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!
Jacek Krzynowek was born on 15 May 1976 in Kamiensk, Poland, and grew up as a typical country boy. He spent his childhood less in structured training sessions and more on simple pitches, where he spent hours playing football with older boys. He realised early on that he had exceptional shooting power and enormous stamina. But for a long time, he didn't appreciate just how much talent he had. While others dream of a great career, professional football initially seems like a distant world to him that he only knows from television.
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Carsten ‘Calle’ Ramelow was born in Berlin on 20 March 1974. He began his football career in the youth teams at Tasmania 73, Tennis Borussia, SC Siemensstadt and, last but not least, Hertha Berlin. It was here that he reached the DFB Pokal final in 1993 with the Hertha Bubis team, the amateur team at Hertha Berlin, against his future employer Bayer 04 Leverkusen. But even he was unable to prevent the Werkself's 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from Ulf Kirsten.
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The 1995/1996 season brought some innovations. For the first time, each player was given a squad number with his name printed on the back of the jersey. For the first time, coaches were allowed to make three substitutions and for the first time, three points are awarded for a win. And for the first time, I am no longer my team's number 1. I wear it on my back, but Dirk Heinen has taken over me in goal. So at first I sat on the bench a bit offended, but in the Rückrunde I realised I also had to make my contribution to the success of a team.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of May. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen, promoted to the Oberliga West, welcome VfL 99 Köln for the last game of a successful season. This time, the crowd of just 2,000 spectators saw more of a friendly than a championship match. Little fight, little goalmouth action and few moves in midfield to warm the hearts of the spectators. It takes a corner to give Bayer 04 the lead. Peter Röger is on hand with his head and nods home on 43 minutes for the half-time lead. When Karl-Heinz Spikofski increased the lead to 2-0 a quarter of an hour after the restart, the result was settled. The team from Cologne were able to reduce the deficit to 2-1 in the final minute, but in the end the spectators went home looking forward to the first season for a Bayer 04 team in Oberliga West 1.
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