Benjamin Lauth (born 4 August 1981) 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 striker. He is most commonly known for his two spells at

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's association football, football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football league system ...

. At international level, he represented Germany at under-18 and under-21 youth levels. Playing for the senior

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, he earned five caps scoring three goals.

Club career

1860 Munich

Born in

Hausham Hausham is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Miesbach in Bavaria in south-eastern Germany. Geography Hausham is located approximately 45 km south of Munich, between Miesbach and Schliersee (Gemeinde), Schliersee. It ...

, Bavaria, Lauth began his career with

in 1992, where he had played in his youth years. He gradually established himself as their leading striker. In 2002, he scored the German ''Goal of the Year'' with a

bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick or scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before ...

Hamburger SV

In 2004, 1860 Munich was relegated, and he moved to

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

. However, his progress was hampered by a string of nagging injuries, limiting him to only ten appearances in the 2004–05 season. However, he regained his form and earned himself a starting place in the HSV attack for much of the 2005–06 season.

VfB Stuttgart (loan)

On 25 January 2007, Lauth was loaned to

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 ...

, playing his first Bundesliga game against

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 ...

on 30 January. That season Stuttgart went on to win 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 ...

, earning Lauth a medal.

Hannover 96

On 3 July 2007, he moved to

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 ...

. At Hannover he played the last 21 of his 140 German top-flight matches.

Return to 1860 Munich

In July 2008, he returned to 1860 Munich. In December 2012, the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

suspended Lauth for four matches after ruling he had elbowed Marcel Reichwein of

VfR Aalen Verein für Rasenspiele 1921 Aalen e.V., known simply as VfR Aalen, is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg. The football team is part of a larger sports club which also offers its members gymnastics, tab ...

in a 1–1 draw on 30 November. In April 2014, 1860 Munich decided not to renew his contract. His final goal came against

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 ...

on 4 May 2014. In September 2015, Lauth announced his retirement.

International career

Lauth scored one goal in one appearance for the Germany under-18 youth team. For the Germany under-21s, he scored four goals in eight matches. He made his senior international debut for

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

on 16 December 2002, in a charity match between the national team and a selection of foreign players of the

. He scored twice in the 4–2 win. In total, he earned five caps but did not score for "the Mannschaft".

Personal life

Lauth is subject of the song ''Lauth anhören'' (a

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

of ''laut anhören'', listen loudly) by

Sportfreunde Stiller Sportfreunde Stiller () is a German indie rock band from Germering near Munich, Bavaria. History The band was founded by Peter Brugger (guitar, vocals), Florian "Flo" Weber (drums), and Andi Erhard (bass). They initially wanted to name themse ...

, who are avid

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n football fans. Lauth was talented for tennis and skiing, at a young age he was offered the opportunity to go the young German academy for skiing.

Career statistics

Honours

Hamburger SV *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

VfB Stuttgart *

: 2006–07 *

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 ...

runner-up: 2006–07 Ferencváros *

Hungarian Cup The Hungarian Cup (, ), officially known as MOL Magyar Kupa for sponsorship reasons, is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association'','' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of ...

: 2014–15 * Hungarian League Cup: 2014–15 Individual *

Goal of the Year (Germany) The Goal of the Year in Germany is, like the '' Goal of the Month'' ( Tor des Monats), the ''Goal of the Decade'' and ''Goal of the Century'', an individual football award selected by spectators of the '' Sportschau'' ( ARD German TV), among spect ...

: 2002

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lauth, Benjamin 1981 births People from Miesbach (district) Footballers from Upper Bavaria Living people Men's association football forwards German men's footballers Germany men's international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers TSV 1860 Munich players TSV 1860 Munich II players Hamburger SV players VfB Stuttgart players Hannover 96 players Ferencvárosi TC footballers Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players German expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary German expatriate sportspeople in Hungary 21st-century German sportsmen