Ulrich "Uli" Stielike (born 15 November 1954) is a German former

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, rugb ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

. Usually a

central 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 ...

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 26 species in two genera. One species (''Pempheris xanth ...

, Stielike was well known for his stamina and footballing intelligence.Radnedge, Keir. (2004). The Complete Encyclopedia of Football. London, United Kingdom. Stielike is one of a small handful of players (

Rainer Bonhof Rainer Bonhof (born 29 March 1952) is a German former professional footballer, who played as a defensive midfielder or wing-back. He was known for his occasional bursts upfield and his fierce shot. He was a key player for the 1974 West Germa ...

and

Manfred Kaltz Manfred Kaltz (born 6 January 1953) is a German former football player and manager, who played as a right-back. Kaltz played in the Bundesliga for Hamburger SV and 13 times (one goal) for FC Mulhouse in Ligue 1 after initially joining Mulhouse l ...

are others) to have played in all three European club finals (the

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 ...

European 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 tournam ...

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 solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

), the

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 has ...

Final and the

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 conte ...

Final.

Playing career

Club career

Stielike was a

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 ...

youth international for hometown club SpVgg Ketsch when he got signed by

runner-up

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 football club based in Mönchengladbach, Nort ...

in 1973, first coming to action as a full back for the then two-times German

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 footb ...

champion. Playing in defensive midfield for his club, he was part of the Mönchengladbach team that won the Bundesliga titles in 1975, 1976 and 1977 and the

in 1975, and he gained a runner-up medal in the

in 1977 following a 3–1 loss to Liverpool in the final. In five seasons he amassed 109 Bundesliga matches. Ahead of the 1977–78 season, Stielike moved on to join

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

to become a reliable fan-favourite in his eight years with ''Los merengues''. His first three seasons at Santiago Bernabéu all ended in Real winning

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

. In 1980 and 1982, he was part of the side winning

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 footb ...

, in 1985 he added the

Copa de la Liga The Copa de la Liga (League Cup in Spanish) was a Spanish football tournament created in 1982. Due to time constraints, saturation and club pressure, the competition only lasted four years, being cancelled in 1986. Winning the trophy helped two ...

, and finished off his Madrid years with the

triumph of the same summer. Following representatives votes of Spanish paper

Don Balón ''Don Balón'' is a Spanish weekly sports magazine specializing in Spanish and international football. The magazine was published in Barcelona between 1975 and 2011. It was distributed on five continents. Since 2011 ''Don Balón'' has been a full ...

, Stielike was four times in a row selected 'Best Foreign Player' in

between 1978 and 1981. In 1985, Stielike joined

Neuchâtel Xamax , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (Fra ...

and won two

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 seaso ...

trophies in 1987 and 1988 with the club. Stielike retired from his playing career in 1988. He appeared for Mönchengladbach, Real Madrid and Xamax in 83 matches in the European cup competitions.

International career

Stielike was capped in 42 internationals with

from 1975 to 1984 with whom he won 1980 UEFA European Football Championship and the runner-up medal at the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 ...

. Stielike did not feature for his country in 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 ...

after the

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge o ...

under Hermann Neuberger had decided to force their national coaches to not select players playing their club football outside the Bundesliga. A central figure for the defence of Real Madrid in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, Stielike could only partially live up to those expectations in his duties for West Germany. Early hopes had been that he could be the ideal successor of legendary sweeper

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...

, with whom he played in a few internationals in the 1970s, but Stielike's playing strengths did not lend itself to that role. Stielike played in the now legendary semi-final match of the 1982 World Cup against France, which ended in a 3–3 draw after extra time. A famous photograph from the resulting shootout showed Stielike being consoled by a young

Pierre Littbarski Pierre Michael Littbarski (; born 16 April 1960) is a German professional football manager and former player of 1. FC Köln and the West Germany national team. Known for his dribbling abilities, he was mainly used as an attacking midfielder or ...

after having just missed a penalty, his head buried in Littbarski's shirt. West Germany eventually won 5–4 on penalties, and then went on to lose 3–1 to

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 ...

in the final. Stielike's final appearance for his country took place against

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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

(3–1 loss) in September 1984 in Beckenbauer's first match in charge of West Germany. Over those years Stielike scored three goals, the last in a 3–2 win over

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

in Varna in February 1984. Shortly afterwards he was named in Jupp Derwall's squad for the 1984 UEFA European Football Championship.

