Sascha Riether

Sascha Riether (born 23 March 1983) is a German former professional footballer who played as a right-back.

In addition to playing in the right back position, Riether has also played in defensive midfield, center back and right midfield positions throughout his whole career.

His then U19 manager Uli Stielike described him in his early career as "very disciplined, versatile player, strong on the right side."

During his playing career, Riether was known for his high commitment during the match and was considered a very passable player, who was more inclined to horizontal passes instead of creating chances with long passes.

After announcing his retirement from professional football, he was appointed as Schalke 04's first coordinator for the licensed players department and worked for the role for two years before being relieved of duties in February 2021.

Born in Lahr, West Germany, Riether came from a football family, where his father and older brother and started playing football when he was four years old.

Riether then started his football career at B-youth of SC Freiburg before he joined the side in July 1998.

Riether previously was at the youth teams of FV Kuhbach (now SC Kuhbach-Reichenbach) and Offenburger FV.

After progressing through the ranks at SC Freiburg for the next four years including some matches for the reserve team in 2001/02 at the 4th level, Riether's reward was earned when he signed his first professional contract with the club.

Riether started his professional club career in the 2. Bundesliga ahead of the 2002–03 season.

He made his SC Freiburg debut in the opening game of the season, starting the whole game, in a 1–0 win over Alemannia Aachen.

Two weeks later on 25 August 2002 after making his debut, he set up a goal for Fabian Gerber in the last minute of the game, in a 3–1 win over Rot Weiss Ahlen.

Riether helped the club keep three consecutive clean sheets in three matches between 16 September 2002 and 30 September 2002.

Since making his debut for SC Freiburg, he quickly established himself in the first team for the club, quickly dispatching Tobias Willi in the right–back position.

Over the season, Riether was praised for his good performance in number of matches.

At the end of the 2002–03 season, Riether he appeared in 23 league games (26 appearances in all competitions) in his first season at the club.

However, during a 4–0 win against Rot Weiss Ahlen on 9 February 2003, he suffered a "suffered a thick foot with a bruise" despite playing the whole game.

After the match, it was announced that Riether was sidelined for two months.

But he made his return on 25 April 2003, coming on as a second–half substitute, in a 4–0 loss against SpVgg Greuther Fürth.

His return later contributed Freiburg become champions and secure promotion back into the Bundesliga.

In the 2003–04 season, Riether started the season well when he scored in the opening game of the season, in a 4–1 loss against Bayer Leverkusen.

Riether started the start of the season, rotating in playing either the right–back position and defensive midfield position.

Riether also an ever-present for the side until he missed one match, due to suspension.

At the end of the 2003–04 season, he went on to make 36 appearances and scoring three times in all competitions.

Shortly after the end of the season, Riether signed a contract extension with SC Freiburg.

After serving a one match suspension, Riether returned to the starting line–up against 1. FC Köln on 27 March 2004 and scored his second goal of the season, in a 3–0 win.

He then scored his third goal of the season, scoring from a header, in a 4–1 win against Hannover 96 on 1 May 2004.

At the start of the 2004–05 season, Riether continued to feature in the defensive–midfield position for the side.

He then scored in the second round of DFB-Pokal, in a 3–2 win over VfL Bochum after the game went extra–time.

Riether then rotated in playing in different positions, such as, centre–back and then right–back position, which he did for the rest of the season.

At the end of the 2004–05 season, Riether finished the season, making the twenty–seven appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.

He then scored his second goal of the season, on 6 February 2005, in a 3–2 loss against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

However, during a 1–0 loss against Bayern Munich on 26 February 2005, Riether suffered a knee injury and was substituted in the 28th minute.

After the match, it was announced that he was sidelined for two months.

Riether previously suffered an injury during the season, but quickly made a recovery.

While on the sidelines, the club were relegated back to 2.

Bundesliga after losing 3–1 against Arminia Bielefeld on 22 April 2005.

But he made his return to the first team against Werder Bremen on 14 May 2005, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute, in a 4–1 loss.

At the start of the 2005–06 season, Riether set up a goal for Aleksandr Iashvili to score the only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win against Sportfreunde Siegen in the first round of the DFB–Pokal.

Riether went on to become the club's top performers and helped the side survive in the Bundesliga, finishing 13th place.