Soccer Memories-Part 63– Germany National Team’s One-Cap Wonders in the 1990s.

 I look back at (West) Germany National Team’s One-Cap Wonders in the 1990s.

The side was managed briefly by Franz Beckenbauer in the beginning of the decade before Berti Vogts took over for the majority of the decade.

Erich Ribbeck would manage for the tail end of the decade.

The aim is to look upon the reason, background, and circumstances why a certain player was selected for a match but never again.

 

Paul Steiner, 1990:

The 33-year-old defender Paul Steiner was selected in a a pre-World Cup friendly match vs. Denmark on May 30^th, 1990 (1-0 win) at Gelsenkirchen.

He replaced Klaus Augenthaler in the 46^th minute.

Steiner started out with Waldhof Manheim in 1975. After four seasons he joined MSV Duisburg in 1979 and remained for two seasons.

He joined Koln in 1981 for a successful decade with the club. He won the DfB Pokal in 1983 and Koln were one of the top sides during his stay there.

He retired at Koln in 1991.

He was a surprise inclusion in the 1990 West Germany World Cup sqyad.

He was never really an option in West Germany’s 1990 World Cup winning side was just there to make up the numbers.

He was Franz Beckenbauer’s last one-cap wonder.

 
Photo From: Das Gesicht der Bundesliga 1987-88

(Paul Steiner)

Dietmar Beiersdorfer 1991:

27-year-old SV Hamburg defender Dietmar Beiersdorfer made his solitary appearance for his Nation in a Euro Qualifier vs. Belgium on May 1^st, 1991, at Hannover (1-0 win).

Beiersdorfer started out at Lower Division side ASV Herzogenaurach (1984), 1. FC Bamberg (1984/85) and Sp Vgg Furth (1985/86).

SV Hamburg signed him in 1986 and he would remain there until 1992.

After Hamburg, he had a successful spell at Werder Bremen (winning the Bundesliga title in 1993).

After Bremen, he had a short spell at FC Koln before playing in the Italian Serie A at Reggiana (1996/97) before retiring.

He was Berti Vogts’ first one-cap wonder.

 
Photo From: Das Gesicht der Bundesliga 1987-88 

(Dietmar Beiersdorfer)

Heiko Scholz, 1992

(Copied from East Germans in the Unified German National Team-Part 1 (1990-94).)

See:

https://soccernostalgia.blogspot.com/2023/05/soccer-memories-part-54-east-germans-in.html

Former East German defender, the 26-year-old, Heiko Scholz started at Chemie Leipzig in 1984 before joining Lokomotive Leipzig in 1986.

He earned 7 caps for East Germany (1987-1990).

He joined Dynamo Dresden in 1990, before moving west to Bayer Leverkusen in 1992. It was there that he earned his one and only cap for Germany in 1992 vs. Mexico.

He was selected in a friendly match vs. Mexico on October 14^th, 1992 (1-1 tie) at Dresden.

He remained in Leverkusen until 1995, before joining Werder Bremen (1995-1998), Fortuna Koln (1998), Wattenscheid (1998-1999) and Dresdner SC (1999-2000).

 

 
Photo From: Fußball
Bundesliga 1995-96 Junior Stickers

(Heiko Scholz)

Thomas Wolter, 1992:

The 29-year-old Werder Bremen Defender / Midfielder Thomas Wolter was selected in a friendly match vs. Brazil on December 16th, 1992 (1-3 loss) at Porto Alegre.

He was replaced in the 59th minute by Michael Zorc.

He spent his entire career at Werder Bremen, starting in 1984 and retiring in 1998, winning two Bundesliga titles in 1988 and 1993.

He also won the 1992 Cup Winners Cup with the club

 
Photo From: Das Gesicht der
Bundesliga 1987-88

(Thomas Wolter)

Bernd Hobsch, 1993

(Copied mostly from East Germans in the Unified German National Team-Part 1 (1990-94).)

See:

https://soccernostalgia.blogspot.com/2023/05/soccer-memories-part-54-east-germans-in.html

The 25-year-old striker, Bernd Hobsch started at Chemie Bohlen in 1986 before joining Lokomotive Leipzig in 1987.

He made appearances for the East German U-21 Team in this period.

He remained at Leipzig until 1992 before joining Werder Bremen in 1992.

He would be noticed in Otto Rehhagel’s successful Bremen side and win the Bundesliga title in 1992/93.

He would gain his lone cap in a friendly vs. Tunisia in 1993. He was selected in a friendly match vs. Tunisia on September 22^nd, 1993 (1-1 tie) at Tunis.

He replaced Guido Buchwald in the 80^th minute.

After Werder Bremen, he joined French side Stade Rennais (1997/98) and then TSV Munich 1860 (1998/99), Nuremberg (1999-2002) and finally Carl Zeiss Jena (2002).

