Thomas Häberli (born 11 April 1974) is a Swiss 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 ...

manager and former player who played as a striker. He is currently the manager of the Estonia national team.

Club history

Born in

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

, Switzerland, Häberli began his career with the semi-professional club FC Eschenbach, based in

Eschenbach, Lucerne Eschenbach is a municipality in the district of Hochdorf in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. History Eschenbach is first mentioned in 924 as ''Eskinpah'' or as ''Essinpahc''. Coat of arms The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is ''Or, ...

just outside his hometown of

Central Switzerland Central Switzerland is the region of the Alpine Foothills geographically the heart and historically the origin of Switzerland, with the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Lucerne and Zug. Central Switzerland is one of the NUTS 2 Statist ...

. In 1994, he moved to

FC Le Mont Football-Club Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, commonly known as FCL Mont LS, is a Swiss football club based in Le Mont-sur-Lausanne Le Mont-sur-Lausanne (, literally ''Le Mont on Lausanne''; frp, Lo Mont) is a municipality in the district of Lausanne in ...

, based in

Le Mont-sur-Lausanne Le Mont-sur-Lausanne (, literally ''Le Mont on Lausanne''; frp, Lo Mont) is a municipality in the district of Lausanne in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is a suburb of the city of Lausanne. History Le Mont-sur-Lausanne is first mentione ...

, in the French-speaking region of Switzerland. After just four appearances he was quickly snapped up by their bigger local rivals and in 1995, aged 20, he signed for

FC Lausanne-Sport FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport played in the Swiss Super League in their most recent 2021-22 season, the highest tier of football ...

. However he suffered back problems and so he cancelled his contract at Lausanne-Sport and

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

from

professional football In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...

. For the 1996–97 season, he signed on with former club FC Hochdorf in his home

Canton of Lucerne The canton of Lucerne (german: Kanton Luzern rm, Chantun Lucerna french: Canton de Lucerne it, Canton Lucerna) is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland. The population of the canton (as of ) is . , the populati ...

, who at the time were playing in the fifth tier of the Swiss football pyramid. In 1997, he moved to another local side

FC Schötz Fussballclub Schötz is a football club from Schötz, Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal ...

, based in

Schötz Schötz is a municipality in the district of Willisau in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Ohmstal merged into the municipality of Schötz.professional footballer Association football is the world's most popular sport and is worth US$600 billion worldwide. By the end of the 20th century it was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries. Around the world, the sport is played at a professi ...

. He called another local side

SC Kriens SC Kriens is a football club based in Kriens, Switzerland, who currently play in the Swiss Challenge League. They currently play at the Stadion Kleinfeld and form a local rivalry with FC Lucerne. SC Kriens women's team plays in the Nationall ...

who offered him a trial and impressed enough to earn a contract. His time at playing in the

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...

was a success and soon

top flight Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age. Background Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...

clubs were taking note. In 2000, he signed for

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...

but quickly moved to

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

to play for

BSC Young Boys BSC Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation ) are a Swiss sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 15 Swiss league championships and six Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss football clubs internationally, reac ...

where he remained until the end of his active career. At that time Häberli was the longest serving player at the club. He is known at the club for being both loyal and down to earth, qualities that are said to be rare in the modern day professional game. In the 2007–08 season Häberli scored 18 goals and finished second in the goalscoring charts, behind teammate

Hakan Yakin Hakan Yakin ( tr, Hakan Yakın; born 22 February 1977) is a Swiss football coach and a former player who played as a forward or midfielder. He is the manager of Schaffhausen. He was a member of the Swiss national team for eleven years. Early a ...

, as

finished second after defeat to winners

on the final day of the season. He was contracted to the club until 30 June 2010.

International career

In 2004, he made his only appearance so far for

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

against the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

. For

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

there was speculation amongst the media and the fans that he would be recalled due to his excellent form, and the injury sustained to

Blaise Nkufo Isetsima Blaise Nkufo (born 25 May 1975) is a Swiss former international footballer who played as a striker and current coach of Rino's Tigers in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League. He was born in Zaire and raised in Switzerland from the age o ...

. He was recalled into the provisional squad by coach

Köbi Kuhn Jakob "Köbi" Kuhn (12 October 1943 – 26 November 2019) was a Swiss football player and manager. During his playing career he played primarily for FC Zürich and won 63 caps for Switzerland, one of which was at the 1966 FIFA World Cup in Engl ...

and played in a warm up game with the squad in an unofficial friendly against the U21 side of

FC Lugano FC Lugano is a Swiss football club based in Lugano. The club was refounded as AC Lugano in 2004 as a result of relegation and the financial situation of FC Lugano, which was founded in 1908. In 2008, the club reverted to its original name, FC Lu ...

, scoring a goal. However, when the final squad was announced, the next day, Häberli did not make the final cut.

Coaching career

Young Boys

Häberli was hired as U-18 manager for Young Boys in 2010. After first team manager Vladimir Petkovic was fired, Häberli was appointed as the caretaker manager on 8 May 2011 alongside assistant manager Erminio Piserchia, until the 1 July 2011, where

Christian Gross Christian Jürgen Gross (born 14 August 1954) is a Swiss football manager and former player who most recently coached Schalke 04. He played as a sweeper and central midfielder. Gross was manager of Basel from 1 July 1999 to 27 May 2009, winning ...

would take over. After the summer, the continued coaching the U-18 squad. On 30 April 2012, Häberli was promoted to first team assistant manager under manager

Martin Rueda Martin Rueda (born 9 January 1963) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a defender. His parents are Spanish, coming from Málaga. He was most recently the interim head coach of Neuchâtel Xamax in the Swiss Super League. ...

. In April 2013 it was announced, that Häberli would take over the U-21 squad of the club.

FC Basel

On 26 April 2013 it was confirmed, that Häberli would take charge of

's U-21 squad from the 2013/14 season. In October 2015, Häberli changed position and was appointed as the club's new talent manager. He held this position until the beginning of the 2018/19 season, where he was appointed as first team assistant manager. Häberli resigned on 3 January 2019.

FC Luzern

On 21 February 2019, he was appointed as the manager of

FC Luzern Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (german: Luzern). It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Super League, the top tier of the Swiss football league syste ...

. After a bad start in the 2019-2020 season, he was sacked on 16 December 2019.

Estonia

On 5 January 2021, Häberli was appointed manager of the Estonia national team on a contract due to run until the end of

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tour ...

Managerial statistics

Personal life

Häberli is married to Olivia and has two daughters, Lielle and Eline, and lives with them in

Ballwil Ballwil is a municipality in the district of Hochdorf in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. History Ballwil is first mentioned in 924 as ''Paldiwilare''. Geography Ballwil is located in the Seetal valley, south of Lake Baldegg. The munici ...

, in Canton Lucerne. The house is next to the farm which his parents live on. Away from football he counts playing

Jass :Jass ''was also an early name for Jazz music. For other uses, see JASS.'' Jass ()David Parlett ''The Oxford guide to card games'', pg. 292-293, David Parlett (1990) is a family of trick taking, Ace-Ten card games and, in its key forms, a distin ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

as his hobbies.

Honours

As Manager

;Estonia * Baltic Cup:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

External links

Swiss Football League profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haberli, Thomas Living people 1974 births Association football forwards Swiss men's footballers Switzerland international footballers Swiss Super League players FC Le Mont players BSC Young Boys players FC Basel players FC Lausanne-Sport players SC Kriens players FC Luzern managers Estonia national football team managers Swiss football managers Sportspeople from Lucerne