View source for Thomas Strunz

{{short description|German footballer (born 1968)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox football biography
 | name = Thomas Strunz
 | image = UEFA_TT_7896.jpg
 | image_size =
 | caption = Strunz signing autographs in 2010
 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1968|4|25|df=y}}
 | birth_place = [[Duisburg]], [[West Germany]]
 | height = {{height|m=1.83}}<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.dfb.de/datencenter/personen/thomas-strunz/spieler | title = Thomas Strunz - Spielerprofil - DFB |publisher = dfb.de | language = de | access-date = 4 December 2020 }}</ref>
 | position = [[Defensive Midfielder]]
 | death_date = 
 | death_place = 
 | youthyears1 = 1977–1981 | youthclubs1 = TuRA 88 Duisburg
 | youthyears2 = 1981–1986 | youthclubs2 = [[MSV Duisburg]]
 | years1 = 1986–1989 | clubs1 = [[MSV Duisburg]] | caps1 = 94 | goals1 = 30
 | years2 = 1989–1992 | clubs2 = [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]] | caps2 = 59 | goals2 = 12
 | years3 = 1992–1995 | clubs3 = [[VfB Stuttgart]] | caps3 = 79 | goals3 = 9
 | years4 = 1995–2000 | clubs4 = [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]] | caps4 = 97 | goals4 = 11
 | totalcaps = 329 | totalgoals = 62
 | nationalyears1 = 1990 | nationalteam1 = [[Germany national under-21 football team|West Germany U21]] | nationalcaps1 = 2 | nationalgoals1 = 0
 | nationalyears2 = 1990–1999 | nationalteam2 = [[Germany national football team|Germany]] | nationalcaps2 = 41 | nationalgoals2 = 1
| medaltemplates = {{Medal|Sport|Men's [[Association football|football]]}}
{{MedalCountry|{{fb|GER}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[UEFA European Championship]]}}
{{medal|W|[[UEFA Euro 1996|1996 England]]|}}
}}

'''Thomas Strunz''' (born 25 April 1968) is a German former professional [[Association football|footballer]] who played mostly as a [[Midfielder#Defensive midfielder|defensive midfielder]].

Over the course of 12 seasons, he amassed [[Bundesliga]] totals of 235 games and 32 goals, representing in the competition [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]] and [[VfB Stuttgart|Stuttgart]].<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/players/strunzdata.html | title = Thomas Strunz - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga | first = Matthias | last = Arnhold | date = 14 January 2016 | accessdate = 13 March 2023 | publisher = [[Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation|RSSSF.com]]}}</ref> He won 12 major club titles in his career.

Strunz gained 41 [[Cap (sport)#Association football|caps]] for [[Germany national football team|Germany]] in nine years.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/strunz-intl.html | title = Thomas Strunz - International Appearances | first = Matthias | last = Arnhold | date = 14 January 2016 | accessdate = 18 March 2023 | publisher = [[Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation|RSSSF.com]]}}</ref> He was part of the squad that won [[UEFA Euro 1996|Euro 1996]].

==Club career==
Born in [[Duisburg]], [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], Strunz started his career playing for hometown club [[MSV Duisburg]], but moved to [[FC Bayern Munich]] aged 21. He made his [[Bundesliga]] debut on 31 August 1989 in a 4–0 home win against [[Hamburger SV]], and proceeded to score five goals in 20 matches in [[1989–90 Bundesliga|his first season]].

Strunz joined [[VfB Stuttgart]] for [[1992–93 Bundesliga|1992–93]], netting five times in his debut campaign before returning to Bayern after three years. In his two spells with the [[Bavaria|Bavarian]] side he won four [[Bundesliga]] championship medals and two [[DFB-Pokal]]s, adding the [[1995–96 UEFA Cup]] in which he scored two goals in nine games. In [[1999–2000 FC Bayern Munich season|his last full season]] his team went on to win the league title but he played rarely due to recurrent injuries. He retired from football after leaving the club in late 2000.

==International career==
Strunz made his debut for [[Germany national football team|Germany]] on 10 October 1990 in a 3–1 [[Exhibition game|friendly]] win in [[Sweden men's national football team|Sweden]]. He went on to represent the nation at the [[1994 FIFA World Cup]] and the victorious [[UEFA Euro 1996]].

During the latter competition, Strunz appeared in five of six matches (being [[Ejection (sports)|sent off]] against [[Italy national football team|Italy]] and subsequently suspended for the quarter-final), converting his [[Penalty shoot-out (association football)|penalty shootout]] attempt in the semi-finals and playing the entire [[UEFA Euro 1996 Final|final]] against the [[Czech Republic national football team|Czech Republic]].

