Football-Mehmet Scholl holidays in Seychelles |17 November 2007
A gifted midfielder whose career was hampered by injuries, Scholl hang up his cleats on
Scholl played for SV Nordwest Karlsruhe (from 1976 to 1982) and Karlsruher SC (from 1982 to 1992) before joining Bayern Munich in July 1992. Wearing the number 7 jersey, he has played in 468 competitive matches for Bayern Munich, scoring 116 goals in 15 seasons.
He was one of the German Bundesliga's most successful players, winning the championship eight times (in 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006), a feat unequalled in Bundesliga history. During his career, he also won the UEFA Cup (1996), the Euro 1996, the UEFA Champions League (2001), and five German Cups.
Scholl never was a team leader, but he nonetheless always found his place beside the likes of Stefan Effenberg, Lothar Matthäus and Oliver Kahn at Germany's top club.
In early 2001, he was voted Player of the Year 2000 by the professional players of the First and Second Bundesliga, and in May 2005, fans voted him one of the eleven greatest Bayern players of all time.
Scholl played 36 matches for the German national team between 1995 and 2002, scoring eight goals. He has never played for Germany at the World Cup.
"Believe me, it is a dream sport," 37-year-old former attacking midfielder Scholl once told Süddeutsche Zeitung daily.
G. G.