Hans Jürgen Riediger (born 20 December 1955) 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 lea ...

who played as a striker for

BFC Dynamo Berliner Fussball Club Dynamo e. V., commonly abbreviated to BFC Dynamo () or BFC (), alternatively sometimes called Dynamo Berlin, is a German football club based in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg of Ber ...

, scoring 105 goals in 196

DDR-Oberliga The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany. Overview Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the Allied-occupied G ...

matches. At international level, he made 41 appearances for the East Germany national team scoring 6 goals. He participated in

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

and received the gold medal.

Career

Born in

Finsterwalde Finsterwalde (, , ) is a town in the Elbe-Elster district (German: Landkreis), in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. Overview It is situated on the Schackebach, a tributary of the Kleine Elster, 28 m. W.S.W of Cottbus by rail. Pop. (2005) 18,8 ...

, Riediger began playing football at BSG Traktor Sonnewalde in 1964, played for BSG Motor Finsterwalde Süd from 1965 to 1970, and joined the

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

in August 1970. The striker came to prominence with 34 matches for the East German Junior team. He participated in XXVI UEFA Turnire 1973. He scored goals for East Germany in the semi-final and the final. East Germany eventually lost the final 3–2 a.e.t. to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at the Stadio Comunale and received the silver medal. Riediger made his first appearance for

with the senior squad of BFC Dynamo on 20 June 1973 (the penultimate matchday of the season 1972–73, away match against BSG Sachsenring Zwickau under the trainer Günter Schröter), and the next and last matchday of the season, on 23 June 1973, he scored twice (37min. 2–0 and 39 min. 3–0) against

Wismut Aue Fußball Club Erzgebirge Aue e.V., commonly known as simply FC Erzgebirge Aue or Erzgebirge Aue (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Aue-Bad Schlema, Saxony. The former East German side was a founding member of the 3. ...

in Sportpark. He was promoted to the senior squad of BFC Dynamo in the summer of 1973. Riediger made his debut for the East Germany national team against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

on 26 March 1975 in Berlin

Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark The Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark is a multi-purpose sports complex located in the western part of the Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Prenzlauer Berg in the Boroughs and localities of Berlin, borough of Pankow in Berlin. The sp ...

under the trainer

Georg Büchner Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchn ...

, playing on snow for 90 minutes.　His first goal came on 31 July 1975, a friendly match with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in Ottawa (28min. 2–0). Riediger participated in the

in Montreal with experienced teammates

Jürgen Croy Jürgen Croy (born 19 October 1946) is a German former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He made 86 appearances for the East Germany national football team, East Germany ...

Hans-Jürgen Dörner Hans-Jürgen "Dixie" Dörner (25 January 1951 – 19 January 2022) was a German football player and coach. He distinguished himself during his career by being named East Germany's player of the year three times (1977, 1984 and 1985) – the on ...

, Reinhard Häfner, Reinhard Lauck et al. He played three matches there including the final 31 July 1976 and scored at the quarter-finals 25 July 1976 against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Riediger and teammates beat the defending champion

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

with 3–1 in raining

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

and won the gold medal. Then he won the silver medal at

1978 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 1978 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1976–78) had 24 entrants. Yugoslavia U-21s won the competition. The 24 national teams were divided into eight groups. The group winners played off against each other on a ...

under the trainer Dr. Rudolf Krause, scoring at the second leg of the final against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

(14min. 3–1) in Bijeli Brijeg Stadium,

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

. With his numerous goals he was heavily involved in the five DDR-Oberliga won by BFC Dynamo between 1979 and 1983. Altogether, Riediger made 193 top level appearances and scored 105 goals. Despite his outstanding goal ratio he never became top scorer of the top level league in East Germany. Mainly because there was

Joachim Streich Joachim Streich (13 April 1951 – 16 April 2022) was a German professional footballer who won the bronze medal with East Germany at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Playing career Born in Wismar, Streich played as a striker for Aufbau Wism ...

. Neverless, Riediger became second placed league top goal scorer in the successful 1978–79 season with 20 goals. The season saw BFC Dynamo winning their first DDR-Oberliga. For European Cups, he played 17 matches and scored 10 goals for BFC Dynamo in total, including goals against

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

(a hat trick),

Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. His 31-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the uni ...

Nottingham Forest F.C. Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1865, Nottingham Forest h ...

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (; born 21 June 1955) is a French association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'O ...

AS Saint-Étienne Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), abbreviated as A.S.S.E. () and commonly known as Saint-Étienne, is a French professional football club based in Saint-Étienne, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The club was founded in 1933 and competes ...

and

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

. The 1982–83 season was his last season and at the same time also his strongest. Riediger scored 16 goals in the first 15 league matches. However, he badly hurt his knee, which meant that both the season and his career were prematurely terminated. Riediger finished as the third best goalscorer of the 1982-83 DDR-Oberliga, despite only being able to play 15 matches before his injury. The best goalscorer, Joachim Streich of 1. FC Magdeburg, scored 19 goals in 25 matches. Riediger was registered to Jürgen Bogs's 1983–84 squad but could never play again. Riediger made 41 international appearances for the East Germany national football team and scored six goals in total. He, together with

Lothar Kurbjuweit Lothar Kurbjuweit (born 6 November 1950 in Riesa) is a former German footballer and football manager. Club Career Kurbjuweit played for Stahl Riesa (1965–1970) and Carl Zeiss Jena (1970–1983). International career On the national level K ...

and

Hartmut Schade Hartmut Schade (born 13 November 1954) is a German former footballer who played as a midfielder. He won the gold medal with the East German Olympic team at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He was born in Radeberg, East Germany. He played for Dynamo D ...

, officially retired from the national team on 20 October 1984, award presentation was held before the match between

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

and

. After his career ended, Riediger worked as a youth coach at BFC Dynamo. In addition, he was also coach of the local clubs TSG Fredersdorf and FSV Eintracht 1910 Königs Wusterhausen. His son Marcel Riediger is also a football player. Amongst other clubs, he has played for

and

Hallescher FC Hallescher FC, formerly known as Hallescher FC Chemie, is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt. The club currently plays in the Regionalliga, the fourth highest l ...

. Ridiger's chant sung by the opponents was "der Riediger, der Riediger, der ist ein selbst befriediger".

References

External links

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Hans-Jürgen Riediger
at imago-images.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Riediger, Hans-Jurgen 1955 births Living people People from Finsterwalde Sportspeople from Bezirk Cottbus German men's footballers East German men's footballers Footballers from Brandenburg Berliner FC Dynamo players Footballers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for East Germany Olympic gold medalists for East Germany East Germany men's international footballers Olympic medalists in football DDR-Oberliga players Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Men's association football forwards