==Honours==
===Club===
'''Bayern Munich'''
* [[Bundesliga]]: [[1989–90 Bundesliga|1989–90]], [[1996–97 Bundesliga|1996–97]], [[1998–99 Bundesliga|1998–99]], [[1999–2000 Bundesliga|1999–2000]]
* [[DFB-Pokal]]: [[1997–98 DFB-Pokal|1997–98]], [[1999–2000 DFB-Pokal|1999–2000]]
* [[DFB-Ligapokal]]: [[1997 DFB-Ligapokal|1997]], [[1998 DFB-Ligapokal|1998]], [[2000 DFB-Ligapokal|2000]]
* [[DFL-Supercup]]: [[1990 DFB-Supercup|1990]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dfb.de/supercup/das-spiel/?spieledb_path=%2Fmatches%2F1972319|title=Deutscher Supercup, 1990, Finale |date=16 October 2014 |publisher=dfb.de |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref>
* [[UEFA Europa League|UEFA Cup]]: [[1995–96 UEFA Cup|1995–96]]
* [[UEFA Champions League]] runner-up: [[1998–99 UEFA Champions League|1998–99]]

'''VfB Stuttgart'''
* DFL-Supercup: [[1992 DFB-Supercup|1992]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dfb.de/supercup/das-spiel/?spieledb_path=%2Fmatches%2F1972323 |title=Deutscher Supercup, 1992, Finale |date=16 October 2014 |publisher=dfb.de |access-date=5 November 2020}}</ref>

===International===
'''Germany'''
* [[UEFA European Championship]]: [[UEFA Euro 1996|1996]]
* [[U.S. Cup]]: [[1993 U.S. Cup|1993]]

==Career statistics==
===International===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="8"|[[Germany national football team|Germany]]
|1990||2||0
|-
|1992||1||0
|-
|1993||5||0
|-
|1994||13||0
|-
|1995||4||1
|-
|1996||9||0
|-
|1998||1||0
|-
|1999||6||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total!!41!!1
|}

===International goal===
:''Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first.''
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! # !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition 
|-
| 1. || 7 June 1995 || [[Vasil Levski National Stadium|Vasil Levski]], [[Sofia]], [[Bulgaria]] || {{fb|BUL}} || '''2'''–0 || 2–3 || [[UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 7|Euro 1996 qualifying]]
|-
|}

== Post-playing career ==
After retiring, Strunz served as general manager at [[VfL Wolfsburg]] for nearly a year, being fired on 19 December 2005 – head coach [[Holger Fach]] was sacked on the same day, and the former was awarded €2.750.000 in compensation.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/news/newsid=380905.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121024074947/http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/news/newsid=380905.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 24 October 2012 | title = Fach fired by Wolfsburg | publisher = [[UEFA]] | date = 19 December 2005 | access-date = 2 January 2009}}</ref> In April 2008, Strunz enrolled in the same capacity at lowly [[Rot-Weiss Essen]], being fired on 12 September of the following year.

[[file:5743Thomas Strunz.JPG|thumb|upright|Strunz in 2012]]
Later, Strunz worked as football pundit for German TV channel [[Sport1 (Germany)|Sport1]].

==Personal life==
Strunz's wife, Claudia, left him for fellow German international [[Stefan Effenberg]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/2003/05/02/german_rdp | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080902043109/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/2003/05/02/german_rdp/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2 September 2008 | title = Matthaeus is 'a real quitter,' says Effenberg | publisher = [[Sports Illustrated]] | date = 2 May 2003 | access-date = 27 May 2008}}</ref>

== Trivia ==
On 10 March 1998, Strunz was one of the main targets in an infamous press conference held by a furious Bayern manager [[Giovanni Trapattoni]], who addressed the media in broken German.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.kicker.de/trapattoni-1998-die-komplette-wutrede-im-video-854731/video | title = Trapattoni 1998: Die komplette Wutrede im Video | language = de | website = [[Kicker (magazine)|Kicker]] | date = 10 March 2023 | access-date = 16 March 2023}}</ref> This gave Strunz the possibility to work as a TV pundit after his football career.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.kicker.de/strunz-im-interview-klingelt-s-jetzt-gleich-an-der-tuer-941193/artikel | title = Strunz im Interview: "Klingelt's jetzt gleich an der Tür?" | language = de | website = [[Kicker (magazine)|Kicker]] | date = 10 March 2023 | access-date = 16 March 2023}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{cc}}
* {{Fussballdaten|strunzthomas}}
* {{NFT|14143}}
* {{FIFA|77394}}
* {{WorldFootball.net|thomas-strunz}}

{{Germany squad 1994 FIFA World Cup}}
{{Germany squad UEFA Euro 1996}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strunz, Thomas}}
[[Category:1968 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Footballers from Duisburg]]
[[Category:German men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football midfielders]]
[[Category:Bundesliga players]]
[[Category:MSV Duisburg players]]
[[Category:FC Bayern Munich footballers]]
[[Category:VfB Stuttgart players]]
[[Category:Germany men's under-21 international footballers]]
[[Category:Germany men's international footballers]]
[[Category:1994 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 1996 players]]
[[Category:UEFA European Championship–winning players]]
[[Category:UEFA Europa League–winning players]]
[[Category:West German men's footballers]]