Andreas Beck (; born 13 March 1987) is a former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who played as a
right-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
. Born in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, he represented Germany at youth and senior levels.
Early life
Beck was born in
Kemerovo,
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
(now Russia). When he was three, his family emigrated to Germany. "I will never forget that we lived in a caravan at first."''
Beck also has a brother named Arthur. Beck's grandmother resides in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Club career
VfB Stuttgart
Beck started his football career at DJK-SG Wasseralfingen and SVH Köningsbronn before the age of 14. He then transferred to
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...
and in 2005, Beck signed a professional contract with the club. The following year, Beck made his Bundesliga debut for Stuttgart on 11 February 2006 against
Arminia Bielefeld. Five days later he experienced his European debut with a substitute appearance in the intermediate round of the UEFA cup against the
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
. The following week saw Beck signing a contract extension, keeping him until 2010.
Following
Andreas Hinkel
Andreas Hinkel (born 26 March 1982) is a German football coach and a former player. Hinkel played as a right-back and earned 21 caps for the Germany national team. He was known for his attacking play on the flanks and defensive solidity.
He st ...
's departure to
Sevilla
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
, Beck was promoted to the first team and was expected to replace Hinkel as a right-back. However, Beck failed to do so, with
Ricardo Osorio
Ricardo Osorio Mendoza (born 30 March 1980) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a defender.
Club career Early career
Born in Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca, Osorio made his debut in the Primera División de México in 2001â ...
establishing himself in the team, playing as a right-back throughout the 2006–07 season. At the end of the 2006–07 season, Beck had made four appearances for the club, as they won the Bundesliga for the first time since 1992.
In the 2007–08 season, Beck started the season being on the bench until he made his first appearance on matchday 10 coming on as a substitute for
Yıldıray Baştürk
Yıldıray Baştürk (, born 24 December 1978) is a retired professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.
Born in Germany, he was capped 49 times for the Turkey national football team, representing the team at the 2002 FIFA Wor ...
in the 86th minute, in a 4–1 loss against
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
on 20 October 2007. Beck scored his first goal for Stuttgart in the next appearance on 27 October 2007 against
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...
which resulted in a 1–0 win for Stuttgart. Beck then played a vital role when he provided assists in two of the Champions League matches against
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
and
Rangers. But during a match against Rangers, Beck suffered a knee ligament injury and was sidelined for months. Shortly after, Beck was linked with a move away from the club after considering his future away from the club. However, Beck announced his intention to stay at the club Two months later on 3 February 2008, Beck made his first team return in a 4–0 loss against
Schalke 04
Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...
. In his second season at Stuttgart, Beck made eighteen appearances for the club.
1899 Hoffenheim
After failing to secure a place in the starting eleven for Stuttgart, Beck decided to leave the club to look for a new challenge.
1899 Hoffenheim
Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg.
Originally founded in 189 ...
made a bid for Beck, which was rejected.
Ralf Rangnick
Ralf Rangnick (; born 29 June 1958) is a German professional football coach, executive and former player who is currently the manager of the Austria national team.
Rangnick began his coaching career in 1983, succeeding his career as a player, a ...
was keen to sign Beck and eventually he moved to Hoffenheim for a transfer fee about €3 million on a four-year-deal in July 2008.
Beck made his debut for Hoffenheim in a
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...
match as they won 1–0 against
Chemnitz on 10 August 2008. Beck made his league debut for Hoffenheim, playing as a right-back, in a 3–0 win against
Energie Cottbus
FC Energie Cottbus ( Lower Sorbian: ''Energija Chóśebuz'') is a German football club based in Cottbus, Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as SC Cottbus in what was East Germany. After the reunification of Germany, Energie played six seasons i ...
on 16 August 2008. After joining, Beck later established himself as a key member of the side and got more playing time than at Stuttgart. After missing three matches due to a gastrointestinal virus, Beck made his return to the first team in the last game of the season, in a 3–2 win over
Schalke 04
Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...
. In his first season, Beck made 30 league appearances and had two assists. Only
Tobias Weis
Tobias Weis (born 30 July 1985) is a German retired footballer.
