Thomas Häßler

Midfielder Thomas “Icke” Häßler was on the West German football team that won the third-place match against Italy 3-0, and took the bronze medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Therefore, the team and all players were awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award. Häßler won 101 full international caps scoring 11 goals, and played with the Olympic team 12 times. With the German national team, he won the FIFA World Cup in 1990, played in the 1994 tournament, won the UEFA European Championship in 1996, and was runner-up in 1992.

Domestically, Häßler played with 1. FC Köln (1984-90), Karlsruher SC (1994-98), Borussia Dortmund (1998-99), and TSV 1860 München (1999-2003). From 1990-94 he moved to Italy playing with Juventus Turin (1990-91), and AS Rom. In 2003/04 he spent one season with SV Austria Salzburg in Austria. In total, Häßler played 400 Bundesliga matches and scored 68 goals. In 1989 and 1992 he was elected Soccer Player of the Year.

After his playing career, Häßler became assistant coach with 1. FC Köln, and in 2007 had a brief stint as assistant coach of the Nigerian national team. In 2016, he moved back to his birth town Berlin and coached Berlin United and then BFC Preussen Berlin. From 2016, Häßler appeared in several entertainment shows of German TV channels VOX and RTL, among others in Let’s Dance, Ewige Helden (Heroes Forever) and Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus (I’m a celebrity get me out of here!).