Dietmar Hamann

Dietmar Johann Wolfgang "Didi" Hamann (born 27 August 1973) is a German professional football coach, former player and media personality.

Throughout his career, he has played for Bayern Munich, Newcastle United, Liverpool and Manchester City primarily in a defensive midfield position.

He also spent time at Milton Keynes Dons as a player/coach before joining Leicester City as a first team coach.

After impressing as a junior, he joined Bayern Munich as a 16-year-old in 1989 and debuted for the Bayern professional team in 1993.

Hamann joined a team led by Lothar Matthäus, Thomas Helmer, Christian Ziege and Oliver Kahn and played five games, mostly as a right winger.

At first, Hamann was only a so-called Vertragsamateur (i.e. an amateur player who had the licence for playing professional games).

Still, he won his first German championship as a bench player.

In the next season, Bayern suffered a major injury wave which claimed midfielders Matthäus, Swiss international Alain Sutter, talent Dieter Frey and veteran Markus Schupp, which allowed Hamann to become a regular; he played 30 Bundesliga games and established himself as a valuable role player, playing either right wing or defensive midfield.

He earned himself a full professional contract and was an important player in the tumultuous 1995–96 campaign, in which Bayern recruited striker Jürgen Klinsmann, coach Otto Rehhagel and midfielders Andi Herzog, Thomas Strunz and Ciriaco Sforza, but the team was torn apart by heavy internal struggles.

Although Hamann was overshadowed by these new midfield recruits, he played in 20 games and provided some stability for the infighting Bayern squad.

Bayern ended a disappointing second and saw Rehhagel sacked, but ended the season by winning the UEFA Cup.

The 1996–97 season was to become Hamann's breakthrough.

After being a bench player most of his career until then, new coach Giovanni Trapattoni made him a starting defensive midfielder, and new recruit Mario Basler took the right wing.

Hamann played in 23 games, also making his debut in the Germany national team and won his second Germany championship with Bayern.

In private life, Hamann had to overcome a scary period when he broke down unconscious and was diagnosed with a stroke, but made a full recovery.

The next season ended disappointingly for Bayern who lagged behind newly promoted 1. FC Kaiserslautern for the vast majority of the season and finished second.

Now an undisputed starter, Hamann played in 28 games and scored two goals.

The season ended on a high for Bayern when they secured the DFB-Pokal against MSV Duisburg.

He was a member of the Germany national team from 1997 until 2006 and represented his nation in two FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Championships, reaching the 2002 FIFA World Cup final.

He is known in Ireland as a football pundit on Raidió Teilifís Éireann's live coverage of major European and International competitions.

Throughout his playing career Hamann gained a reputation for being a highly consistent and reliable player.

After playing for his country in the 1998 World Cup, he joined Newcastle United, managed at the time by Kenny Dalglish, for £5.5 million.

Overcoming an early foot injury, Hamann played in 31 matches and scored five goals.

In July 1999 he opted to join Gerard Houllier's Liverpool, who signed him for £8 million.

Whilst at Newcastle he played in the 1999 FA Cup Final.

Hamann established himself as an influential midfielder for Liverpool throughout his seven years at the club.

All in all, Hamann played in 191 league games and scored eight goals.

In the 2000–01 season, Hamann won his first big English trophy when Liverpool won a much-celebrated cup treble (League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup) and a place in the Champions League.

Hamann also played the full 90 minutes and assisted Liverpool's second goal (scored by Michael Owen) in the team's 2-0 victory over Manchester United in the 2003 Worthington Cup final.

Hamann established himself as a major first team player for Liverpool throughout his first few seasons.

He is highly respected by supporters of Liverpool due in large part to his involvement in the club's victory in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final.

Hamann played a major part in the 2005 Champions League Final win over A.C. Milan.

Although he was suffering a broken toe during the final, Hamann's substitution for Steve Finnan at half time was the catalyst for Liverpool's historic fightback.

The team rallied after being 3–0 down to bring the game back to 3–3 and finally won in the penalty shootout; Hamann also showed a great amount of composure and bravery, as he took and converted the first LFC penalty with his broken foot.

This was not the only key part he played in their Champions league success.

Earlier in the tournament, Hamann had been forced to stand in for Liverpool's key player Steven Gerrard in the first leg of the last 16 round against Bayer Leverkusen.

He excelled in the match and scored a late free-kick as Liverpool won the match 3–1.

On 5 July 2011, Hamann was named as the new manager of Stockport County, replacing former manager Ray Mathias.

He resigned from the post on 7 November 2011 after only four months with Stockport struggling in 17th place in the Conference Premier citing failure of a proposed takeover by Tony Evans.

Hamann began his career at the little-known FC Wacker München.