Andreas Möller is a retired German international footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is currently the head of the youth department at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Club career
At club level, Möller played for Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, and Schalke 04. In his first spell with Borussia Dortmund, he won the DFB-Pokal during the 1988–89 season. After moving to Italian side Juventus, he won the UEFA Cup in 1993, beating out his former club, Borussia Dortmund, 6–1 on aggregate, with Möller scoring one of the goals and providing three assists across both legs of the final. Upon his return to Dortmund, he won several domestic titles with the club, including consecutive Bundesliga titles in 1995 and 1996, as well as the Champions League in 1997, once again beating his former team, Juventus on this occasion, 3–1, and providing two assists during the match, while his corner also led to the opening goal; he followed up the victory with the Intercontinental Cup later that year, after which he was named Man of the Match. With Schalke, he won the DFB-Pokal twice more in 2001 and 2002.
International career
With the German national team, Möller was capped 85 times between 1988 and 1999, scoring 29 goals. He took part at five major international tournaments, winning the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96. He also played for his country at Euro 92, where his team reached the final, only to lose out 2–0 to Denmark, as well as the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, in which Germany suffered quarter-final eliminations; in the former edition of the tournament, Germany were eliminated following a surprising 2–1 defeat to Bulgaria, while in the latter edition, Germany lost out 3–0 to Croatia. Möller did not play in the 1–0 victory over Argentina in the 1990 World Cup Final and was also suspended for Germany's 2–1 golden goal victory over Czech Republic in the final of Euro 96 after he was booked in the semi-final against hosts England; in the resulting shoot out of the latter match, following a 1–1 draw after extra-time, Möller scored the winning penalty, which he celebrated by mimicking the bravado of the pose struck earlier in the shoot out when Paul Gascoigne had converted his penalty.
Style of play
Described by Stephan Uersfeld of ESPN FC as "one of the greatest midfielders of his generation," Möller was a talented, versatile, and complete advanced playmaker, who was known for his range of passing, creativity, vision, intelligence, and technical ability, as well as his agility, reactions, and his speed of thought and execution, which enabled him to play first–time passes; he also had the ability to carry the ball or run forward at defences while in possession. In addition to his creative capabilities and ability to provide assists to teammates, he was also known for his goalscoring, courtesy of his powerful and accurate striking ability with either foot, as well as his heading ability, which allowed him to excel in the air; his offensive qualities also allowed him to be deployed in more advanced roles, as a supporting striker or even as a winger on occasion, in addition to his usual central position as an attacking midfielder behind the strikers. He was also a free kick specialist.
