Bierhoff's path to the Bundesliga was a thorny one, starting at the age of 18 in Werderingen, and then moving on to Hamburg and Borussia Monchengladbach, where his mediocre performances prompted a move to Austria's Red Bull Salzburg in 1990. One season later, the Austrian giant was spotted by Inter Milan, but before he could show his talent, he was loaned out to Ascoli, the promoted team in the Serie A. On September 1, 1991, in the first round of the Serie A, Bierhoff made his debut against AC Milan, the pinnacle of his future career. It was as if fate had predetermined that this fate would blossom in a quiet way. However, Bierhoff and Ascoli's journey to Serie A was short and miserable, with Ascoli being relegated at the bottom of the table with only 14 points at the end of the season, and Bierhoff contributing 2 goals in 17 matches.
Over the next three seasons, Bierhoff struggled with Ascoli in Serie B. In his first season, he scored 20 goals in 35 appearances, which was incredibly effective in Serie B's best league. In total, he made 100 appearances and scored 46 goals in three seasons.
In 1995, Bierhoff was snapped up by Zaccheroni, the manager of promoted Serie A side Udinese and later Beijing Guoan boss. The German winger lived up to his reputation, scoring 17 goals in 31 games to help Udinese survive relegation and win the chance to represent Germany in the Europa League, making him an instant star.
Bierhoff's goal celebration during the 1989-1999 season.
Let's take a look back at Bierhoff's career at AC Milan and wish the 'Golden Head' a happy 56th birthday.
1998-1999 season
Two seasons before Zaccheroni led Bierhoff and Hellweg to the San Siro, Pépère's Milan experienced their lowest ebb since their founding, finishing 11th and 10th in the league, and despite the upcoming centenary, almost no one was optimistic that Pépère's reinforcements would lead to a title for Milan. The German center forward started his Milan debut season on a low note.
Juve and Inter, the favorites to win the title, started the season with mediocre performances, while Fiorentina, with Bardi, Rui Kosta, and Edmundo, had a strong start to the season. Halfway through the season, Lazio took over the lead by virtue of their overall superiority and gradually extended their lead.
Milan suffered from Fiorentina's headache after two consecutive wins in the opening rounds, and then their performance was mediocre. From the 25th to 27th rounds, Milan drew three times in a row, and after a 0-0 draw with Lazio in the 27th round, Milan was already seven points behind their rivals. With seven rounds left in the league, Milan showed no signs of winning the title.
Bierhoff and Vea, Milan's forward duo during their 100-year title run.
However, in the last seven rounds of the league, Milan suddenly exploded! In the 28th round, Milan rallied from a one-goal deficit to beat Parma 2-1, while Lazio lost to Roma 1-3 in the derby, reducing the gap to 4 points. In the 29th round, Milan beat Udinese 5-1, Bierhoff scored twice against his old master, Lazio lost to Juve again with the same score, the gap of 7 points narrowed to 1 point. In the 30th round, Milan beat Vicenza 2-0 on the road, Bierhoff's header broke the deadlock, and Lazio beat Sampo by one goal. In the 31st round, Milan won 3-2 against Samp, and continued to catch up with Lazio who won 3-0. In the 32nd round, Milan beat Juve 2-0 on the road, and continued to keep up with Lazio. In the 33rd round, the penultimate round of Serie A, Milan beat Empoli 4-0 with Bierhoff's hat-trick. This time, luck finally turned in favor of the red and black army, and in a strong dialogue, Lazio drew with Fiorentina 1-1, and Milan overtook the Blue Eagles by one point, taking the initiative into their own hands before the start of the final round of the tournament!
In the last round, Milan was away to Perugia, Gulli opened the first record for Milan in the 56th minute, Bierhoff extended the score in the 79th minute, although the home team pulled back a goal, Milan still won 2-1, and finally won the 16th league title in the team's history, a gift for the team's centennial celebration!
In his debut season at Milan, Bierhoff, who was born on International Labor Day, showed the spirit of a model worker. He ranked first in five categories: total appearances, total goals, Serie A appearances, Serie A goals and Coppa Italia goals! The total number of games played in the season is 37 (including 34 Serie A games and 3 Coppa Italia games); the total number of goals scored in the season is 20, including 18 in Serie A, which is tied for the third place in the list of Serie A top scorers, and 2 goals in the Coppa Italia. Although the Milan generals came forward to save the team at critical moments throughout the season, Bierhoff can be said to be the biggest contributor to Milan's century-long championship, without one, in terms of comprehensive data!
