Pierre Michael Littbarski (; born 16 April 1960) is a German professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player of 1. FC Köln and the West Germany national team. Known for his

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

abilities, he was mainly used as an attacking midfielder or winger. Littbarski was a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

winner with West Germany in 1990, and the runner-up in both 1982 and 1986. Littbarski was the caretaker manager of VfL Wolfsburg after taking over from Steve McClaren from 7 February to 17 March 2011.

Club career

Littbarski spent most of his playing career at 1. FC Köln. He made his debut for the club, at the time coached by Hennes Weisweiler, at the age of 18. The stars on the team during Littbarski's first few years were goalkeeper Harald Schumacher, goal scorer Dieter Müller, and midfielder Bernd Schuster. Littbarski scored the winning goal in the

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

DFB-Pokal final against Fortuna Köln. He was on teams that were three times the runner-up in 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 ...

title chase, in 1982,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

and 1990. In his career, he was initially used as a deep-lying striker before being utilised as an attacking midfielder. Playing in the former role, in the four seasons from 1981 to 1985 he scored 64 league goals in 128 Bundesliga games. "Litti", as he was nicknamed by German fans, was widely known for his excellent dribbling abilities and humorous attitude, and was one of the fan favourites in the West German Bundesliga during the decade. In 1985 his goal versus Werder Bremen was elected " Goal of the Year". He later played for RC Paris in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

as well as for JEF United Ichihara and Brummel Sendai in Japan.

International career

Littbarski had a prolific but short career as part of the West German Under-21 side. He was a part of the squad that got to the 1982 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final. The team lost to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

5–4 after a two-leg final (losing 1–3 away and winning 3–2 at home). Littbarski scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against the English in West Germany, but ultimately they lost the tie. Littbarski has the most goals on the Under-21 Germany squad in the team's history. Littbarski earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

on 14 October 1981 in the 1982 World Cup qualification against

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. West Germany manager Jupp Derwall started him in a three-man front line alongside Klaus Fischer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. Littbarski's international career got off to a promising start, as he scored his first and second goals in that game. His third international goal came at the 1982 World Cup, in the second round match against

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, a 2–1 victory. Against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the semi-final, Littbarski scored the opening goal, and later was successful on a penalty in the deciding shoot-out. The now legendary match ended in a 3–3 draw, with Littbarski involved in the dramatic extra-time equalizer, crossing to Horst Hrubesch, who headed to Klaus Fischer, who scored with an overhead bicycle kick. Littbarski had minutes earlier provided the pass that Rummenigge scored from to cut France's lead to 3–2. A poignant scene in the penalty shootout showed the young Littbarski consoling a tearful Uli Stielike, who had just missed a penalty and had buried his head in Littbarski's shirt, while watching West Germany's goalkeeper, Harald Schumacher, save Didier Six's penalty to even the score. West Germany eventually won 5–4 on penalties. West Germany lost 3–1 to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the final. Littbarski played the whole match, receiving a yellow card in the 88th minute. At the

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

, West Germany, with Littbarski, were eliminated in the group stage after a string of poor performances. The

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

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, while successful for West Germany, proved less so for Littbarski personally. He was benched by manager Franz Beckenbauer, and had to watch the semi–final and

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

from the bench. West Germany again finished as runners–up, losing 3–2 to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. In 1987, he played in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

and scored two goals, one directly from a corner, as the West Germans won 3-1. The West German players had high hopes for the UEFA Euro 1988 on their home soil. However, the hosts lost 2–1 to

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in the semi–finals. Littbarski did not score any goals in the tournament. In 1990, Littbarski enjoyed a successful final appearance at the

, as West Germany won their third title, defeating Argentina 1–0 in the final in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Littbarski scored his only goal in the group stage against

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but started three of the four games at the knockout stage, including the

Managerial career

In 1999, he started his coaching career with Yokohama FC of

Japan Football League The , also known as simply the JFL, is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League 100 Year Plan club sta ...

and he led the club to the promotion to J2 League. He has also been the manager of Yokohama FC (twice), as well as assistant manager of

Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

and manager of MSV Duisburg.

Sydney FC

He was manager of Australian A-League side

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

between 2005 and 2006, and led them to the FIFA Club World Championship in 2005, and a win in the inaugural A-League Championship. He was famous amongst Sydney FC supporters and the media for his stylish brown suits. Sydney under Littbarski were criticised for boring football, but the results could seldom be argued with and Sydney FC went on to claim the inaugural A-League Championship under his reign. Littbarski and Sydney FC severed ties on Wednesday, 5 May 2006, with Littbarski announcing he would not re-sign for the club following disputes over a cut-price contract offer.

Avispa Fukuoka

In December 2006, Littbarski was appointed the manager of Avispa Fukuoka, a J2 League side that was newly demoted to the second division after the 2006 season. In July 2008, he left the club and was replaced by Yoshiyuki Shinoda.

Saipa F.C.

On 26 July 2008, it was announced that he became the new manager of Iranian side Saipa F.C. His contract was terminated on 8 October 2008 after nine games.

FC Vaduz

On 4 November 2008 he signed a contract as head coach and team manager of FC Vaduz. On 12 April 2010 he was dismissed due to lack of success.

VfL Wolfsburg

On 9 June 2010, Littbarski signed a two-year contract as assistant coach by VfL Wolfsburg. After Steve McClaren was sacked on 7 February 2011, Littbarski was appointed caretaker manager of VfL Wolfsburg. Felix Magath was subsequently made head coach in March 2011.

Name

Littbarski has said that he was named "Pierre" because his parents loved France and, when thinking of a name for him, recalled their travels there.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list West Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Littbarski goal.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

1. FC Köln * DFB-Pokal: 1982–83 *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

runner-up: 1985–86 West Germany U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

runner-up: 1982 West Germany *

: 1990; runner-up: 1982, 1986 Individual * UEFA European Under-21 Championship top scorer: 1982 * '' kicker''

Team of the Season: 1981–82, 1984–85, 1989–90 * FIFA World Cup top assist provider: 1982 * Goal of the Year (Germany): 1985 * Sydney FC Hall of Fame: 2015

References

External links

* *
League matches of Pierre Littbarski season by season
at RSSSF
TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen's Who's Who
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Littbarski, Pierre 1960 births West German men's footballers 1. FC Köln players 1982 FIFA World Cup players 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1990 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players Bundesliga players German football managers German men's footballers Germany men's international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Germany men's B international footballers JEF United Chiba players J1 League players Japan Football League (1992–1998) players Ligue 1 players Living people Footballers from Berlin Racing Club de France Football players Sydney FC managers UEFA Euro 1984 players UEFA Euro 1988 players Vegalta Sendai players J2 League managers Yokohama FC managers Avispa Fukuoka managers MSV Duisburg managers A-League Men managers FC Vaduz managers Men's association football wingers West German expatriate sportspeople in France German expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Expatriate football managers in Japan German expatriate sportspeople in Liechtenstein Expatriate soccer managers in Australia Expatriate football managers in Switzerland West German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Australia German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Persian Gulf Pro League managers Expatriate football managers in Iran