Marc Ziegler (born 13 June 1976) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He appeared in 103

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 ...

games over the course of 14 seasons, mainly at the service of

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 ...

(eight years). He also competed professionally in Turkey and Austria.

Career

Ziegler was born in

Blieskastel Blieskastel () is a city in the Saarpfalz-Kreis, Saarpfalz (Saar-Palatinate) district, in Saarland, Germany which is divided into villages. It is situated on the river Blies, approximately southwest of Homburg (Saar), west of Zweibrücken, and e ...

was immersed in a goalkeeping crisis after the defection of legendary

Eike Immel Eike Heinrich Immel (born 27 November 1960) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper from 1975 until 1997 for Borussia Dortmund, Vfb Stuttgart and Manchester City. He was capped at International level for West Germany ...

to England's

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in the 1995 summer. Youth graduate Ziegler – then 19 – won the battle for first choice over longtime backup Eberhard Trautner and played all the season's matches save five, but the club finished tenth with the second-worst defensive record in the

, only winning to

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

. In the following three years Ziegler only appeared in 12 more games combined, eventually leaving club and country in 2000 after a brief spell at

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia is most well known as ...

: he started in Turkey with

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

, then left in January 2001 to Austria, where he was the starter for

FC Tirol Innsbruck FC Tirol Innsbruck was an Austrian association football club from Innsbruck, Tyrol which existed between 1993 and 2002, when bankruptcy was declared. History Tirol Innsbruck was formed after the dissolvement of FC Swarovski Tirol in 1992 which w ...

in back-to-back

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

conquests. In his second year he also stayed unbeaten for more than 1,000 minutes, coming close to an all-time European best. Ziegler moved teams but stayed in the country in the 2002 summer, signing with

FK Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German language in Europe, German-speaking countries, is an Football in Austria, Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vi ...

, where he played rarely in two years, which were interspersed with a return to his country, at

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

. In the next two seasons, back in Germany, he played with former youth side

1. FC Saarbrücken 1. Fußball-Club Saarbrücken () is a German Football in Germany, football club based in Saarbrücken, Saarland. The club plays in the 3. Liga, which is the third tier of football in Germany. History The club began its existence as the footbal ...

(

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

) and Arminia again. Ziegler signed with

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

for the 2007–08 campaign, and split first-choice duties with

Roman Weidenfeller Roman Weidenfeller (born 6 August 1980) is a German former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Bundesliga clubs 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Borussia Dortmund, as well a ...

in that first year. On 29 January 2008, he saved a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

from

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

Diego Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. ...

– who had already beat him from the same spot – in the

German Cup The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English, is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundes ...

2–1 home win; in the subsequent seasons, however, he was second choice. On 13 May 2010, 34-year-old Ziegler signed a three-year contract with former side Stuttgart, effective as of 1 July 2010. His input in his second spell consisted of two appearances in the

2010–11 UEFA Europa League The 2010–11 UEFA Europa League was the second season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 40th edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 1 July 2010, with ...

, and he was released at the end of

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Honours

FC Tirol Innsbruck *

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

: 2000–01, 2001–02 1. FC Kaiserslautern *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 1996–97 VfB Stuttgart *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: runner-up 1997–98 *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German association football, football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five t ...

: runner-up 1997, 1998 Borussia Dortmund *DFB-Pokal: runner-up 2007–08

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ziegler, Marc 1976 births Living people People from Saarpfalz-Kreis German men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players VfB Stuttgart players VfB Stuttgart II players Arminia Bielefeld players Hannover 96 players 1. FC Saarbrücken players Borussia Dortmund players Süper Lig players Bursaspor footballers Austrian Football Bundesliga players FC Tirol Innsbruck players FK Austria Wien players Germany men's under-21 international footballers German expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Footballers from Saarland West German men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Austria German expatriate sportspeople in Turkey