Club career
Weis began his career 1990 with SC Bibersfeld and joined after three years in summer 1993 to Sportfreunde Schwäbisch Hall. He played for SF Schwäbisch Hall until July 1 ...
and
Demba Ba
Demba Ba (born 25 May 1985) is a former professional footballer. He serves as the chairman of National Independent Soccer Association side ASC San Diego.
He made his first-team debut with French team Rouen in 2005 before moving to Mouscron an ...
were on more missions over the course of the season.
In the 2009–10 season, Beck continued to remain as right-back in the first team. Beck suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out for six weeks. Beck made his first team return, playing as a right-back, in a 2–0 loss against
Bayern Munich on 15 January 2010. Once again, Beck suffered a knee injury, which kept him out for aboutfive weeks. Beck made his first team return, coming on as a substitute for
Christian Eichner
Christian Eichner (born 24 November 1982) is a German former professional football defender who is the current manager of Karlsruher SC
Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that current ...
in 72nd minute, in a 0–0 draw against
Nürnberg on 20 March 2010. In his second season at the club, Beck made twenty-five appearances for the club.
In the 2010–11 season, Beck was announced as new captain for the club, succeeding former captain
Per Nilsson, who left for
Nürnberg. Upon learning this, Beck quoted: ''"I'm happy about having been given this responsibility. But my priority remains to work for the success of the club and nothing else.", Beck on being a captain."'' Beck also stated being captain is big responsibility on and off the pitch. He played his first match as captain on 14 August 2010 as the club won 4–0 in the DFB-Pokal first round encounter against
Hansa Rostock
FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the forme ...
. Beck also captained his first league match seven days later, in a 4–1 win over Werder Bremen in the opening game of the season. Beck was almost ever present in the 2010–11 season, making thirty-three appearances, having missed only one game due to suspension after being booked five times during the season. In May 2011, Hoffenheim 1899 claimed Juventus made an approach for Beck as the Italian side held a long-term interest in Beck. But Juventus' interests in Beck were put back on hold after
Luigi Del Neri was sacked at Juventus. Hoffenheim accepted a bid for Beck from Juventus but however the move was put off by Hoffenheim's evaluation of the 24-year-old. Afterwards, Juventus were not interested in signing Beck and he was expected to play next season.
In the 2011–12 season, Beck continued to be in first team and retained his captaincy. On 14 October 2011, Beck extended his deal with Hoffenheim by a further two years to 2014. In November 2011, Beck made only one appearance due to a yellow card suspension and suffering a calf injury. Beck scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 loss against
Nürnberg on 28 April 2012. Beck made 31 appearances and scored once in the 2011–12 season.
Ahead of the 2012–13 season, Beck announced his intention to voluntarily resign as captain and the newly signed
Tim Wiese
Tim Wiese (; born 17 December 1981) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Having progressed through the youth teams at DJK Dürscheid and Bayer Leverkusen, Wiese started his professional career at Fortuna Köln, ...
succeeded him as captain. After not being included in a squad against
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
on 1 September 2012, Beck made his first team return on 23 September 2012, in a 3–1 win over
Hannover 96. However, following Wiese's injury, Beck was captain for the match against Nürnberg on 28 November 2012, which they lost 4–2. In the wake of
Markus Babbel
Markus Babbel (; born 8 September 1972) is a German professional football coach and former player who last managed the Western Sydney Wanderers FC. He played as a defender for clubs in Germany and England. Babbel won the UEFA Cup twice, in 1996 ...
's sacking, Beck criticised Babbel after disagreements. After Wiese was stripped of the captaincy, Beck was permanently given the captaincy. Beck scored his first goal of the season in a 2–2 draw against Wolfsburg on 13 April 2013. Beck made 31 appearances and scored once in the 2012–13 season in which he helped the club survive relegation.
In the 2013–14 season, Beck continued to make an impressive display in the pre-season friendly matches, so Beck remained captain for another season under the new management of
Markus Gisdol. Beck then scored his first goal of the season, in a 3–0 win over Hamburg on 1 February 2014. During a match against
Mainz 05
1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...
on 15 March 2014, which Hoffenheim lost 4–2, Beck unintentionally knocked the cameraman, causing him to become unconscious and resulting him to go on hospital. With his contract expiring in the summer, Beck was linked a move away from Hoffenheim, prompting the club's management to issue an ultimatum to sign a new contract until April. Eventually, Beck signed a contract with the club, keeping him until 2017. Beck was almost ever present in the 2013–14 season, making thirty-three appearances.
