Lars Ricken

Lars Ricken (born July 10, 1976 in Dortmund) is a former professional Germany Association football. He played midfielder for Borussia Dortmund during his entire professional career.

Ricken joined German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund at an early age, and debuted with the seniors on March 8, 1994, in a 1-2 home defeat against VfB Stuttgart. From the Fußball-Bundesliga 1994–95 onwards, he became a regular, scoring a memorable long distance goal in the 1997 UEFA Champions League Final against Juventus Turin. That goal made Ricken the youngest and fastest player ever to score in a Champions League final, after just 16 seconds on the field as a substitute (football).

In the following years, Ricken's success was tampered by a series of injuries. An Germany national football team since September 10, 1997, in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Armenia national football team, he missed two chances to play in big international tournaments, the 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2000 UEFA European Football Championship. Later, he restored his form, helping Dortmund to claim the league title in Fußball-Bundesliga 2001-02, and being selected by national coach Rudi Völler for the German squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Ricken did not play in the tournament, as Germany emerged runners-up.

Ricken's injury woes returned after the World Cup. As a consequence, he failed to earn recognition at either european or international level since. In early April 2007, he was demoted to the reserve team by then-Dortmund coach Thomas Doll, due to substandard performance. On November, Ricken announced to retire from football.

In an attempt to return to football, he briefly attended a training camp in February 2008 with the Columbus Crew of the Major League Soccer, but returned to Germany and Dortmund in a few days.

On June 11, 2008, Borussia Dortmund sport director Michael Zorc, also a club former footballer, announced that Ricken was to be hired as youth coordinator, with immediate effect.