Albertini, Weah, Bierhoff, Boban, Ibrahimba, and Goncz, father and son, celebrate Milan's Serie A title win in the 1998-1999 season.
P.S. Bierhoff Milan's goals in the 1998-1999 season
Serie A
In the 1st round, Milan 3:0 Bologna, Bierhoff scored Milan's first two goals in the 45th and 51st minutes.
In the 2nd round, Salernitana 1:2 Milan, Bierhoff broke the deadlock in the 68th minute.
In the 3rd round, Milan 1:3 Fiorentina, Bierhoff scored a redeeming goal in the 69th minute.
In the 4th round, Venice 0:2 Milan, Bierhoff opened the scoring in the 3rd minute.
In the 12th round, Milan 3:0 Udinese, Bierhoff locked the score in the 61st minute.
Sampdoria 2:2 Milan in Round 14, Bierhoff made it 2-1 in the 73rd minute.
In the 17th round, Milan 2:1 Perugia, Bierhoff extended the score to 2-0 in the 40th minute.
In the 19th round, Milan 3:2 Salernitana, Bierhoff broke the deadlock in the 3rd minute and locked the score in the 60th minute.
In the 24th round, Milan 1:0 Piacenza, Bierhoff scored the only goal of the match in the 43rd minute.
In the 26th round, Milan 2:2 Bari, Bierhoff tied the game at 1 in the 42nd minute.
In the 29th round, Udinese 1:5 Milan, Bierhoff hit two goals in the 45th and 60th minutes.
Round 30, Vicenza 0:2 Milan, Bierhoff broke the deadlock in the 40th minute.
In the 33rd round, Milan 4:0 Empoli, Bierhoff completed his hat-trick in the 32nd, 55th and 60th minutes, helping Milan to a 3-0 lead.
In the 34th round, Perugia 1:2 Milan, Bierhoff extended the score to 2-0 in the 31st minute.
Milan 3-0 Torino in the first leg of the first round of the Coppa Italia, with Bierhoff locking it up in the 87th minute.
Bierhoff broke the deadlock in the seventh minute of Milan's 1-3 away match at Lazio in the first leg of the second round of the Coppa Italia.
Milan's indestructible forward pairing in the 1999-2000 season!
1999-2000 season
If the Milan dynasty constructed in the first ten years of Bei's Milan is the golden age, then the period of Milan's rejuvenation that recovers its splendor after a brief downturn can be called the silver age. Last season, Milan's century of winning the championship for Milan into the silver age sounded the horn, Bierhoff became the silver age group of stars of the leader.
The first representative star of Milan's silver age came to Milan this season, and the hottest super striker in world soccer at the time, Sheva, became the first important piece of the puzzle for Milan to build a new dynasty. Scheva's Milan debut season shone brightly, taking the Serie A top scorer! His partner, Bierhoff, was instrumental in his success. Although Bierhoff scored 6 fewer goals than last season, he played a huge role in pulling the opponent's defense, and Bierhoff was instrumental in Scheffer's eventual winning of the Golden Boot. The two super strikers form the most indestructible attacking combination in Serie A. Milan has 65 league goals this season, which is more than one more than the league champion Lazio, which has always been known for its sharp attacks, and the highest number of league goals scored by other 16 Serie A teams is only 58.
The Colts embrace their top two scorers!
Unfortunately, the strongest attacking duo in Serie A is inevitably limited by age. To be precise, at 32 years old, Bierhoff has entered the end of his career, although the world-class striker is a late bloomer, but in the Serie A high-intensity defense in front of Bierhoff has been a little bit too much.
Due to the strong arrival of Sheva this season, Bierhoff's total appearances, total goals and league goals all dropped one place to rank second in the team behind Sheva. Bierhoff's total number of appearances this season is 40 (including 30 Serie A, 6 Champions League, 3 Coppa Italia and 1 Supercoppa Italiana), which is 3 fewer than Scheva's; and his total number of goals for the season is 14 (including 11 Serie A, 2 Champions League and 1 Coppa Italia), which is 15 less than Scheva's. As a 32-year-old veteran, such data is definitely considered excellent!
Milan celebrate en masse with Bierhoff, Ambrosini, Sheva, Albertini, Gattuso and Chamotte (?). ..
P.S. Bierhoff Milan's goals in the 1999-2000 season
Serie A
In the 2nd round, Milan 3-1 Perugia, Bierhoff broke the deadlock in the 28th minute.
