Manfred Starke (born 21 February 1991) is a Namibian 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 plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Club career

Starke was born in

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

, Namibia to a Namibian-born German father and a Dutch mother. He began his professional career at

FC Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from ...

. He is the older brother of Sandra Starke. Starke moved to

FSV Zwickau FSV Zwickau is a Football in Germany, German association football club located in Zwickau, Saxony. Today's club claims as part of its complex heritage sides that were East Germany's first champions: 1948 Ostzone winners SG Planitz and 1950 DDR-Ob ...

in 2020. In July 2022, he signed with

VfB Oldenburg VfB Oldenburg is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Oldenburg (city), Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. In the 2022–23 season, they played in the 3. Liga, the third level of football in Germany. History Founded by a gro ...

, newly promoted to the

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

. In July 2023, Starke moved to

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 ...

, also in

International career

In October 2012, Starke made his debut for

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

in a friendly against

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

. He played at

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total SE, Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's associati ...

, the country's first continental tournament in 11 years.

References

External links

* * 1991 births Living people Namibian people of German descent Namibian people of Dutch descent German people of Namibian descent German people of Dutch descent Footballers from Windhoek White Namibian people German men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Namibia men's international footballers 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Regionalliga players FC Hansa Rostock players FC Carl Zeiss Jena players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players FSV Zwickau players VfB Oldenburg players TSV 1860 Munich players Namibian expatriate men's footballers Namibian men's footballers 21st-century German sportsmen 21st-century Namibian sportsmen {{Namibia-footy-bio-stub