Hans Pflügler


Johannes Christian "Hans" Pflügler is a German retired footballer. He could operate as either a left back or a central defender, and played solely for Bayern Munich, winning eight major titles and appearing in nearly 400 official games.
Pflügler represented West Germany at the 1990 World Cup and Euro 1988, winning the former tournament.

Club career

Born in Freising, Pflügler made his professional debuts in 1981–82, with the only club he ever knew, local FC Bayern Munich. After two experimental seasons, he became an automatic first-choice, scoring 27 Bundesliga goals from 1983 to 1988 combined and playing all the games and minutes in the 1986–87 European Cup, as the team finally finished second to FC Porto.
After helping the Bavarians to five leagues and three cups, Pflügler only managed to appear in 14 matches in the 1991–92 campaign, and decided to retire. However, a flood of injuries to the side in 1995 prompted a request by manager Giovanni Trapattoni which the player accepted, appearing on 8 April in a home game against 1. FC Kaiserslautern where he was also booked; even more astonishingly, he spent the entire 2001–02 with the B-team in Regionalliga Süd, helping it to a final tenth place at the age of 42.

International career

Pflügler played for the German national team on 11 occasions, making his debut on 25 March 1987 in a friendly game with Israel. He was selected for the squad at the following year's UEFA European Championship.
Pflügler was also picked for the 1990 FIFA World Cup as Andreas Brehme's backup, playing 90 minutes against Colombia for the eventual champions.

Personal life

Pflügler is an engineer with a diploma. He was also connected with Bayern's merchandising departments, where he already worked before being summoned out of retirement for the first time.
Pflügler also operated Pension Pflügler, in his hometown.

Honours

Club

;Bayern Munich
;Germany