VfB Stuttgart Greatest All-Time Team
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| The 2006-2007 Bundesliga Champion |
This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for the club. The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.
VfB Stuttgart has won the national championship five times, most recently in 2006–07; the DFB-Pokal three times; and the UEFA Intertoto Cup a record three times.
Team
GK: Eike Immel (Germany)
Impel started with Borussia Dortmund. He made a two million Deutsche Mark transfer to VfB Stuttgart in 1986, the biggest fee ever paid for a goalkeeper in the history German football at that time. He served nine years as Stuttgart's regular goalkeeper, winning the Bundesliga title in 1992 and the UEFA Cup runner-up medal in 1989 with them. Afterwards he left for Manchester City, where he retired at the end of the 1995–96 season. Capped 19 times due to his decision to retire from the West German team following EURO'88. Immel had been the starting goalkeeper since Harald Schumacher's ban from the team in 1987.
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| Eike Immel |
Hildebrand was as part of what became known as "Stuttgart's young wild ones" team under coach Felix Magath in the early 2000's. Hildebrand also played a significant role in Stuttgart's victorious 2006–07 Bundesliga campaign, figuring as a backbone for the next generation of "wild ones" helping Stuttgart provide the third-best defence of the season. In 2007, he joined Valencia, but he never found the same successes after his stint with Stuttgart. Earned 7 caps.
GK: Günter Sawitzki (Germany)
Sawitzki played with tiny Sodingen, who had finished third in Germany in 1955, to join VfB Stuttgart in 1956. He stayed with VfB Stuttgart for the rest of his career. For the national team, He was Toni Turek's successor in the West German goal. He went to the 1958 and 1962 FIFA World Cup, although he remained reserve on both occasions.
RB: Andreas Hinkel (Germany)
He started his career with VfB Stuttgart in 2000, before moving to La Liga club Sevilla in 2006. he also played for Celtic and Freiburg. Hinkel played 21 matches for Germany between 2003 and 2009, and was in their squad for Euro 2004.
CB/RB: Thomas Berthold (Germany)
He began his career in 1982 with Eintracht Frankfurt and played for them until 1987. From 1987 until 1991 he played in Italy: for Hellas Verona (1987–1989) and AS Roma (1989–1991). He then returned to Germany, signing for FC Bayern Munich (1991–1993) and VfB Stuttgart (1993–2000). Berthold's last season as an active player was with the Turkish league club Adanaspor for whom he played until 15 January 2001.Between 1985 and 1994 Berthold made 62 international appearances, for the West German and German national teams, participating in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and 1988 European Championships in West Germany. He was a member of the West German team which won the 1990 World Cup,
CB: Karl-Heinz Forster (Germany)
With West Germany, Forster earned 81 caps. He won the European Championship in 1980, and came 2nd at the WC in both 1982 and 1986. He was regarded one of the best defenders in the 1980's. He played with VFB Stuttgart and Marseille. With Stuttgart, he won a Bundesliga in the 1983–84 season. He won two league titles in France.
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| Karl-Heinz Forster |
CB/LB: Günther Schäfer (Germany)
In his sixteen years playing for VfB Stuttgart, the defender gained the status of being one of the most popular players ever to play for that Swabian Bundesliga side and one of the few players to earn two German championship titles with them. The most spectacular and well-known play of Schäfer's career was to clear a ball from the goal line by a bicycle kick, risking injury, in the final match of the 1991-92 season against Bayer Leverkusen, which Stuttgart went on to win 2-1, thus gaining the German championship title that season.
CB: Bernd Förster (Germany)
Förster started playing professionally at SV Waldhof Mannheim, in the second division. In 1975, he switched to FC Bayern Munich, but his stay there was highly unsuccessful. After establishing himself in the top flight with 1. FC Saarbrücken, Förster switched to VfB Stuttgart. He became an essential defensive member in the following seasons, partnering sibling Karlheinz in the back-four. Capped 33 times, he was a key player at the WC finals in 1982, where he partnered his brother Karl-Heinz.
CB: Marcelo Bordon (Brazil)
Between 2004 and July 2010 he played for Bundesliga side Schalke 04.[ He joined the club for a €2.6 million transfer fee from VfB Stuttgart. There, he formed a formidable central defence alongside Mladen Krstajić that earned him the role as team captain from the 2006–07 season until the summer of 2010. Although not a regular for the Brazilian national side, he was part of the team that won the 2004 Copa América.
LB: Ludovic Magnin (Switzerland)
In 1999, he made his professional debut for Yverdon Sports. In the summer of 2000, he transferred to Ticino side AC Lugano. In 2002, Magnin joined Bundesliga side Werder Bremen, where he won the double (German Championship and German Cup). In 2005, he transferred to VfB Stuttgart. There Ludo, as he is being called by Stuttgart fans, became a first-team regular within the first season and was a key player for his team in the following 2006–07 season. Earned 63 caps and was at one point, the Swiss captain.
LB: Philipp Lahm (Germany)
The captain of the 2014 WC winning team. He also won the treble in 2013 when Bayern Munich won the Champions' League, the German Cup and the Bundesliga. He earned 113 caps for germany at the end of the WC Finals in 2014 where he retired from the national team.
CB/CM: Guido Buchwald (Germany)
The best game of Buchwald's career was probably the final of the 1990 FIFA World Cup where he effectively marked the skilled footballer Diego Maradona, earning him the nickname "Diego". He was also part of Germany's disappointing 1994 FIFA World Cup squad and collected in his career 76 caps.
