Did you Know?
Bastian Schweinsteiger is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. A right-footed player, he usually plays as central midfielder. Earlier in his career, he primarily played as a wide midfielder. He spent 13 seasons at Bayern Munich, playing in exactly 500 matches across all competitions and scoring 68 goals. His honours at the club include eight Bundesliga titles, seven DFB-Pokal titles, a UEFA Champions League title, a FIFA Club World Cup title and a UEFA Super Cup title. He joined Manchester United in 2015, playing sparingly for 18 months before moving to Chicago Fire. Schweinsteiger played for the German national team from 2004 to 2016. He is Germany’s fourth most-capped player of all time, having earned 121 caps and scored 24 goals, in a 12-year international career starting in 2004. He was selected in their squads for four European Championships and three World Cups, including their victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Following Philipp Lahm’s international retirement on 2 September 2014, Schweinsteiger was named captain of the national team. He played his last match for Germany on 31 August 2016, after which he retired from international football.
Things to Know:
Schweinsteiger largely operates in the centre, but he is versatile enough to provide an option on the wing, either left or right. During his years with Bayern, he was regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world. Schweinsteiger possesses a fearsome shot from range as well as a wicked delivery from set-pieces and his boundless energy serves him well. Dubbed the “Midfield Motor”, Schweinsteiger is also a superb reader of the game and has scored spectacularly due to his good positioning. He has been called “the brain” of the German national team by coach Joachim Löw. He has been voted as the best German player in 2013. He is also known as the “midfield mastermind”.
Did you Know?
Schweinsteiger is Roman Catholic. He is known to fans as “Schweini” or “Basti”, the latter to distinguish him from his elder brother, Tobias, a professional footballer who also played for Bayern Munich, albeit in the reserve team. Schweinsteiger was in a relationship with model Sarah Brandner from 2007 until July 2014. They lived in Munich together. Schweinsteiger was usual to play with his girlfriend Sarah’s name on boots. When she broke up with her he scratched her name from his boots as well visible on the boots above. In September 2014, he began a relationship with Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic. The couple wed on 12 July 2016 in Venice, Italy.