Style of play

Stielike usually played as a central midfielder, although he was also capable of playing as a sweeper. A combative and imposing player, he was well known for his stamina, positioning, commitment, and footballing intelligence, as well as his personality and forcefulness in midfield.

Managerial career

Early career

After his retirement from his playing career, Stielike was the coach of the

Switzerland national football team The Switzerland national football team (german: Schweizer Fussballnationalmannschaft, it, Nazionale di calcio della Svizzera, french: Équipe nationale suisse de football, rm, Squadra naziunala da ballape da la Svizra) represents Switzerland ...

from 1989 to 1991 as successor of

Daniel Jeandupeux Daniel Jeandupeux (born 7 February 1949) is a Swiss football manager and retired football forward. Career Born in Saint-Imier, Jeandupeux began playing football for FC La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1972, he joined FC Zürich, where he would win two S ...

and predecessor of

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is a former English football manager and player. He managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstads BK in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to ...

. From 1994 to 1996, Stielike also had managerial spells at club level with

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

in Spain and SV Waldhof Mannheim in the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

in Germany.

Germany

In 1998, Stielike had been interviewed by Egidius Braun, the then chairman of the

, following a vacancy occurred through the resignation of

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 w ...

from the head coaching job of Germany in 1998. He believed Braun would offer him the succession of Vogts, consequently heading into an interview with

kicker (Sports magazine) ''Kicker'' (stylized in all lowercase) is Germany's leading sports magazine, focused primarily on football. The magazine was founded in 1920 by German football pioneer Walther Bensemann and is published twice weekly, usually Monday and Thursd ...

in this (mistaken) belief. After further talks with Braun had disclosed that Stielke would only be appointed assistant coach rather than head coach, Stielike had to retract some remarks (e.g. concerning

Andreas Möller Andreas Möller (born 2 September 1967) is a German former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is the head of the youth department at Eintracht Frankfurt. Club career At club level, Möller played for Eintrach ...

). From 9 September 1998 to 7 May 2000, Stielike had been the assistant to then

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 betwee ...

coach

Erich Ribbeck Erich Ribbeck (born 13 June 1937) is a German former professional football player and manager, best known for coaching in the Bundesliga. In 1988, he won the UEFA Cup as manager of Bayer Leverkusen, the first title in the club's history. Club c ...

. Shortly before 2000 UEFA European Championship, which ended in a disaster for the Germans, Stielike stepped down from his role as assistant due to differences in some respects with Ribbeck. He was replaced by Horst Hrubesch for the tournament. Stielike spent six years working with different youth teams (i.e. the U21 side until 2004) of

and manager of Germany national under-20 football team of

2001 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar del ...

and

2003 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. U20 Brazil claimed their fourth title. The 2003 championship was the 14th contested. The tournament was originally planned to be ...

Ivory Coast

On 14 September 2006, Stielike penned a contract with to take over the Ivory Coast national team in succession of Frenchman

Henri Michel Henri Louis Michel (28 October 1947 – 24 April 2018) was a French football player and coach. He played as a midfielder for Nantes and the France national team, and later went on to coach various clubs and national teams all over the worl ...

, subsequent to the elimination of the team at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

. Stielike stepped down as ''Les Éléphants'' coach on 7 January 2008 due to his son's alarming ill health. On 1 February, Michael Stielike, 23, died after failing to receive a lung transplant, with his health gradually deteriorating until he was eventually put on life support.

FC Sion

On 31 May 2008, he agreed to coach Swiss side

FC Sion Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and ...

, but was fired on 3 November 2008. On 5 January 2009 he then signed a contract with Al-Arabi Sports Club.

South Korea

On 5 September 2014, Stielike was named manager of the South Korea national team, signing a four-year contract running through the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

. In his first game in charge, South Korea defeated

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to t ...

