As a youth player, he made the step up to the first team and played one or two games in the GDR Oberliga. The midfielder is turned into a right-back at his next club Union Berlin. That remains his usual position with a few exceptions.
Bayer 04 boss Reiner Calmund becomes aware of the fast, dribbling right-back at a Union Berlin game when he was actually watching a different player. ‘Riete’, as his friends called him, joined Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 1994 and he stayed for three years. In those three years, he had three different coaches in Dragoslav Stepanovic, Erich Ribbeck and Christoph Daum but he was only more frequently in the starting line-up under Erich Ribbeck.
He makes a total of 31 appearances for Bayer 04 but doesn’t score. At the same time, he plays a significant role in probably the most important goal for Bayer 04 up to that point. When it comes to the relegation clash with FC Kaiserslautern at the Ullrich Haberland Stadium on 18 May 1996, he is given a special role by the caretaker coach Peter Hermann – he is to mark out the Kaiserslautern playmaker Uwe Wegmann and get involved with attacks. On 82 minutes, he receives the ball from captain Rudi Völler, tries his luck from 22 metres out with the “only decent shot with the instep in my career” (Riete quote) that sends the ball in the direction of the goal. The Kaiserslautern goalkeeper Andreas Reinke can only parry the shot and Markus Münch fires the ball into the back of the net on the rebound for the crucial equaliser. The rest is history.
After the following season under Christoph Daum with just two Bundesliga appearances from the bench, Riete joins Fortuna Düsseldorf in 1997. Then he becomes a German football journeyman. Up to the end of his career in 2009 he plays for SC Freiburg, VfL Bochum, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, MSV Duisburg, Holstein Kiel and Wuppertaler SV.
Mike now lives in Leipzig, in charge of the company Subline Sports and is a co-owner of the soccer school Kick’n Body. He still plays for our Veterans team when he has the time.
Dear Mike, all the best on your 50th birthday! Please keep your ‘Berliner brogue’ and stay healthy.
HERE is an in-depth profile on Mike Rietpietsch at bayer04.de.
Michael Ballack was born on 26 September 1976 in Görlitz, in what was then East Germany. His talent for football became apparent at an early age. After his family moved to Karl-Marx-Stadt – now Chemnitz – he began playing football for BSG Motor ‘Fritz Heckert’ Karl-Marx-Stadt, where he steadily developed his skills. From Year 7 onwards, he attended the Children’s and Youth Sports School and received systematic sporting support, which, in 1988 – due to his growing skill as a player – led to a move to FC Karl-Marx-Stadt. At the age of 16, he had to take a six-month break due to growth problems, but after that, Michael was unstoppable.
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José Elias Moedim Júnior, known as Zé Elias, was born on 25 September 1976 in São Paulo. He received his football training at Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, or Corinthians for short, and was promoted to the first team at the age of just 17. PSV Eindhoven had already taken notice of him by this stage, but the move to Europe was still too early for him. The tenacious defensive midfielder established himself in the first team over the following three years. With Corinthians, Zé Elias won the São Paulo City Championship and the Brazilian Cup in 1995. With his excellent vision, his determination and his assured ball control, he made a significant contribution to his team’s success.
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In their second season in Bundesliga 2 North, the Werkself face Fortuna Köln at their home ground, the Ulrich Haberland Stadium, on matchday 7. Both teams are level on seven points, sitting eighth and ninth in the table.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of September. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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September gets off to a disastrous start, though not for the Werkself: the German national team, featuring Bayer 04 players Jens Nowotny, Michael Ballack and Oliver Neuville, suffer a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of England in a World Cup qualifier at the Olympic Stadium in Munich. Jens Nowotny, in particular, came in for sharp criticism. With this defeat, Germany’s direct qualification is now hanging in the balance.
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