Rudi Völler

A forward, Völler began his professional career at Kickers Offenbach, before joining 1860 Munich, and he was top scorer of the 2. Bundesliga in the 1981–82 season.

Völler started his career with 1860 Hanau, then played for second division sides Kickers Offenbach and TSV 1860 Munich, before joining Bundesliga club Werder Bremen in 1982, winning his first cap for West Germany that same year.

Rudolf "Rudi" Völler (born 13 April 1960) is a German professional football manager and former player, who is currently the director of the Germany national team.

In Germany, he is nicknamed "Tante Käthe" ("Aunt Kathy"), a name bestowed upon him by Thomas Berthold, and in Italy, he is nicknamed "Il tedesco volante" ("The flying German") by supporters of Roma.

Völler became the third player to score as a substitute in the World Cup final, after Dick Nanninga in 1978 and Alessandro Altobelli achieved this feat in 1982.

He bagged a last minute goal against France in the semi-final to seal a 2–0 win and in the final itself his 80th-minute goal made it 2–2 against Argentina.

Germany had recovered from 2–0 down but eventually lost the match 3–2.

He went on to play for Werder Bremen, where he was noted for his consistent goalscoring, becoming the top scorer of the Bundesliga in the 1982–83 season.

Völler moved abroad, firstly transferring to Serie A club Roma and then to Ligue 1 club Olympique Marseille.

Völler made his debut for the Germany national team, then known as West Germany, in 1982.

He represented his country at three FIFA World Cups and UEFA European Championships each, during a successful period for Die Nationalmannschaft.

Völler also played at three UEFA European Championships, starting with Euro 1984, where he scored twice in a group match against Romania which the Germans won 2–1.

Along with Mário Zagallo, Franz Beckenbauer and Didier Deschamps, Völler has the distinction of reaching a World Cup final as both a player (1986 and 1990) and as a manager (2002).

At the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Völler scored the West Germans' equalizer in a 2–1 win over Scotland in the group stage.

Following a successful season in which he was the Bundesliga's top scorer, foreign clubs became interested in the striker, and in 1987 he was transferred to Roma, where he became a mainstay of the team and earned the nickname "er tedesco" ("the German") and also "il tedesco volante" ("the flying German").

West Germany hosted the Euro 1988, and Völler scored twice in a 2–0 win over Spain but the hosts lost to eventual winners the Netherlands in the semi-final.

At Roma, he won the Coppa Italia and was runner-up of the UEFA Cup during the 1990–91 season; he was also top scorer of both these tournaments.

Völler played in two consecutive World Cup finals, both of which were against Argentina, and he won the trophy in 1990.

A 90th minute defeat against Spain in their next match, however, saw West Germany eliminated when all they needed was a draw.

Völler was a member of the team that won the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

He scored three times in the tournament, including one goal in a 4–1 win over Yugoslavia, and then found the net twice against the United Arab Emirates in a 5–1 win.

During the second-round match against the Netherlands, Völler and Dutch player Frank Rijkaard were sent off the field after the Dutchman spat on Völler twice.

He won the Coppa Italia in 1991 and was the club's top scorer on several occasions.

At Marseille, he won the French title and the Champions League in the 1992–93 season, but following a match fixing scandal, the club were stripped of their league title and were relegated in 1994.

The same year, Völler returned to his native country, ending his career at Bayer Leverkusen.

In 1992, Roma decided to sell Völler to Marseille, where he was intended as replacement for superstar striker Jean-Pierre Papin.

That also allowed Roma to add Claudio Caniggia as its third foreigner to the squad, so both parties were happy to let the deal go through.

There, he won his biggest club honour in a very successful first season, thanks to the UEFA Champions League won with Marseille against AC Milan coached by Fabio Capello, in 1993 (1–0, goal scored by Basile Boli).

Völler started the match, playing 78 minutes.

Marseille was then caught in a bribery scandal, however, and was stripped of its 1993 league title, and were relegated despite a second-place finish in 1994.

Völler scored 24 league goals for the club but departed after its relegation.

At the time of his retirement in 1994, he was Germany's second highest goalscorer behind Gerd Müller; he is now joint-fourth with Jürgen Klinsmann, having been surpassed by Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski.

Returning to Germany, he joined Bayer Leverkusen in 1994, where he ended his career as a player in 1996 and started a career in the management of the club.

Völler was capped 90 times for the Germany national team, scoring 47 goals, including eight in World Cup final rounds.

After retiring as a player with Bayer Leverkusen, he became the sporting director of the club until 2000, where he was the interim manager for twelve matches, before being succeeded by Berti Vogts.

He was then appointed caretaker manager of the Germany national team, despite his lack of coaching experience.

In the wake of the drug scandal that involved the preferred choice of the DFB, Christoph Daum, Völler was ultimately kept on, and was able to lead Germany to the 2002 FIFA World Cup final, where they lost to Brazil.

Following a group-stage exit at UEFA Euro 2004, Völler resigned as manager, after which he had a short-lived spell as manager of his former club Roma.

He later returned to Leverkusen, where he was briefly interim manager again, and became the club's sporting director for the second time, a position he held until 2022.

In February 2023, he was appointed director of the Germany national team.