2–0 in a friendly match. His side began its

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 201 ...

campaign with a 1–0 win over

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

, followed by victories with the same scoreline over

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...

and hosts

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. South Korea qualified to the knockout stage as group winners with nine points and faced

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

in the quarter-finals. Though the game remained scoreless for the first 90 minutes, two goals from Son Heung Min in extra time helped South Korea reach the semi-finals against

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. Beating Iran, 2–0, in the semifinal, South Korea ultimately finished as runner-up after losing to

2–1 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

. Despite the loss, the team restored its public image that had been damaged after the 2014 World Cup. The team received praise for having one of the strongest defenses in the tournament, conceding no goals until the final. Stielike's team got off to a good start in the second round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, not conceding a single goal and winning all eight matches in Group G. The third round of Group A matches did not go as well, however, and Stielike face heavy criticism over team selection and tactics after a 1–0 loss to Iran on 11 October 2016 and another 1–0 loss on 23 March 2017 to China (only Korea's second loss to China in 32 matches). A 3–2 loss to Qatar on 13 June 2017 was South Korea's third defeat in its first eight matches in Group A; the setback was South Korea's first to Qatar in 32 years. This horrible run of results led to Stielike's dismissal by the

Korea Football Association The Korea Football Association () is the governing body of football and futsal within South Korea. It sanctions professional, semi-professional and amateur football in South Korea. Founded in 1933, the governing body became affiliated with F ...

(KFA) on 15 June 2017. After the loss to Qatar, South Korea remained second in Group A, seven points behind the already qualified Iran but just one point ahead of third-place Uzbekistan, with each team having played eight matches in Group A. South Korea faced Iran and then Uzbekistan in their final two Group A matches. In the end, the Taegeuk Warriors finished second in the group to qualify despite two goalless draws under

Shin Tae-yong Shin Tae-yong (, Hanja: 申台龍; born on 11 May 1970) is a South Korean former professional footballer and manager who is currently coaching the Indonesia national football team. He is the first man to win the Asian Club Championship/AFC Cha ...

, Stielike's successor.

Controversies

Since Stielike was sacked from South Korea, South Korean reporters revealed that Stielike had turned command over to one of the coaching staff due to players' dissatisfaction after two group matches in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. In an interview after the disclosures, Shin Tae-yong, the assistant manager at the time, testified that the South Korea's result in the 2015 Asian Cup was achieved by him, not by Stielike. Stielike was also criticized that his co-worker Carlos Armua had uncertain career and capability.

Tianjin Teda

On 11 September 2017, Stielike took over

Tianjin Teda Tianjin Jinmen Tiger Football Club is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Tianjin, and their home stadium is t ...

of the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

. He left on 19 August 2020.

Honours

As a player

Borussia Mönchengladbach *

: 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77 *

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 ...

: 1972–73 *

: 1974–75 *

runner-up: 1976–77 Real Madrid *

: 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80 *

: 1979–80, 1981–82 *

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

: 1984–85 *

runner-up: 1980–81 *

runner-up: 1982–83 Neuchâtel Xamax *

: 1986–87, 1987–88 West Germany *

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 – In ...

runner-up:

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

Individual *

: Don Balón Award for Best Foreign Player: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982

As a manager

Al-Sailiya *

Qatargas League The Qatari Second Division ( ar, دوري الدرجة الثانية القطري), QSD or Second Division League, also was known as Qatargas League due to sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of football league competition in Qatar. Contested ...

: 2011–12 South Korea *

EAFF East Asian Cup EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the East ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

runner-up:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stielike, Uli 1954 births Living people German expatriate footballers German expatriate sportspeople in South Korea German footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland German expatriate sportspeople in Spain Germany international footballers Borussia Mönchengladbach players La Liga players Real Madrid CF players Neuchâtel Xamax FCS players UEFA European Championship-winning players UEFA Euro 1980 players 1982 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1984 players German football managers Bundesliga players Switzerland national football team managers Segunda División managers UD Almería managers Neuchâtel Xamax FCS managers FC Sion managers Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) managers Ivory Coast national football team managers SV Waldhof Mannheim managers People from Karlsruhe (district) Sportspeople from Karlsruhe (region) Expatriate football managers in Qatar Expatriate football managers in Spain Expatriate football managers in Switzerland German expatriate football managers South Korea national football team managers 2015 AFC Asian Cup managers Expatriate football managers in South Korea Expatriate football managers in China UEFA Cup winning players German beach soccer players Germany national under-21 football team managers Association football sweepers Association football midfielders Swiss Super League players Footballers from Baden-Württemberg Chinese Super League managers