Dietmar Hamann German Footballer From Waldsassen

Early life

Dietmar Johann Wolfgang Hamann was born on 27 August 1973 in Waldsassen, Germany. He started out at a small Munich club, Wacker München, and moved to Bayern Munich in 1989. He finished his schooling at the Klenze-Gymnasium in Munich that same year. He is 191 centimetres tall.

Career

Hamann made his debut for the Bayern first team in 1993 and, at first, held an amateur contract that allowed him to play professionally. He won the Bundesliga in his first season as a bench player. An injury list among Bayern's midfielders gave him a regular place the following year, and he went on to win the UEFA Cup in 1995-96. Under Giovanni Trapattoni he became a starting defensive midfielder in 1996-97 and won a second league title, and in 1997-98 he added the DFB-Pokal.

After the 1998 World Cup he joined Newcastle United for 5.5 million pounds and played in the 1999 FA Cup final. In July 1999 he signed for Liverpool for 8 million pounds. He stayed seven years and played 191 league games, scoring eight goals. In 2000-01 Liverpool won the League Cup, the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup, and he also played in the 2003 League Cup final against Manchester United. In the 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan he came on at half-time with Liverpool trailing 3-0 and the side drew level, then won on penalties. He converted the first spot-kick in the shootout. He won the FA Cup again in May 2006, and again scored the first penalty in the shootout against West Ham United.

Hamann left Liverpool in 2006 and joined Manchester City, where he stayed until his contract expired in July 2009. In May 2010 he signed as player-coach at Milton Keynes Dons, and in February 2011 he left to become first-team coach at Leicester City. He was appointed manager of Stockport County on 5 July 2011 and resigned on 7 November that year. In March 2015 he returned to playing with the amateur club TuS Haltern.

For Germany, Hamann played at under-21 level before making his full debut in a friendly against South Africa in November 1997. He played at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups and at the European Championships of 2000 and 2004. In October 2000 he scored the final goal at the old Wembley Stadium, the winner in a qualifier against England. Germany reached the 2002 World Cup final, where Brazil won 2-0, and he became only the second Liverpool player after Roger Hunt to play in a World Cup final while at the club. After he was left out of the squad for the 2006 World Cup, he retired from international football.

Recognition

Hamann was a runner-up at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and was named a reserve in that tournament's All-Star Team. His club honours include two Bundesliga titles, the DFB-Pokal, the UEFA Cup twice, the Champions League, two FA Cups and two League Cups, and two UEFA Super Cups with Liverpool. His long-range strike for Liverpool was voted the BBC Goal of the Season for 2003-04. In 2002 he received the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, a German sporting honour.

Public roles

Since the 2010 World Cup, Hamann has been a regular studio pundit for RTÉ Sport in Ireland, and has also appeared as a guest analyst on the BBC, Sky Sports and Liverpool's club channel. He works for Sky Sports Bundesliga in Germany. Hamann has also written as the European columnist for twentyfour7, and in February 2012 he published his autobiography, The Didi Man: My Love Affair with Liverpool, with Malcolm McClean, which became a Sunday Times best seller.