Tobias Rau  

POSITION Defender  

BORN 31.12.1981  

SIGNING DATE 01.07.2003  

NUMBER 15  

CONTRACT UNTIL 30.06.2006  

FAMILY STATUS single  

NICKNAME -  

HOMEPAGE -  

PREVIOUS CLUBS  

SF Oelper till 2000  

Eintracht Braunschweig 2000 - 2001  

VfL Wolfsburg 2001 - 2003  

No less a player than Stefan Effenberg has described Tobias Rau as "the first
real solution at left-back since Andi Brehme." It will be no easy task
following in the footsteps of the 1990 World Cup hero, but Rau has time on
his side and a rare gift identified by his former coach at VfL Wolfsburg,
Wolfgang Wolf: "Tobias is always ready and willing to learn, something you
don't see very often in young players, and it practically guarantees a
high-flying career."

This quality has served the talented young player well during his meteoric
rise to fame thus far. At the age of 17 he left SF Oelper for third division
Eintracht Braunschweig, appearing in 34 of the club's 36 games that season
and prompting a move to Bundesliga outfit VfL Wolfsburg.

Rau immediately claimed a regular starting berth at the Wolves, appearing 21
times in his first top-flight season. That number increased to 27 in his
second year at the club, and Germany boss Rudi V?ller called up the
left-sided player for his debut appearance in the national squad as Germany
took on Spain in February 2003. Rau made the starting line-up and earned his
first cap.

Tobias Rau is a powerful tackler, has a good turn of pace and has proved
highly adaptable at his various clubs. One criticism levelled at the
youngster is a certain waywardness going forward, but the player himself aims
to learn from Bixente Lizarazu in this respect. The Frenchman, arguably the
best left-back in the world, should prove the best teacher for Munich's new
acquisition.

Rau's capacity to absorb information and swiftly put into practice what he
has learned may one day mean the new Andi Brehme really has arrived on the
left side of the Bayern defence
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