PAST PLAYER PROFILE - Christian Ziege

Christian Ziege : Defender
Date of Birth: 01/02/1972
Birthplace: Berlin
Debut : 9th September 2000 v Manchester City (H) Premiership: won 3-2
1st team games: 32
1st team goals: 2
Other clubs: Middlesbrough, AC Milan, Bayern Munich
International caps while with Liverpool: 59
International goals while with Liverpool: 8
Honours with Liverpool: -

PROFILE
Born in Berlin, Christian Ziege actually started his career as a goalkeeper. It was only after spells with his local clubs Sudstern 08, TSVRudow and Hertha Zehlendorf that he became an outfield player, and his impressive form during the early years of his career in Germany saw him snapped up by the mighty Bayern Munich while still only 18.

Christian represented Germany at every level as a youth and was hailed by the press as the "new Andy Brehme" when he captained the under-21 team.

He made his senior debut for Germany against Brazil in the 1993 US Cup and played a starring role for the triumphant Germany side at Euro '96, playing every minute of every game and scoring the team's first goal in their opening game against the Czech Republic.

That year he also helped Bayern win the UEFA Cup. After an unhappy spell in Italy with AC Milan, Ziege was delighted to join Middlesbrough, who paid ?4 million for his services. He revived his career on Teeside and duly returned to the national side, scoring a brilliant hat-trick against Northern Ireland in his second game back and going on to win his 50th cap in Germany's final warm-up match before Euro 2000, where he played the first two games against Romania and England.

In the summer of 2000, Ziege swapped Teeside for Merseyside. His ?5.5 million transfer was a long, drawn out affair and following his arrival he struggled to hold down a regular place in the first team.

Probably his best game in a Red shirt came in the UEFA Cup quarter final in Italy away to Roma, when his superb cross saw Michael Owen score his second goal of the game to give the Reds a priceless 2-0 win. He made a substitute appearance in the Worthington Cup Final against Birmingham and scored one of the penalties in the shoot-out victory.

Frustrated at his lack of first team opportunities and the emergence of Gregory Vignal saw Ziege move to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2001.