First in the Berlin Oberliga and after 1990 in the Oberliga North East. He signed for FC Nürnberg in 1995. In the second division, the defender is unable to prevent the team being relegated to the third tier but he does catch the attention of a range of Bundesliga scouts in 33 appearances. At the age of 22, he joined the Werkself along with his brother Niko who came from Hertha Berlin. In his first season under coach Christoph Daum he was not a regular first choice but then he broke through and ended up playing 162 games for the Werkself.
In 2001, the international player, who gained 84 caps for Croatia and took part in two World Cups (2002 and 2006) and two European Championships (2004 and 2008), signed for Bayern Munich. In the next four years at Bayern he won the Bundesliga title twice, the DFB Pokal twice and the World Club Cup in 2001.
His next club for two years was the top Italian side Juventus although, after Robert's first season, they were demoted due to a match fixing scandal. He stayed in Turin and regained top-flight status with the Old Lady. In 2007 he returned to the Bundesliga to play for Borussia Dortmund. He ended his playing career in the winter of 2010 for the Croat serial champions Dynamo Zagreb where he won two titles. Robert hung up his boots after that season.
As assistant coach to his brother Niko he worked with the Croatia team from 2013 and later for Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern Munich and AS Monaco. The Kovac brothers are currently at VfL Wolfsburg.
Dear Robert, many happy returns on your 50th. Have a great time and stay fit and healthy!
Tranquillo Barnetta was born in St. Gallen in Switzerland on 22 May 1985. Quillo, as he was called in the football world, has Italian roots. His great-grandfather emigrated from Italy to the east of Switzerland. Quillo was interested in football early on and he played for the St. Gallen club FC Rotmonten from the age of six. He joined his favourite club FC St. Gallen at the age of 11. There he became a youth international. He won the European Championships with his teammates in the Switzerland U17 team in 2002. The youngsters from Switzerland beat France 4-2 on penalties in the final to become U17 European champions.
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Since the establishment of the Bundesliga on 28 July 1962 for the 1963/64 season, there have been five Regional Leagues: North, Berlin, West, South-west and South. The champions of those five leagues qualified directly for promotion play-offs that were played in two groups of four teams. That included the two second-placed teams in the West and South-west Regional Leagues. The two runners-up from the North and the South played a qualifier for the eighth place in the promotion games.
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In this video you can watch impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 in the month of May. It is not always about the beauty of the goals but also about remembering special games and players.
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There were high summer temperatures in Leverkusen on 25 May 1985. Matchday 32 brings FC Köln to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium with only 13,000 spectators at the derby. That is primarily due to the Werkself with Bayer 04 rarely impressing in that season and they are eleventh in the table before the game just three points ahead of sixteenth, the play-off spot. But with the two points for a win rule back then – two points were awarded for a win – and with the significantly better goal difference, the Werkself need every point to get out of trouble.
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It was all or nothing on the final matchday in the Verbandsliga in the 1974/75 season. Only now would it be decided who were champions and thereby participate in the promotion games to the Bundesliga 2 North. The earlier rivals Viktoria Köln, SC Jülich 10 and Bonner SC have fallen by the wayside.
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