Bastian Schweinsteiger

(born August 1 1984 in Kolbermoor, Bavaria, Germany) is a professional football (soccer) from Germany who currently plays in midfield for FC Bayern Munich. Bastian's older brother, Tobias Schweinsteiger, currently plays for the German third division club VfB Luebeck.

Career

Schweinsteiger signed for Bayern Munich as a youth team player on July 1, 1998 and rose through the club's youth sides. A talented youth ski racer, he had to decide between pursuing a professional career in skiing and football at the age of 14. Having won the German youth championship in July 2002, Schweinsteiger quickly earned a place in the reserves, producing a string of solid third division displays.

After just two training sessions with the first team, coach Ottmar Hitzfeld gave Schweinsteiger his debut as a late substitute in a UEFA Champions League game against RC Lens in November 2002, and the youngster made an immediate impact, creating a goal for Markus Feulner within minutes. He signed a professional contract the following month and went on to appear in 14 Bundesliga games in 2002-03, helping Bayern to a league and cup double. The next season he played 26 Bundesliga (football) games.

Schweinsteiger scored his first Bayern goal against VfL Wolfsburg in September 2003.

Surprisingly sent back to Bayern's amateurs by new coach Felix Magath at the beginning of the 2004-05 season despite his international exploits of the summer in the Confederations Cup, Schweinsteiger swiftly returned to play a role in the double-winning campaign and scored in Bayern's Champions League quarter-final first-leg defeat at Chelsea FC.

He made his international debut in 2004 in a friendly against Hungary. Bayern's number 31 earned rave reviews for his Euro 2004 performances in Portugal, showing combative skills and even setting up the opening goal for Bayern teammate Michael Ballack in Germany's 2-1 loss against the Czech Republic.

He scored his first two international goals on June 8, 2005 against Russia national football team and scored his first goal at a major tournament against Tunisia national football team on June 18, 2005 at the Confederations Cup 2005 in Germany. This was followed up by two strikes in the 2006 FIFA World Cup knockout stage Third place game at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, also in his home country. He almost performed a hat-trick with his two goals and a Portuguese own goal, also off his shot, by Armando Teixeira, which led the Germans to a third place win over Portugal in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

During Euro Cup 2008 qualifiers, he scored two goals enroute to a 13-0 win over San Marino in San Marino. He scored the third goal in Germany's 4-1 win over Slovakia national football team in Bratislava.

At the age of 22, he has already played 41 matches for the German national team which is a record for any German player. At the same age, Lothar Matthäus (German all-time record holder with 150 caps) had only played 13 times for the national team. Schweinsteiger's 22-year-old teammate and friend Lukas Podolski is coming close behind with currently 38 caps.

Career statistics

Honours

- World Cup: 3rd place 2006
- Confederations Cup: 3rd place 2005
- Bundesliga (football) champion: 2003, 2005, 2006
- German Cup: 2003, 2005, 2006
- Premiere Ligapokal: 2004, 2007
- German U-17 championship: 2001
- German U-19 championship: 2002