Toni Tapalović (born 10 October 1980) 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 is currently the assistant coach of

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Club career

Throughout his career, he played for lower clubs or for the reserve teams. Tapalović began his career in 1986 at Fortuna Gelsenkirchen. In 1990, he moved to the youth squad of

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

. In 1999, he was promoted to the "A" youth and amateur team. He later received a professional contract for two years, lasting until 2001, but withdrew in August 1999 because of a knee injury in the inner meniscus. In 2002, he moved to

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

, where he was under contract until January 2004. In both teams he played for 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 ...

, he was a substitute goalkeeper without Bundesliga match practice. In January 2004, he joined the Uerdingen 05 in the

Regionalliga West The Regionalliga West is a German professional football division administered by the German Football Association#Western Germany, Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. ...

. He played there until June 2005. During his time at Uerdingen 05, he made 26 appearances for the team. In December 2005, Tapalović joined the then second division side

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Fussball-Club Kickers, commonly known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left establis ...

, but did not play. In 2006, he returned to FC Schalke 04. After the departure of

Frank Rost Frank Rost (born 30 June 1973) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He comes from a sporting family background; his father Peter won a gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in handball, and his mother Christina ...

in January 2007, Tapalović was again the substitute goalkeeper for the team. In 2010, he joined the German Bundesliga team

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...

's second team. In October 2010, Tapalović retired after a test confirmed a

torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

and a tear of the

medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament (MCL), also called the superficial medial collateral ligament (sMCL) or tibial collateral ligament (TCL), is one of the major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial (inner) side of the knee joint and occurs in ...

which would force him to be out for six months.

Coaching career

On 1 July 2011, he was appointed as the goalkeeping coach of

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. He had a contract with Bayern until 30 June 2021. He later extended his contract until 2023, due to success of working with

Manuel Neuer Manuel Peter Neuer (; born 27 March 1986) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for and captain (association football), captains club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munic ...

. On 23 January 2023, he was released from his duties at Bayern due to differences about the way of working with other staff members, according to sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić.

Personal life

His brother Filip Tapalović is also a former footballer who played for Croatia national team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tapalovic, Toni 1980 births Footballers from Gelsenkirchen FC Schalke 04 II players FC Schalke 04 players VfL Bochum II players Living people German people of Croatian descent Men's association football goalkeepers German men's footballers FC Bayern Munich non-playing staff Association football goalkeeping coaches 1. FSV Mainz 05 II players KFC Uerdingen 05 players Regionalliga players Oberliga (football) players Kickers Offenbach players 21st-century German sportsmen