When Effenberg wanted to get even with FC Bayern at the European Championships
Before the EURO 1992, FC Bayern had a dismal season. One of the victims back then: Stefan Effenberg. The 23-year-old had to leave the record champions due to disputes. But just before the EURO championship, Effenberg suddenly bloomed.
"I'd prefer if I only received pressure in the coming weeks. I wish for the final. And against Denmark. I in the defensive midfield against my friend Brian Laudrup in the offensive midfield. Brian has fear of me. And then we will be European champions." These words of Stefan Effenberg at the beginning of June just before the start of the EURO championship 1992 in Sweden were almost prophetic. Almost everything he said came true, except for one small but significant detail. The winner of the final in Stockholm was not Germany. In the end, the Danes surprisingly and deservedly secured the EURO title. A team that went down in the history of European football as the "Burger-Champions."
But even though Stefan Effenberg's dream of EURO triumph did not come true in the end, he achieved a lot in the weeks leading up to and during the EURO championship. The season before at FC Bayern Munchen was, to put it mildly, a disaster for both the player and the club. For a short time, the record champions even found themselves in the relegation fight of the Bundesliga - and the relationship between Bayern and Stefan Effenberg seemed irreparably damaged.
The 23-year-old Effenberg, who had come to Munich from Borussia Monchengladbach with so many promising accolades and hopes, had to leave the club after some disputes and serious confrontations at the end of the season. Effenberg was therefore welcomed with open arms when he was approached by the Bayern leadership, Uli Hoeneß and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, before the EURO championship: "They have to sit in front of the TV and it should hurt them."
"Eight Kilos of Muscles" built up
It was long uncertain whether Effenberg would even go to Sweden at all. Not only with Bayern did he have problems, but Bundestrainer Berti Vogts had also released him from the national team due to internal confrontations. However, this expulsion and his sale by FC Bayern to Fiorentina eventually led to the fact that Effenberg not only changed his behavior but also his physical appearance noticeably and significantly in the weeks before the end of the season.
An important factor in this was his wife, as a large German sports magazine reported at the time. Not only did his wife advise him to get a haircut ("It looks better, my wife said. I noticed that it has a completely different effect on the spectators"), but she, as a proven strength and fitness trainer, was also largely responsible for the fact that the young star of the national team built up "eight kilos of muscles" through hard work.
In reality, the first successes on the field showed up very quickly. Effenberg's statistical values amazed everyone. But not only in statistics did the new Florentiner bloom - he found himself quickly in a new role in general. Although he had become deliberately quieter off the field ("My wife said that less talking is more. Since then, I have been very careful about what I say"), he followed the advice of his injured teammate Lothar Matthäus on the green grass, who had given him the advice to "trust himself" and "keep quiet and play calmly in the game". And exactly that's what Effenberg did and quickly became a kind of secret chief within the team.
Six years passed before the return
The fact that all these efforts bore fruit quickly was shown at the end of the EM. Effenberg's market value had risen to over nine million marks and in the country of his future employer, he was chosen by trainers Capello, Ericsson and Sacchi, along with Thomas Häßler, after the Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp, in the "Gazetta dello Sport" as the second best player of the tournament. And even his former trainer at Bayern, Jupp Heynckes, who he had clashed with the previous season, was surprised by the "new Stefan Effenberg": "Good that he played without any fuss in Sweden."
And he was even able to carry out his plan to show the Bayern that his departure had been a mistake for the record champions. It took six long years before Stefan Effenberg returned to Bayern Munich via Borussia Mönchengladbach, but the following time from 1998 was the most successful and beautiful in his career.
However, one thing broke down in Sweden that summer, when Stefan Effenberg bloomed and the FC Bayern painfully showed what a great player they had let go: The friendship with his teammate Brian Laudrup. But that's another story!
In the lead-up to EURO 1992, despite facing challenges at both FC Bayern Munich and the national soccer team, Stefan Effenberg transformed his physique and performance. His new muscular build and improved demeanor on the field earned him accolades, such as being named the second best player of the tournament by Italian sports newspaper Gazetta dello Sport.
During EURO 1992, Stefan Effenberg, who had initially been cut from both the national team and FC Bayern due to disputes, established himself as a key player for the German team. His newfound calm and trust in his abilities allowed him to become a secret leader within the team, leading to impressive performances on the field.
