Klaus-Dieter Sieloff facts for kids
Sieloff in 1965
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Klaus-Dieter Sieloff | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 27 February 1942 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tilsit, East Prussia, Germany | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 13 December 2011 (aged 69) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Stuttgart, Germany | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Defender, sweeper | ||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||
| –1954 | Borussia Kiel | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1954–1959 | FV Rottweil 08 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1959–1960 | VfB Stuttgart | ||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | ||||||||||||||||
| 1960–1969 | VfB Stuttgart | 174 | (22) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1969–1974 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 123 | (15) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1974–1976 | Alemannia Aachen | 42 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1976–1977 | TSG Backnang | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 338 | (40) | |||||||||||||||||
| National team | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1964–1971 | West Germany | 14 | (5) | ||||||||||||||||
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Honours
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Klaus-Dieter Sieloff (born 27 February 1942 – died 13 December 2011) was a German footballer. He played as a defender, often in a special role called a sweeper. Sieloff played for 11 seasons in the top German football league, the Bundesliga. He played for famous clubs like VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Mönchengladbach. He also played for the West Germany national team.
Contents
Early Life and Football Start
When Klaus-Dieter Sieloff was young, he lived in Kiel. He first wanted to be a boxer. By the time he was 14, he had already been in the boxing ring 25 times!
Later, his family moved to Rottweil, which is close to Stuttgart. Sieloff started going to football games at Neckarstadion to watch VfB Stuttgart play. This made him change his mind about boxing. He became very interested in football instead.
In October 1960, he played his very first game for VfB Stuttgart. He quickly became a key player in their defense. He was known for his strong play in the "stopper" position.
Football Career Highlights
Sieloff was a strong player who was also good with the ball. This caught the eye of West Germany national team coach Sepp Herberger. Herberger called Sieloff up for his first national team game in 1964. It was a friendly match against Finland in Helsinki.
The next year, Sieloff became the main "sweeper" for West Germany. A sweeper is a defender who plays behind the other defenders. Their job is to "sweep up" any loose balls and stop attackers. Sieloff was known for running forward from this position. He often scored goals with powerful shots from far away.
World Cup Challenges
Sadly for Sieloff, he lost his starting spot in the West Germany team during the 1965–66 season. Because of this, he did not play in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. For the next four years, other players like Willi Schulz or Karl-Heinz Schnellinger usually played as the sweeper. This meant Sieloff did not play for his country again until 1970.
After the 1970 FIFA World Cup, things changed. Schulz retired from international football. Schnellinger was not playing regularly for Germany because he was playing for a club abroad. This gave Sieloff a chance to play for West Germany again. His success with his club team, Borussia Mönchengladbach, also helped him.
Success with Borussia Mönchengladbach
In 1969, Sieloff moved from VfB Stuttgart to Borussia Mönchengladbach. Their coach, Hennes Weisweiler, wanted to make his young team's defense stronger. The team was already very good at attacking, but they needed to be better at defending to win a long league season.
For the 1969–70 season, Mönchengladbach brought in Sieloff as the sweeper. They also added Ludwig Müller as the stopper. With a much stronger defense, Borussia Mönchengladbach won the Bundesliga in 1970. They won it again in the 1971 season. Sieloff was one of the team's celebrated stars.
Return to National Team and Retirement
Sieloff made his comeback for West Germany in April 1970. It was a friendly game against Romania. After the 1970 World Cup, with Schulz retired, Sieloff became the main sweeper for West Germany again.
However, in 1971, it became clear that Franz Beckenbauer was the best choice for the sweeper position. Beckenbauer had played in midfield before. This meant the end of Sieloff's international career. He played a total of 14 games for West Germany.
Sieloff continued to play for Borussia Mönchengladbach until 1974. Then he moved to Alemannia Aachen, where he played until 1976. He finished his football career in 1977, playing one season for TSG Backnang. After he stopped playing, Sieloff became the head of the sports activities group at the Mercedes Benz company. He passed away in December 2011.
Honours
Borussia Mönchengladbach
- Bundesliga: 1969–70, 1970–71
- DFB-Pokal: 1972–73
- UEFA Cup finalist: 1972–73
West Germany
- FIFA World Cup: runner-up 1966; third place 1970
See also
In Spanish: Klaus-Dieter Sieloff para niños
