Rüdiger Kauf (born 1 March 1975) is a German former professional footballer who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. After having a short spell at

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

he moved to Arminia Bielefeld in 2001. He is called "Rübe" (English:

Beet The beetroot (British English) or beet (North American English) is the taproot portion of a '' Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'' plant in the Conditiva Group. The plant is a root vegetable also known as the table beet, garden beet, dinner ...

) by the Arminia fans.

Career

Born in

Esslingen am Neckar Esslingen am Neckar (Swabian German, Swabian: ''Esslenga am Neckor''; until 16 October 1964 officially '' Eßlingen am Neckar'') is a town in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, seat of the Esslingen (district), Distri ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Kauf started his career in the youth team of TV Hochdorf in 1982. From 1994 to 1996 he played for SC Geislingen and from 1996 to 1998 for VfL Kirchheim/Teck. In 1998, Kauf signed his first professional contract with

. In the 1999–2000 season, he debuted in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. In the three years at Stuttgart he was not able to get a permanent place in the first team and so he left for Arminia Bielefeld in the 2. Bundesliga. With Bielefeld he achieved the promotion to the Bundesliga in the 2001–02 season. The club was relegated in the season after but achieved immediate promotion again in the 2003–04 season. Kauf had been an integral part of the team and had also been captain for Arminia Bielefeld. Following injuries during the 2010–11 season, he retired at the end of that season.

Style of play

In Bielefeld, Kauf was an undisputed regular and the so-called "midfield engine" of Arminia due to his tireless running performance and ball-winning ability. He stood out especially for his commitment and readiness for running.

References

External links

* 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Esslingen am Neckar Footballers from Stuttgart (region) German men's footballers Men's association football midfielders VfL Kirchheim/Teck players VfB Stuttgart players VfB Stuttgart II players Arminia Bielefeld players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players {{germany-footy-midfielder-1970s-stub