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| Guido Buchwald |
CM: Hermann Ohlicher (Germany)
He spent ten seasons in the Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart, playing 318 matches in the West German top-flight between 1973 and 1985. He won the league title in 1984.
CM: Karl Allgöwer (Germany)
He started with 2. Bundesliga team Stuttgarter Kickers from 1977 to 1980 as striker. He moved to local rival VfB Stuttgart in 1980. In 1989 the powerful free-kick specialist was part of the Stuttgart XI with Guido Buchwald and Jürgen Klinsmann that got defeated by Diego Maradona's SSC Napoli in the UEFA Cup final.
CM: Bo Larsson (Sweden)
Bo Larsson was Sweden Player of the Year in 1965 and 1973. He was the first player to win the award twice. He spent most of his career with Malmo. He spent three seasons as a top player with Vfb Stuttgart. He was awarded "Athlete of the Year" in 1969 by the city of Stuttgart. In total he got 70 caps, scoring 17 times, and played at the 1970 FIFA World Cup, 1974 FIFA World Cup and 1978 FIFA World Cup.
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| Bo Larrson |
He began his career at VfB Stuttgart, winning the Bundesliga in 2007, before moving to Real Madrid in 2010. In his five seasons in Spain, he won seven domestic and international trophies, including the UEFA Champions League in 2014. In 2015, he moved to Italian side Juventus on a free transfer, and immediately won the Serie A title in his first season with the club. Earned over 70 caps. He was a key player for Germany since 2009, winning the WC in 2014.
CM: Asgeir Sigurvinsson (Iceland)
He is conisdered to be Iceland's greatest players. He spent his foreign career with Standard Liege, Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart. He won the Bundelsliga in 1983-1984 with Stuttgart.Schlienz joined VfB permanently in the summer of 1945 after the War. But on 14 August 1948, he lost his left forearm (it had to be amputated) in a car accident. Schlienz made his comeback on 5 December 1948, against Bayern Munich. Despite being handicapped, he was now captain and playmaker at VfB Stuttgart, leading the team to win the German Championship twice in 1950 and 1952 (runner-up in 1953) and the German Cup twice in 1954 and 1958. Earned three caps for (West) Germany under the famous coach Sepp Herberger.
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| Robert Schlienz |
CM: Hansi Müller (Germany)
Playing for his hometown side VfB Stuttgart, he took part in UEFA Euro 1980 with West Germany, aged 22, after a brief taste of action at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, where he started all four games. The tournament would prove to be Müller's international peak as they emerged victorious. He had a disappointing 1982 World Cup, and despite returning to Italy to play for F.C. Internazionale Milano, he made his 42nd and last appearance for Die Mannschaft the following year.
AM: Karl Barufka (Germany)
He was a midfielder for Schalke 04, SpVgg Wilhelmshaven, VfB Stuttgart and 1. FC Pforzheim in the 1940's.
AM: Krassimir Balakov
Krassimir Balakov was one of the star player from the Golden Generation of the 1990's. He made 92 appearances for Bulgaria, between 1988 and 2003. He was best remembered for forming a successful attacking partnership with strikers Fredi Bobic and Giovane Élber at Stuttgart, where he won two UEFA Intertoto Cups (2000 and 2002) and a DFB-Pokal (1997). Before Stuttgart, He also had a successful spell with Sporting CP, playing with Luis Figo.
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| Krassimir Balakov |
ST: Mário Gómez (Germany)
Gomez started with Stuttgart before moving to Bayern Munich in 2009. Later, he played for Fiorentina and Besiktas. At the time of writing, he is with Wolfsburg. He now has 68 caps.
ST: Giovane Elber (Brazil)
Discovered by AC Milan at the age of 18. He went unnoticed there before he moved to Switzerland with Grasshopper Club Zürich. At Stuttgart he formed the so-called magic triangle (German: Magisches Dreieck) with Krassimir Balakov and Fredi Bobic. The following summer, he moved to fellow league team FC Bayern Munich where, save for one year, he was always crowned the club's top scorer. Due to stiff competition, Élber could not translate his club form to the Brazilian national team. In his first year of international play, 1998, he scored six goals in as many games, but would only collect nine more caps in the following three years.
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| Elber |
ST: Fredi Bobic (Germany)
Born in Maribor, SFR Yugoslavia, a few months after his birth his parents emigrated with him to German. He first made a name with Stuttgart. In 1996, he was the Bundesliga's top scorer with 17 goals. At Stuttgart, he formed part of a successful attacking line-up, along with strike partner Giovane Élber and attacking midfielder Krasimir Balakov, known as the "magic triangle". He would also play for Borussia Dortmund, Hertha Berlin, etc. Capped 37 times. He helped Germany to win the Euro 1996 in England.
ST: Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany)
Klinsmann won the WC in 1990 and then, captained the 1996 European Championship winning team. He played in all major international tournaments from 1988 until his retirement in 1998. He had successful club spells with Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspurs. He was a popular player while in England, despite a lot of negative press at the time of his signing. He won both the FWA Footballer of the Year and PFA Player of the Year in 1995.
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| Jurgen Klinsmann |
Honorable Mention
Alexander Hleb, Dieter Hoeneß, Ricardo Osorio
Squad Explanation
-- This is not a balanced team. I am out of my depth with my knowledge of this club. I selected too many midfielders and strikers.
-- Hinkel was very good when he played for Stuttgart.
Formation
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