 
Photo From: Fußball
Bundesliga 1994-95 Junior Stickers

(Bernd Hobsch)

Karl-Heinz Pflipsen, 1993:

The 22-year-old Mönchengladbach midfielder Karl-Heinz Pflipsen made one appearance in a match as part of the US Cup at Chicago on June 13th, 1993, vs. the Unites States (4-3 win). He replaced Jürgen Klinsmann in the 70th minute.

He started out at Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1989 and remained with the club for a decade until 1999.

After Mönchengladbach, he had a spell in Greek Football with Panathinaikos (1999 thru 2001), before returning home to Alemania Aachen (2001 thru 2004).

He spent one last season at TSV 1860 Munich (2004-05) before retiring.

Photo From: Fußball
Bundesliga 1994-95 Junior Stickers

(Karl-Heinz Pflipsen)

Thomas Ritter, 1993

(Copied mostly from East Germans in the Unified German National Team-Part 1 (1990-94).)

See:

https://soccernostalgia.blogspot.com/2023/05/soccer-memories-part-54-east-germans-in.html

the 26-year-old defender Thomas Ritter started at Dynamo Dresden in 1987. After short spells at Fortschritt Bischofswerda and TSG Meissen, he joined Stuttgarter Kickers in 1990.

He joined Kaiserslautern in 1992 and remained there until 1995. He came to notice in Kaiserslautern’s successful season (1993/94) and earned his one and only cap for Germany in a friendly vs. Uruguay in October 1993.

He was selected in a friendly match vs. Uruguay on October 13^th, 1993 (5-0 win) at Karlsruhe.

He replaced Stefan Effenberg in the 87^th minute.

After Kaiserslautern, he joined a number of clubs (including Karlsruhe and clubs in Austria and China) until 2005.

Photo From: Fußball
Bundesliga 1995-96 Junior Stickers 

(Thomas Ritter)

René Schneider, 1995:

(Copied mostly from East Germans in the Unified German National Team-Part 2 (1995-97).)

See:

https://soccernostalgia.blogspot.com/2023/09/soccer-memories-part-57-east-germans-in.html

The 22-year-old defender was with Magdeburg (1989-1993) before joining BSV Brandenburg, and later Hansa Rostock in 1994.

He made a sole appearance with the National Team in a friendly on December 16^th, 1995, vs. South Africa (scoreless tie) at Johannesburg.

He would not make further appearances for the National Team but was part of the 1996 Euros winning side.

He joined Borussia Dortmund in 1996 and was part of the 1997 Champions League winning side, but he did not make many appearances in his three seasons with the club.

He rejoined Hansa Rostock in 1999 and wound down his career with spells at SV Hamburg (2001/02), VfL Osnabruck (2002/04) and SV Warnemunde (2004/07).

 
Photo From: Fußball
Bundesliga 1995-96 Junior Stickers 

(René Schneider)

Oliver Reck, 1996:

The 31-year-old Werder Bremen goalkeeper Oliver Reck made one appearance in a pre-Euros friendly vs. Liechtenstein on June 4th, 1996, (9-1 win) at Mannheim.

Reck started out at Kickers Offenbach in 1983 and remained until 1985. Werder Bremen signed him in 1985. He would be the starter during the 1987/88 season, taking over from Dieter Burdenski. Werder Bremen would win the Bundesliga title in his first season as a starter. He would also win the Bundesliga title in 1993 as well as the Cup Winners Cup in 1992.

He left Bremen in 1998 and played at Schalke before retiring in 2003.

Reck was never in line to be a starter as contemporaries Eike Immel, Andreas Kopke, Bodo Illgner and Oliver Kahn were all ahead of him in the pecking order.

He would be part of the 1996 Euros winning side. 

He would be Berti Vogts’ last one-cap wonder.

 
Photo From: Das Gesicht der
Bundesliga 1987-88

(Oliver Reck)

Marco Reich, 1999:

The 21-year-old Kaiserslautern midfielder Marco Reich made one appearance in a friendly vs. Colombia on February 9th, 1999, (3-3 tie) at Miami in USA.

He was replaced in the 79th minute by Lars Ricken.

He started out with Kaiserslautern in 1996 and remained with the club until 2001.

He was part of the then newly promoted side that won the Bundesliga title in 1997/98 season.

After Kaiserslautern, he played for a number of clubs such as Koln (2001/02), Werder Bremen (2002 thru 2004), English side Derby County (2004/05), English side Crystal Palace (2005 thru 2007), back home to Kickers Offenbach (2007/08), back to England with Walsall (2008/09), to Poland with Jagiellonia Białysto (2009), Austrian side WAC St. Andrä (2010/11), Austrian side Austria Klagenfurt (2011/12) and finally another Austrian side Villacher SV (2012/13).

He was Erich Ribbeck’s first one-cap wonder.

Photo From: Germany Panini
2002-03 

(Marco Reich)