Paul Steiner (born 23 January 1957) is a German retired 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 mainly as a

central defender 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 ...

Club career

Born in

Waldbrunn, Baden-Württemberg Waldbrunn is a town in the district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. People * Theodor Leutwein Theodor Gotthilf Leutwein (9 May 1849 – 13 April 1921) was colonial administrator of German Southwest Africa fr ...

, Steiner began playing football in his hometown with TSV Strümpfelbrunn. He started his professional career in 1975, going on to spend four seasons in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

with SV Waldhof Mannheim. Steiner appeared in 349 games in the

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 ...

, scoring 27 times from 1979 until 1991 with

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jerseys, the club was on ...

and 1. FC Köln. With the latter side, he was instrumental in five league finishes in the top three, also winning the

German Cup 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 considere ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

and losing the 1985–86 UEFA Cup to Real Madrid. After retiring at 34, Steiner later worked as a scout for Köln's

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rival, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, before taking up the same role back at the former club.

International career

Steiner was one of the oldest debutants in the Germany national team, when he appeared as a 33-year-old substitute in the final

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

ahead of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, against

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at Gelsenkirchen's

Parkstadion Parkstadion () was a multi-purpose stadium in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, that is no longer used to host any major events. The stadium was built in 1973 and hosted five matches of the 1974 FIFA World Cup.Bayer Uerdingen KFC Uerdingen 05 is a German football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The former Bundesliga side enjoyed its greatest successes in the 1980s but now plays in the fifth-level Oberliga. History The ...

's Holger Fach, who had been the expected pick of coach Franz Beckenbauer as

Klaus Augenthaler Klaus "Auge" Augenthaler (born 26 September 1957) is a German former professional football player and manager. A defender, he won seven Bundesliga titles in his 15-year club career with Bayern Munich. He also represented the West Germany nat ...

's understudy. Steiner was not recalled again after the tournament, where Germany defeated

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in the final and he did not play a single minute.

Personal life

Steiner was commonly quoted in Germany as stating in a

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

that

homosexuals Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

were "too soft" for playing football.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Steiner, Paul 1957 births Living people German men's footballers Men's association football defenders Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players SV Waldhof Mannheim players MSV Duisburg players 1. FC Köln players Germany men's international footballers Germany men's B international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers 1990 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players Footballers from Karlsruhe (region) West German men's footballers People from Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis