Dietmar Hamann is a German international footballer who plays preferably in defensive midfield position. He was born on August 27, 1973 in Waldsassen, West Germany and has two daughters named Luna and Chiara. In 1993, he made it into the German under-21(U-21) squad and appeared in 12 matches in two years. Later in 1997, Dietmar Hamann moved to the senior team and played for his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2004. He scored a winning goal against England in the 2002 World Cup qualifier, which happened to be the last goal at the Wembley Stadium before it was rebuilt. Dietmar Hamann retired from the international football in 2005 after making 59 appearances for it with 5 goals under the belt.
Dietmar Hamann started his club career with Wacker Munich’s youth club, where his father was then the coach. In 1989, at the age of 16, Dietmar Hamann joined the youth club of Bayern Munich and in 1991 made his debut for the team. Later in 1993, he was promoted to the Bayern Munich’s senior team and has won Bundesliga title in 1994 and 1997, UEFA Cup in 1996, DFB Liga-Pokal in 1997 and DFB Pokal in 1998 with the team. After 1998 World Cup, Dietmar Hamann joined Newcastle United for a transfer fee of £5.5m where he appeared in 23 matches scoring 4 goals along the way.
Dietmar Hamann with his impressive performances for Newcastle United caught the interest of popular teams including Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal and Liverpool. He eventually signed Liverpool in July 1999 for a transfer fee of £8million and during his stay in the team, Liverpool had won many titles that include 1999 FA Cup runners-up, 2001 Football League Cup, FA Cup, Charity Shield and European Super Cup, 2002 Charity Shield runners-up, 2003 Football League Cup, 2005 UEFA Champions League winners and runners-up of Club World Cup and Football League Cup, 2006 FA Cup and European Super Cup.
In 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan, before Dietmar Hamann came on as a substitute in the second half and AC Milan was leading the match 3-0. Dietmar Hamann helped the team to level the score by his defensive skills, which gave the freedom for Gerrard to move forward and attack. The score was 3-3 at the end of extra-time and Liverpool won the match 3-2 by scoring the penalty kicks. In an internet poll to decide the name of the new Wembley Stadium, the German and Liverpool fans voted massively for the name “Dietmar-Hamann-Bridge”.
Dietmar Hamann, in June 2006, signed a contract with Bolton Wanderers, but later on July 12, signed an another contract with Manchester City where the club paid a £400,000 compensation to Bolton Wanderers. On February 13, 2007, he extended his contract with the club and he represents the club till the end of 2008-09 season. He scored his first goal for the club in a UEFA Cup Qualifying 1st Round match against EB/Streymur. Dietmar Hamann, after 2005 Ashes Series, got interested in cricket and likes to watch the sport.
