Bastian Schweinsteiger  

POSITION Midfielder  

BORN 01.08.1984  

SIGNING DATE 01.07.1998  

NUMBER 31  

CONTRACT UNTIL 2005  

FAMILY STATUS single  

NICKNAME Basti  

PREVIOUS CLUBS  

FV Oberaudorf  

TSV 1860 Rosenheim

Players have good years and bad years, but for Bastian Schweinsteiger 2002
must go down as the very best yet. In July, he was celebrating the German
senior youth championship and looking forward to battling for a place in the
reserves - but by December, he had appeared in the Bundesliga and the
Champions' League and signed his first professional contract.

The player's astonishing rise began with the Bayern youths' 4-0 victory over
VfB Stuttgart in the championship final, Schweinsteiger laying on all four
goals. He stepped up to the club's reserve squad and quickly realised his
short term goal, coach Hermann Gerland reserving a place for him in the
starting line-up from the very first game.

The Germany Under-19 international turned in a string of solid displays in
the third division, quickly attracting attention from the senior coaching
staff. After just two training sessions with the first team, Ottmar Hitzfeld
chose to throw the youngster in at the deep end: the player came on for his
Champions' League debut after 76 minutes of Bayern's home tie with Racing
Club Lens on 13 November 2002.

And what a debut it was: Schweinsteiger had been on the field just 11 minutes
when he skipped round seasoned Cameroon international Rigobert Song and put
in a precise cross for Markus Feulner to drive home. The rising young star
appeared unaffected by nerves and anything but overawed, although he admitted
afterwards: "I was a little nervous and not sure what to do. You just watch
and learn from the experienced professionals."

"I'm delighted we have such good players in our youth section," Hitzfeld
commented. Then, three and a half weeks later, the player passed another
milestone with his Bundesliga debut, a 10 minute appearance against VfB
Stuttgart. At this stage, Schweinsteiger was looking forward to a period of
intense learning, as he and one or two other youths were invited to train
regularly with the professional squad. "They'll pick up the kind of
experience you just can't get in the youth or reserve team," head of the club
Junior Team Werner Kern observed.

But the crowning glory was still to come. Deeply impressed by the young man's
application and attitude, the club offered him professional terms, which he
accepted in late December. Schweinsteiger will find it difficult to match the
achievements of 2002 in the coming year, but the likeable 18 year-old will
give everything as always, hoping to add another chapter or two to his
remarkable story as 2003 unfolds.  
  

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