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1.05.2023Bayer 04

Birthday boy of the month V: Thomas Zdebel turns 50

Thomas Zdebel was born in Katowice on 25 May 1973. He learned to play football there with GKS. At the age of 15 he moved to Düsseldorf with his parents and Germany became his second home. Via the youth set-up at Fortuna Düsseldorf he joined Rot-Weiss Essen. Thomas played for FC Köln for five years from 1992 where he took his first steps in the Bundesliga.

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The energetic and combative midfielder joined the Belgian champions Lierse SK in 1997 and faced the Werkself with the club – in their first ever Champions League match. He went on to play for Genclerbirligi Ankara, where he became a Poland international (14 caps), and in 2003/04 he signed for VfL Bochum. The midfield maestro became the captain at VfL.

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Following a dispute with coach Marcel Koller and a subsequent suspension, he moved under the Bayer Cross in January 2009. At Leverkusen, Thomas Zdebel became the back-up for the Chile international Arturo Vidal and he stayed for 18 months going on to play 12 Bundesliga matches for Bayer 04. At the end of his playing career he played for Alemannia Aachen in Bundesliga 2 for a season.

Today he lives in Bergisch-Gladbach with his wife and his two children. He started his coaching career there and that brought him to Leverkusen in 2019 as the assistant coach for the U17 team. His daughter Sofie is also a successful football player with the Werkself Women’s team in the FLYERALARM Women's Bundesliga.


Thomas, I wish you all the best and another youth title for Bayer 04.

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