In the 4th round, Milan scored 4-0 Bologna, with Bierhoff scoring the third goal from a penalty kick in the 55th minute.
Milan 2-2 Cagliari in Round 6, Bierhoff locks it up in the 81st minute.
Round 9, Milan 3-0 Venice, Bierhoff broke the deadlock in the 55th minute.
Milan 1-2 Fiorentina away in the 12th round, Bierhoff broke the deadlock in the 1st minute.
In the 13th round, Milan 2-0 Torino, Bierhoff broke the deadlock in the 3rd minute.
In the 15th round, Milan went 1-0 away to Piacenza, with Bierhoff scoring the only goal in the 33rd minute.
In the 16th round, Milan was 2-2 Roma, with Bierhoff dressing it down in the 38th minute.
In the 18th round, Milan 2-2 Lecce, Bierhoff sealed the score in the 69th minute.
In the 21st round, Milan went 3-2 away to Bologna, Bierhoff helped Milan to lead 3-0 in the 57th minute.
In the 34th round, Milan 4-4 Udinese, Bierhoff broke the deadlock in the 13th minute.
Milan 3-0 Atalanta in the Coppa Italia first round second leg, Bierhoff breaks the deadlock in the 40th minute.
Milan 1-1 Hertha Berlin in the third round of Group H of the Champions League group stage, with Bierhoff equalizing in the 74th minute.
Milan 1-1 Chelsea in the fifth round of Group H of the Champions League group stage, Bierhoff broke the deadlock in the 74th minute.
Bierhoff celebrates a goal during the 1999-2000 season.
2000-2001 season
This season, the 32-year-old German center forward finally showed some old age, the power of the former dominant aerial bombing declined, and the main position began to be affected by the impact of Josemari. Milan's overall performance was also a bit sluggish, the Serie A finally ranked sixth in the table, and can only participate in the European Cup next season. The Italian Cup ended in the semi-finals, and the Champions League failed to qualify for the second phase of the group stage, finishing third in the group.
Bierhoff has made 27 league appearances this season, scoring just six goals. Two goals in the Champions League and one in the Coppa Italia.
Because of being squeezed into third place in the group by Deportivo La Coruna and Galatasaray in the second phase of the Champions League group stage, Bierhoff's mentor Zaccheroni was sacked by Pérez Lao, and the German winger, who is already 33 years old, had his mind made up to go.
Milan starting lineup, 3-3 Barcelona at home, Champions League group stage, October 18, 2000 (Message me if you don't recognize them)
P.S. Bierhoff Milan's goals in 2000-2001 season
Serie A
Round 1, Milan 2:0 Vicenza, Bierhoff broke the deadlock in the 16th minute.
In the 5th round, Milan 3:3 Atalanta, Bierhoff helped Milan to equalize 2-3 in the 49th minute.
Round 6, Bari 1:3 Milan, Bierhoff broke the deadlock in the 67th minute.
Round 13, Milan 2:2 Inter Milan, Bierhoff locks it up in the 84th minute.
Round 16, Brescia 1:1 Milan, Bierhoff broke the deadlock in the 26th minute.
In the 27th round, Lecce 3:3 Milan, Bierhoff helped Milan equalize in the 37th minute.
Bierhoff's goal celebration during the 2000-2001 season
Milan 4-1 Besiktas in Champions League Stage 1 Group Stage 1, Bierhoff helped Milan to a 2-1 comeback in the 44th minute.
Milan were 2-0 away to Barcelona in the third round of the first group stage of the Champions League, with Bierhoff sealing the score in the 71st minute.
Bierhoff helped Milan to a 2-0 lead in the 60th minute in the first leg of the Coppa Italia one-eighth final, 3-1 away to Torino.
With the arrival of Inzaghi in the 2001-2002 season, Bierhoff, who was already 33 years old, completely lost his starting position in the Red and Black.
In the 2000-2001 season, the German golden head in front of newcomers Inzaghi and Rui Kosta was slightly despondent.
After some thought, the aged Bierhoff choose to merit retirement, at the beginning of the season chose to join the French Ligue 1 Monaco, a season later Bierhoff returned to Serie A to join Chievo, 2002-2003 season ended, the 35-year-old Bierhoff chose to retire.
The three seasons at Milan were the pinnacle of Bierhoff's professional playing career, and Bierhoff won the Serie A title for Milan once, a great gift for Milan's centennial celebrations. This championship marked the road to revival for Bey's Milan!
Finally, happy birthday again to Bierhoff!
