Rüdiger Ziehl (born 26 October 1977) is a German football manager who is the manager of 3. Liga club 1. FC Saarbrücken.[1]

Rüdiger Ziehl
Personal information
Date of birth (1977-10-26) 26 October 1977 (age 47)
Place of birth Zweibrücken, Germany
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
1. FC Saarbrücken (manager)
Youth career
SG Rieschweiler-Stambach
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
–2000 FK Pirmasens
2000–2001 1. FC Kaiserslautern 3 (0)
2001–2002 1. FC Kaiserslautern II 29 (0)
2002–2004 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 45 (1)
2004–2009 TuS Koblenz 106 (8)
2009–2012 VfL Wolfsburg II 17 (2)
Total 200 (11)
Managerial career
2012–2013 VfL Wolfsburg II (interim)
2016 VfL Wolfsburg II (interim)
2016–2020 VfL Wolfsburg II
2021–2022 TSV Havelse
2022– 1. FC Saarbrücken
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

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Ziehl was born in Zweibrücken. He made his debut on the professional league level in the Bundesliga for 1. FC Kaiserslautern on 11 March 2001 when he came on as a substitute in the 83rd minute in a game against 1860 Munich.[2]

Managerial career

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Ziehl ended his active career in 2012 and was named assistant manager at his last club, VfL Wolfsburg II. After four years as an assistant and two stints as interim manager, he was named head coach in 2016.[3] He left the club in 2020.[4]

On 28 June 2021, Ziehl was named head coach of 3. Liga club TSV Havelse starting in the 2021–22 season.[5] A year later he was appointed as the intertim; later permanent manager of 1. FC Saarbrücken. Saarbrücken finished in 5th place in the 2022-23 3.Liga season, qualifying for the DFB Pokal. This became important as he led Saarbrücken to a miraculous DFB Pokal run in the 2023-24 season, eliminating three Bundesliga sides; including reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, reigning DFB Pokal runners-up Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Monchengladbach in the process to reach the Semi-finals of the competition for the first time since 2019-20 season whilst being in the 3.Liga. They were defeated by his former club 1. FC Kaiserslautern a 2.Bundesliga side in the Semi-finals. [6]

References

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  1. ^ "Rüdiger Ziehl". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  2. ^ "Spannung pur auf dem Betzenberg". kicker.de (in German). kicker. 11 March 2001. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Wolfsburg II: Ziehl verlängert bis 2018". kicker.de. kicker. 18 June 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Abbruch, kein Aufstieg: Ziehls bitterer Abschied beim VfL Wolfsburg II". sportbuzzer.de (in German). Sportbuzzer. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Drittliga-Neuling Havelse verpflichtet Ziehl als Cheftrainer". kicker.de (in German). kicker. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Rüdiger Ziehl übernimmt interimsweise Trainingsleitung". fc-saarbruecken.de (in German). 11 October 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
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