Sebastian Toni Deisler (German pronunciation: [zeˈbasti̯a(ː)n ˈdaɪslɐ]; born 5 January 1980) is a German former professional footballer who played as a right midfielder and attacking midfielder.

Sebastian Deisler
Deisler in 2005
Personal information
Full name Sebastian Toni Deisler[1]
Date of birth (1980-01-05) 5 January 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth Lörrach, West Germany
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Right midfielder, attacking midfielder
Youth career
1985–1988 FV Tumringen
1988–1990 TuS Stetten
1990–1995 FV Lörrach
1995–1998 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–1999 Borussia Mönchengladbach 17 (1)
1999–2002 Hertha BSC 56 (9)
2002–2007 Bayern Munich 62 (8)
Total 135 (18)
International career
1999 Germany U-21 3 (0)
2000–2006 Germany 36 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

A Borussia Mönchengladbach youth product, he played one season with the club during which it was relegated from the Bundesliga. He joined Hertha BSC in 1999 before leaving for Bayern Munich in 2002. He also represented the Germany national team between 2000 and 2006.

Having been hailed as the future of German football at the turn of the millennium, Deisler could never manage to reach his full potential due to several cruciate ligament ruptures and other major injuries, as well as depression. Deisler retired from professional football in January 2007 at the age of 27.

Club career

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Borussia Mönchengladbach

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Deisler joined his first club, FV Turmringen, when he was only six. At age 15, he was scouted and signed by the Bundesliga outfit Borussia Mönchengladbach and played for the club at junior level from 1995 to 1998. He started his professional career at the club in 1998, making his Bundesliga debut against Eintracht Frankfurt on 8 September. During the 1998–99 season he made 17 Bundesliga appearances and scoring one goal, in a 2–0 win over 1860 Munich. However the Foals finished in last place and were relegated to the second division.

Hertha BSC

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As Borussia Mönchengladbach were relegated at the end of the season, Deisler moved on to Hertha BSC for 4.5 million DM. The Berlin club offered a participation in the 1999–2000 Champions League. Although only 19 at his arrival and handicapped by a cruciate ligament rupture in 1999, Deisler established himself in the Hertha BSC midfield and was about to become Dariusz Wosz's replacement as the central figure in Hertha's offence when he tore a synovial membrane in his right knee in October 2001 and missed the rest of the season.[2]

Almost simultaneously, German tabloid Bild made known that an agreement had been reached between the player and FC Bayern Munich. Deisler was to join Bayern at the beginning of the 2002–03 season and had received a sum of DEM 20 million from the club. Deisler faced immense critique from the fans and the media for not having announced the agreement earlier as well as accepting the payment. Deisler later stated that he was asked to keep silent by the Hertha BSC manager Dieter Hoeneß to avoid unrest.[3]

During his time at Hertha, Deisler helped the club win the 2001 DFB-Ligapokal.

Bayern Munich

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Deisler during training with Bayern Munich, 2005

In July 2002, Deisler joined Bayern on a four-year contract. Deisler arrived at Bayern injured as he had injured his right knee the season before.[2] Unfortunately, Deisler's time at the club was a turbulent one as Deisler only managed 62 league appearances in four and a half years.[4] Due to his injuries, he was unable to establish himself as a constant starter over a longer period of time. At the same time, Deisler struggled to endure the pressure he was exposed to at Bayern[3] and developed a depression for which he was treated as a stationary patient in a Munich clinic from November 2003. After several months, Deisler rejoined the squad, but suffered a relapse in October 2004.[2]

Deisler looked to finally break into Bayern's first team from 2004–05 on and was able to play for the most part of 2005. After Michael Ballack's departure to Chelsea, Deisler was about to become the chief in the Bayern midfield. However, he damaged the synovial membrane in his right knee again in March 2006[2] and missed the World Cup on home soil. Although Deisler came back in November, he felt exhausted and, citing his lack of confidence in ever regaining the necessary stability in his often-injured knee, he announced his retirement on 16 January 2007.[5] Bayern general manager Uli Hoeneß stated that Deisler's contract, which ran until 30 June 2009, would not be dissolved but instead be in abeyance.[6] Deisler later stated that he came to the conclusion that he was not made for the football business.[3]