In the 2014–15 season, Beck continued to remain the club's captain. Beck was almost ever present in the 2014–15 season, making thirty-three appearances, having missed one game, due to suspension after being booked five times during the season.
BeÅŸiktaÅŸ
![Lokobjk 40](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Lokobjk_40.jpg)
On 4 July 2015, Beck signed three-and-one-year contract with Turkish club
BeÅŸiktaÅŸ.
Return to VfB Stuttgart
On 31 August 2017, Beck returned to
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...
. In June 2019, the club announced that Beck will leave Stuttgart after the end of his contract.
Eupen
On 4 July 2019, Beck joined
K.A.S. Eupen.
International career
Beck was eligible for
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
On 21 February 2007, he played his first game for the
U21 Squad against Italy, having previously played three games for the
U19 and
U18 of the
DFB DFB may refer to:
* Deerfield Beach, Florida, a city
* Decafluorobutane, a fluorocarbon gas
* Dem Franchize Boyz, former hip hop group, Atlanta, Georgia
* Dfb, Köppen climate classification for Humid continental climate
* Distributed-feedback ...
. Beck then scored his first Germany U21 goal in a friendly match, in a 2–2 draw against
Republic of Ireland U21 on 21 August 2007.
Due to his good performance for Hoffenheim, Beck was called up on 5 February 2009 for the
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deuts ...
and made his debut against Norway in Düsseldorf. His debut against Norway also earned his former club, Stuttgart, 500,000 € extra as a result of an activated clause.
His largest international success was the win of the
UEFA European Under-21 Championships 2009 in Sweden under manager
Horst Hrubesch
Horst Hrubesch (; born 17 April 1951) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Hamburger SV. As a player, Hrubesch won three West German championships with his club side, Hamburger SV, as well as the European C ...
. He scored the only goal against
Italy U21 to send Germany to the final. He played the full 90 minutes against
England U21
The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team.
This team is for England players aged under 21 at the start of the calen ...
in the final and helped the team to keep a clean sheet in the 4–0 win.
Beck was included on the 30-man preliminary roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but did not make it to the final 23 man squad by
Joachim Löw
Joachim Löw (born 3 February 1960) is a German football coach and former player. He was the manager of the Germany national team from 2006 until 2021. During his tenure as manager, he led Germany to victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil ...
as he favoured
Dennis Aogo
Dennis Aogo (born 14 January 1987) is a German former professional footballer who played as a left back and midfielder.
Early life
Born to a German mother and a Nigerian father, Aogo grew up in Oberreut, a suburb in the south-west of Karlsruhe, ...
and
Holger Badstuber
Holger Felix Badstuber (born 13 March 1989) is a German former professional footballer who played as a centre-back or left-back.
Badstuber made his debut in the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich in the 2009–10 season, at the age of 19. He played ne ...
. He scored two goals against an Eppan U20 XI team in a warm-up game as a part of the preparations for the upcoming tournament. However these goals were not scored in a full international game so they are not counted as international caps or goals.
After being left out of the squad, Beck believed his exclusion from the squad would help accelerate his development as a person and a footballer.
Career statistics
Honours
VfB Stuttgart
*
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
:
2006–07
BeÅŸiktaÅŸ
*
Süper Lig
The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...
:
2015–16,
2016–17
Germany U21
*
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...
:
2009
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Andreas
1987 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Kemerovo
German footballers
Germany under-21 international footballers
Germany youth international footballers
Germany international footballers
Association football fullbacks
Russian footballers
Russian people of German descent
German people of Russian descent
Bundesliga players
Regionalliga players
VfB Stuttgart players
VfB Stuttgart II players
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players
Soviet emigrants to Germany
BeÅŸiktaÅŸ J.K. footballers
K.A.S. Eupen players
Süper Lig players
Belgian Pro League players
German expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Turkey
Expatriate footballers in Belgium