Rudi Völler

Rudolf 'Rudi' Völler (born April 13 1960 in Hanau, Hessen, Germany) is a former German international football player, and a former manager of the German national team. He won the FIFA World Cup in 1990 and coached the national team to second place at the 2002 World Cup. People of his hometown Hanau lovingly refer to him as "Tante Käthe" (Aunt Käthe).

Usually playing as a striker, Völler joined the Bundesliga team Werder Bremen in 1982, winning his first cap for Germany in the same year. In 1987 he was transferred to A.S. Roma, where he won the Italian Cup in 1991.

In 1992, Völler joined Olympique Marseille, winning the Champions League with this team in 1993. Returning to Germany, he joined Bayer Leverkusen in 1994, where he ended his career as a player in 1996 and started a career in the management of the club.

Völler was capped 90 times for the national team, scoring 47 goals, including 8 in World Cup finals matches. He was a member of the team that won the 1990 World Cup. During the second-round game against Holland, Völler and Dutch player Frank Rijkaard were sent off the field after spitting on each other (Rijkaard began spitting first and continued as the players were leaving the pitch).

Völler also played in , the 1986 World Cup, , , and the 1994 World Cup.

After a disappointing for the national team under manager Erich Ribbeck, the DFB appointed Völler as new manager, even though he then did not have a coaching licence. At first only planning to manage the national team for one year, he extended his contract when his planned successor Christoph Daum was involved in a drug scandal. He led the team to a surprising appearance in the Final of the 2002 World Cup. During the tournament, Völler's fans took the song Guantanamera, altered the lyrics to "Es gibt nur ein' Rudi Völler!" (literally: "There's only one Rudi Völler!") and sang it on the football premises, on the streets and in bars to honour Germany's coach.

After a first-round exit from , he resigned from his post.

Following his resignation from the German national job, Völler briefly coached Italian side A.S. Roma in 2004. Hired as a last-minute appointment after the shock resignation of Cesare Prandelli, he resigned after a series of poor results and high-profile disagreements with players, notably Antonio Cassano.

Moving back to the support ranks at Bayer Leverkusen, Völler was named caretaker manager of Bayer Leverkusen on September 16, 2005 after the club sacked manager Klaus Augenthaler. Völler served in that role until Michael Skibbe was named as the club's new permanent manager that October.

Völler was (and still is) extremely popular in Germany. Whenever Germans spot Völler in public, they still break into cheerful "Ruuuudi"-shouts. Even when the national squad achieved only modest results, Völler never lost his popularity as the German public knew he was achieving as much as possible with a relatively limited squad. His predecessor Berti Vogts by contrast was widely "slagged off" by everybody even during periods of success with an immensely talented German squad. The public even forgave Völler when - during a TV interview in September 2003 - he lost his temper, used dirty language, even attacked and yelled at the presenter Waldemar Hartmann in order to defend his team against unfair press statements.

Völler earned himself the affectionate nickname "Tante Käthe" ("Aunt Kathie") due to his curly grey "auntie" hairdo (see photograph).

External links

Rudi Völler (in German)

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Rudi Völler

External links