Bern Schuster

Bernhard Schuster

Full Name : Bernhard Schuster
Born : 22.12.1959
Born in : Augsburg, Germany
Height : 181 cm
Weight : 74 kg
Position : Midfielder

Statistic Club Career

01/1997 - 06/1997 ==> Pumas UNAM, Mexico
07/1993 - 06/1996 ==> Bayer Leverkussen, Germany
07/1990 - 06/1993 ==> Atletico Madrid, Spain
07/1988 - 06/1990 ==> Real Madrid, Spain
07/1980 - 06/1988 ==> Barcelona, Spain
07/1978 - 06/1980 ==> FC Koln, Germany
07/1976 - 06/1978 ==> FC Augsburg, Germany

Schuster was an important part of the FC Barcelona team during the 1980s, leading the game from midfield and scoring many goals. His club president Josep Lluis Nunez and some trainers like Helenio Herrera, Udo Lattek Terry Venables and Luis Aragones had difficult relations with him. At age 21, in 1981, he received a bad injury on his right knee by Athletic Bilbao defender Andoni Goikoetxea and never reached the level of the early seasons. He won, however, the European Bronze Ball in 1981 and 1985.

His move to Real Madrid was controversial due to the strong rivalry between Barcelona and Madrid. His style complemented the group of home-grown Madrid players known as la Quinta del Buitre who led the team to a dominance of the Spanish Championship through the 1980s.

Schuster started his professional career with FC Koln at age 18 in 1978 after a number of promising performances with the West German Under-18 National team. He was part of the West Germany side that won the 1980 UEFA Europen Football Championship in Italy, appearing in two of Germany's four matches. His performances there helped him earn the Silver Ball Trophy honour as the Europe's second best player in 1980 behind Golden Ball winner, and Germany team-mate Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

Schuster left Köln after the 1980 European campaign to sign with Spain's FC Barcelona, where he flourished. During his career, he played for clubs such as Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkussen. In the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll to name the finest European players of the last five decades, he finished 40th.

Internationals Career

Friendlies 1984
Friendlies 1983
Friendlies 1981
Friendlies 1980
Friendlies 1979
EURO 1980, Italy
EURO Qualifiers 1982/1983
EURO Qualifiers 1978/1979

Schuster won twenty-two caps for the West German national team and retired from international football at the age of 24, due to his repeated disagreements with the German Football Assosciation, then national team manager Jupp Derwall and teammates including Paul Breitner. His refusal to take part in a match against Albania in order to be home for the birth of his second son David caused a sporting scandal at the time

Management Career

07/2007 - 06/2010 ==> Real Madrid, Spain
07/2005 - 06/2007 ==> Getafe CF, Spain
07/2004 - 05/2005 ==> Levante UD, Spain
07/2003 - 06/2004 ==> Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine
07/2001 - 06/2003 ==> Xerez CD, Spain
07/1998 - 06/1999 ==> FC Koln, Germany
07/1997 - 06/1998 ==> Fortuna Koln, Germany

Fortuna Koln

After his retirement as a player in 1997, Schuster successfully managed a small club in Cologne, SC Fortuna Koln in 2, Fussball-Bundesliga (Germany's second league division).

FC Koln

Following this, he managed his former club FC Koln, also in the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga, but was unable to get the club promoted and so left. In 2000, he applied for the manager job at Scottish club Dundee FC but the Dundee chairman rejected his application.

Xerez CD

In 2001 he received an offer from the small club Xerez CD in Southern Spain and he managed the team, very successfully, for two seasons; the best two seasons in the history of the club. However, he could not promote the team to Primera Division.

Shakhtar Donetsk

Upon receiving no good offers from Spain, he accepted a deal to coach the Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk where he established a club record number of consecutive victories. However, the team did not win the championship and did not reach the final round of the Champions League with a match against Lokomotiv Moscow. Schuster was fired one week before his team played and won the Ukrainian Cup in 2004.

Levante

He went back to Spain in summer 2004 to coach Levante UD and made a good start with the small club from Valencia. The president fired him with a 5-point advantage over the relegation places just five games from the end of the season. Levante could not win a game and fell to Segunda Division (Spanish second division) again.

Getafe

In summer 2005, Getafe CF, a small side from Madrid, had their best season in team history. Schuster coached Getafe in their second successful season under his guidance and the team did even better, 7th in La Liga. Getafe have also secured entry to the 2007-2008 UEFA Cup as a result of reaching the final of the Copa Del Rey after overcoming a 5-2 first leg defeat against Barcelona, beating them 4-0 in the second leg.

Real Madrid

Schuster was then appointed manager of Real Madrid on 9th July 2007. He was required to buy-out his existing contract with Getafe for €480'000, which he paid for out of his own pocket. He has since made a successful start with Real taking them to top of the La Liga standings. As manager beautiful football returned again to the Santiago Bernabeu stadium with Real Madrid having the strongest offence, not beaten at home from the start of the league and defeating their arch rival Barcelona at their home ground Camp Nou with a goal scored by Julio Baptista thus increasing their lead to seven points between them and the second place (Barcelona). The team also qualified to the second round of the UEFA Champions League leading their group which also contained Olympiakos, Werder Bremen and SS Lazio. He has improved Real Madrid's style of play significantly. He managed to switch from the unattractive defensive football during the reign of Capello to fast paced, attacking football. After losing 2-1 to AS Roma in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League which meant the elimination of Real Madrid, many doubted that Schuster would continue to be Madrid's coach, but the club denied such allegations. Schuster continues to have the full confidence of President Ramon Calderon and the Board of Directors. On 4th May 2008, Schuster guided Real Madrid to their 31st title with 3 games to spare. On 18th May 2008, Schuster's Real Madrid achieved the highest point total (85 points) a record that was set by rivals Barcelona.