Rainer Bonhof (born 29 March 1952) is a German 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 le ...

, who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or wing-back. He was known for his occasional bursts upfield and his fierce shot. He was a key player for the 1974 West Germany national team that won the World Cup (defeating the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

2–1 in the final, where he provided the assist to the winning goal). Bonhof was one of the stars for his club side,

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

and won numerous domestic league and cup titles.

Playing career

Bonhof was born in

Emmerich am Rhein Emmerich am Rhein ( Low Rhenish and nl, Emmerik) is a city and municipality in the northwest of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The city has a harbour and a quay at the Rhine. In terms of local government organization, it is ...

, North Rhine-Westphalia. He was part of the highly successful

side of the 1970s, winning numerous

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 ...

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 considere ...

, and

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

titles. He was widely recognized for having one of the game's hardest free-kicks as well as long and precise throw-ins. He scored 14 goals in European cup competitions and amassed 57 goals in the West German top-flight. Bonhof was awarded the ARD Goal of the Month on three occasions, twice for free-kicks and once for a 30-metre strike. He won his first of 53 caps in 1972. Bonhof became (at that time)

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 ...

's youngest World Champion on 7 July 1974 following his team's 2–1 win over the

in Munich's

Olympiastadion Olympiastadion is the German, Finnish and Swedish word for Olympic Stadium and may refer to: * Stockholm Olympic Stadium, the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics (though mostly referred as simply ''Stockholms Stadion'') * Olympiastadion (Berlin), the ...

at the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

. His penetrating run into the opposition penalty area and pass to

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led to the winning goal in that game. Two matches earlier Bonhof scored the goal that put

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

up 2–1 against Sweden, a match the Germans eventually won 4–2, which clinched their place in the semi-finals. Bonhof was a fixture in the West German national team from the World Cup onward. He was one of the best players in the 1976 European Championship, assisting on four of the six West German goals in the semi-final and final (West Germany lost to

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

on penalties in the final). Bonhof played in every match of the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

when West Germany was eliminated in the second round following a 3–2 defeat at the hands of their historic rivals,

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. He continued to play an important role in the national team following his transfer to Valencia. His move and that of

Uli Stielike Ulrich "Uli" Stielike (born 15 November 1954) is a German former footballer and manager. Usually a central midfielder or sweeper, Stielike was well known for his stamina and footballing intelligence.Radnedge, Keir. (2004). The Complete Encyclop ...

prompted the DFB to remove their ban on selecting foreign based players for the national team. He played a role in qualifying for the 1980 European Championships and was selected for the squad, but injuries kept him from making an appearance during the West German victory. His last appearance for the national team came in a 4–1 defeat at the hands of Brazil, and in spite of a strong

campaign for 1. FC Köln in 1981–82 he was not selected to return to the national team. From 1980 to 2012 Bonhof was the only player to win the European Championships twice, although he did not play a single game in either the 1972 or 1980 finals. He now shares the record with 12 players from the Spain national team which won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2012. Bonhof remains the most decorated player in the history of the European Championships, with two gold medals and one silver. Former

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

goalkeeper,

Ray Clemence Raymond Neal Clemence, (5 August 1948 – 15 November 2020) was an England international football goalkeeper and part of the Liverpool team of the 1970s. He is one of only 31 players to have made over 1,000 career appearances, and holds the r ...

, in 1977 following a

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

final between the Reds and Borussia Mönchengladbach, admitted he feared Bonhof's shots. The fear was proved justified, as during the spring of 1978 Clemence was beaten twice by Bonhof from nearly identical locations, at the club and international level. A Bonhof shot had beat Clemence in the 1977 final too, but that strike hit the post. Bonhof's playing career was abruptly ended by an ankle injury in 1983.

Post-playing career

Bonhof went on to coach. He received his formal license in 1988, and has coached several teams. Bonhof was coach of Borussia Moenchengladbach in the late 1990s, but the team was relegated from the Bundesliga. He was appointed manager of the Scotland under-21 team in 2002, joining the Scotland national team setup some months after countryman

Berti Vogts Hans-Hubert "Berti" Vogts (; born 30 December 1946) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga his whole professional club career and won the FIFA World Cup wi ...

had been appointed

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

manager. Bonhof was the first full-time manager of the Scotland under-21 team. The team enjoyed initial success under Bonhof, winning an away qualifier against

and progressing to the qualifying playoffs for the 2004 European Championship. Scotland lost in the playoffs on aggregate to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. Bonhof continued as Scotland under-21 manager after Vogts resigned as national team manager in November 2004, but resigned in November 2005 after the team went on a run of 14 games without a victory. Bonhof had helped

Darren Fletcher Darren Barr Fletcher (born 1 February 1984) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player who is currently the technical director of Manchester United, where he spent the majority of his playing career. He mostly played as a cent ...

and

James McFadden James Henry McFadden (born 14 April 1983) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player who played as a forward. McFadden started his playing career with Motherwell, where he came to prominence in the 2002–03 season by scoring ...

progress to the full national team. On 1 September 2006, Bonhof signed a contract with recent

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

winners

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

to become their scout for the scopes of Germany and Austria. The contract was a rolling deal, allowing either Chelsea and Bonhof to break it up any time. The deal between Chelsea F.C. and Bonhof ended because of the club's high debts. Bonhof left London on 31 October 2008. On 11 February 2009, he was named as the new vice president of Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Honours

Borussia Mönchengladbach *

: 1970–71, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77 *

: 1972–73 *

: 1974–75 Valencia *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

: 1978–79 *

UEFA Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourna ...

: 1979–80 1. FC Köln *

: 1982–83 Germany *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

: Runner-up:

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

Individual *''

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

Team of the Season: 1973–74, 1976–77, 1977–78 *

UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament At the end of each UEFA European Championship tournament, several awards are attributed to the players and teams which have distinguished from the rest, in different aspects of the game. Awards There are currently five post-tournament awards, and o ...

: 1976 *

Goal of the Year (Germany) The Goal of the Year in Germany is, like the '' Goal of the Month'' ( Tor des Monats), the ''Goal of the Decade'' and ''Goal of the Century'', an individual football award selected by spectators of the ''Sportschau'' ( ARD German TV), among spect ...

: 1978

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonhof, Rainer 1952 births Living people People from Emmerich am Rhein Sportspeople from Düsseldorf (region) German footballers Footballers from North Rhine-Westphalia Association football midfielders Germany international footballers Germany under-21 international footballers UEFA Cup winning players FIFA World Cup-winning players UEFA European Championship-winning players UEFA Euro 1972 players 1974 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1976 players 1978 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1980 players Bundesliga players La Liga players Borussia Mönchengladbach players 1. FC Köln players Hertha BSC players Valencia CF players German football managers Bundesliga managers Kuwait Premier League managers Borussia Mönchengladbach managers Kuwait SC managers Scotland national under-21 football team managers German expatriate footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain German expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate football managers in Scotland German expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait Expatriate football managers in Kuwait