International career

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Deisler played for the Germany national team between 2000 and 2006, winning 36 international caps and scoring three goals. He made his debut for the team in a friendly match against the Netherlands on 23 February 2000 and was also part of the German squad at the Euro 2000 finals four months later, appearing in all three group matches before the Germans disappointingly exited the competition in the first round. On 2 September 2000, he scored his first goal for Germany as he opened their 2–0 win over Greece in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

Due to injuries, he missed both the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups, the latter being held in Germany, as well as UEFA Euro 2004. In 2005, he appeared in all of the German team's five matches at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany. His last match for the Germany national team was a friendly against Italy on 1 March 2006.[7]

Personal life

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Deisler has a Brazilian wife named Eunice dos Santos Santana. The couple have a son named Raphael.[8]

The level of formal education he reached is technical college. He mentions basketball, food, music and movies as his hobbies.[9]

In September 2007, Deisler stated that he was in the process of writing a book.[3] The book was released in 2009.[10] Now, he lives in Freiburg.[11]

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[12]
Club Season League DFB-Pokal DFB-Ligapokal Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Borussia Mönchengladbach 1998–99 Bundesliga 17 1 2 0 19 1
Hertha BSC 1999–2000 Bundesliga 20 2 1 0 3 0 9[a] 0 33 2
2000–01 Bundesliga 25 4 1 0 3 0 6[b] 0 35 4
2001–02 Bundesliga 11 3 1 0 3 1 1[b] 0 16 4
Total 56 9 3 0 9 1 16 0 84 10
Bayern Munich 2002–03 Bundesliga 8 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
2003–04 Bundesliga 11 4 2 0 1 0 1[a] 0 15 4
2004–05 Bundesliga 23 4 4 0 2 2 5[a] 0 34 6
2005–06 Bundesliga 16 0 3 0 1 0 6[a] 3 26 3
2006–07 Bundesliga 4 0 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 5 0
Total 62 8 11 0 4 2 13 3 90 13
Bayern Munich II 2003–04 Regionalliga Süd 4 1 4 1
Career total 139 19 16 0 13 3 29 3 197 25
  1. ^ a b c d e Appearances in the UEFA Champions League
  2. ^ a b Appearances in the UEFA Cup

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[13]
National team Year Apps Goals
Germany 2000 9 1
2001 7 1
2002 3 1
2003 1 0
2004 2 0
2005 13 0
2006 1 0
Total 36 3
Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Deisler goal.[14]
List of international goals scored by Sebastian Deisler
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 2 September 2000 Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany   Greece 1–0 2–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 24 March 2001 BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany   Albania 1–0 2–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
3 9 May 2002 Schwarzwald-Stadion, Freiburg, Germany   Kuwait 3–0 7–0 Friendly

Honours

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Hertha BSC

Bayern Munich[15]

Germany U18

Germany

References

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  1. ^ "Sebastian Deisler" (in German). dfb.de. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d "Deislers Kranken-Akte". kicker.de. 16 January 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d "Dumm gelaufen, oder?". tagesspiegel.de. 30 September 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  4. ^ Arnhold, Matthias (23 July 2015). "Sebastian Deisler - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Fußball: Bayern-Profi Deisler beendet Karriere". Der Spiegel (in German). 16 January 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  6. ^ "Injuries prompt Deisler to quit the game". persianfootball.com. 16 January 2007. Archived from the original on 4 January 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  7. ^ Arnhold, Matthias (23 July 2015). "Sebastian Deisler - International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  8. ^ "Dirndl-Revolte" (in German). welt.de. 27 August 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  9. ^ "Sebastian Deisler". FC Bayern Munich. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  10. ^ "Ergebnis der Suche nach: Sebastian and Deisler". Deutsche National Bibliothek (in German). Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  11. ^ "Diese Fußballer in Deutschland waren psychisch erkrankt". RP Online (in German). 9 November 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  12. ^ "Sebastian Deisler » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  13. ^ "Sebastian Deisler". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Sebastian Deisler - International Appearances". RSSSF.
  15. ^ "S. Deisler". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  16. ^ "Ireland complete memorable double". UEFA.com. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  17. ^ "Sebastian Deisler" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
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