofmann, who was born in Germany, to play for the Austrian national team. Hofmann at this time stated that he wants to play for Austria, but the FIFA stated, that Hofmann was not allowed to play for Austria, because he played several games for Germany in his youth. Hofmann has never played for any of the two countries since.

Honours

Individual

*Austrian Footballer of the Year: 2004, 2008
*Krone Footballer of the Year (voted by fans): 2006, 2007

Club

Bayern Munich Junior Team
*German B-youth Championship: 1997

SK Rapid Wien
*Austrian Football Bundesliga Championship: 2005, 2008

External links

* [http://www.fussballdaten.de/spieler/hofmannsteffen/ Steffen Hofmann in Fussballdaten] de icon