Jürgen Klopp, İlkay Gündoğan, Marco Reus and more: legends created in Bundesliga 2
Bundesliga 2 is far more than a second division in Germany. It’s been the launching point for many of the game’s biggest and best names among players and coaches. Just ask the likes of Jürgen Klopp, İlkay Gündoğan and Marco Reus how they started out…
To mark 50 years since the creation of Bundesliga 2, we take you through some of the greats to have graced Germany’s second tier.
Horst Hrubesch
A legend with Hamburg as a three-time Bundesliga champion and European Cup winner, it’s easy to forget that HSV actually signed Hrubesch from the second division. The former striker spent two seasons in the Bundesliga with Rot-Weiss Essen before relegation, but it turned out to be an event that would kickstart his career. The 21-time Germany international smashed 41 goals from 35 games in the northern section of Bundesliga 2, which remains the season record in the second tier. He accounted for exactly half of Essen’s total of 82, but they finished a point off champions Arminia Bielefeld before a 3-2 aggregate loss to southern runners-up Nuremberg in the play-off. Nevertheless, Hrubesch did get to go up to the Bundesliga when picked up by HSV. Known for his heading ability and all-round prowess in front of goal, he helped define the club’s golden era, as well as scoring both goals as Germany beat Belgium 2-1 in the final of UEFA Euro 1980. Hrubesch moved into coaching after retirement, getting his first taste in Bundesliga 2 while in charge of Essen and later Hansa Rostock, before three games as interim HSV boss in 2020/21. He’s guided Germany’s U19s and U21s to European Championship glory, as well as overseeing the country’s women’s team over two spells.
“There’s only one Rudi Völler!” was once the chant from crowds across Germany for one of his generation’s finest strikers, but it all started in Bundesliga 2 for the Hanau native. Völler’s senior debut came in the second tier with Kickers Offenbach, spending three seasons at that level before another year with 1860 Munich in 1981/82. In total, he scored 56 goals in 110 games in Bundesliga 2, with the 37 he netted in that campaign with 1860 still the season record for the unified Bundesliga 2. It was form that helped kickstart a great career that took in five years at Werder Bremen, another five at Roma in Italy and a further two at Marseille in France before returning home for another couple of seasons at Bayer Leverkusen, during which Tante Käthe – so named because of his iconic hairstyle – was regarded as one of the world’s top strikers. It all peaked with glory at the 1990 World Cup, where Völler won the penalty that Andreas Brehme scored to beat Argentina in the final. And he’s continued to make a big impact on football since hanging up his boots, leading Germany to the 2002 World Cup final as coach, helping build Leverkusen into the success we see today, and now working as sporting director for the German FA.
For most people, the name Joachim ‘Jogi’ Löw will forever be associated with leading Germany to World Cup glory in 2014 and being in charge of the national team for nearly 15 years. What many people don’t know or remember is that Löw was once a prolific striker in his playing days. He started out in Bundesliga 2 with local side Freiburg and first made a name for himself with 14 goals in the 1979/80 southern division. In total, Löw netted 81 goals in 251 Bundesliga 2 appearances over three spells for the Black Forest club, making him their top scorer in the second tier. Even after his playing days, and before the success of his time in charge of Germany, Löw would return to Bundesliga 2 one more time as coach of Karlsruhe in 1999/2000. That spell didn’t go as well as others, managing only one win in 18 games, but he’d previously led VfB Stuttgart to DFB Cup glory and two fourth-place finishes in the Bundesliga, and later guided Tirol Innsbruck to the Austrian Bundesliga title in 2001/02 before becoming Jürgen Klinsmann’s assistant for Germany in 2004 and then head coach in 2006 until 2021.
Talking of Klinsmann, who certainly enjoyed a greater playing career than his Germany successor, he too started out in the footballing school that is Bundesliga 2. And although he made a name for himself at VfB Stuttgart, it was actually at city rivals Stuttgarter Kickers that he made the breakthrough in 1982. He got his first senior goal as a 17-year-old in a 7-1 win over Wattenscheid before scoring just two in 20 games in the 1982/83 campaign. The young striker then finally caught the eye in 1983/84 as the Kickers’ top scorer with 19 goals from 35 appearances in the second tier, before VfB took him up to the Bundesliga. After 94 goals in five years there, Klinsmann went on to enjoy success at Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich. The crowning achievement of his career that began in Bundesliga 2 came in 1990 when he won the World Cup with Germany, while he also captained his country to UEFA Euro 1996 glory as part of an international career that included 47 goals in 108 caps.
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Klinsmann won the penalty for Germany in the 1990 World Cup final against Argentina, which was scored in the 85th minute by Brehme, whose finishing ability was first honed in Bundesliga 2. Although born and raised in Hamburg, he never got a move to HSV and instead joined Saarbrücken in 1980 from lower-league side Bambek-Uhlenhorst. The then 19-year-old full-back played 36 times in the southern division in his first professional season, scoring three goals before being snapped up by Bundesliga outfit Kaiserslautern after just a year. After five seasons at the Betzenberg, he would join Bayern, Inter Milan and Real Zaragoza before his 1993 return to the Red Devils. Despite winning the DFB Cup in 1996, Lautern also suffered relegation, prompting Brehme to postpone his planned retirement and help his team recover. He played 32 games and captained Kaiserslautern to immediate promotion back from Bundesliga 2. And when the Red Devils shocked the world by winning the Bundesliga on their return, the 1990 world champion hung up his boots. Brehme would grace the Bundesliga 2 stage once more as a coach when he oversaw 28 games for Unterhaching in 2004/05. He passed away at the age of 63 in February 2024.
Olaf Thon
Another of the 1990 World Cup winners, Thon’s career began at boyhood club Schalke, where he made his senior debut as a 17-year-old during the Royal Blues’ season in Bundesliga 2 in 1983/84. The teenager seized his opportunity and was the only outfield player to start all 38 league games that year, helping the Gelsenkirchen club back to the top flight with 14 goals from central midfield, second only to striker Klaus Täuber (19 goals). Thon also made headlines that season for his hat-trick in the remarkable 6-6 draw with Bayern in the DFB Cup semi-final. That year would be Thon’s sole campaign in the second division, eventually moving to Munich in 1988 after Schalke’s relegation again, but he’d return to his hometown once more in 1994. Although a three-time Bundesliga champion with 443 appearances in the top flight, plus a World Cup winner’s medal in his collection after 52 senior caps, Thon’s career may not have taken off like it did without that one year in Bundesliga 2.
Mario Basler
Basler was one of German football’s shining stars in the 1990s, and although he’s mostly associated with Bremen, Bayern and Kaiserslautern, it was in Bundesliga 2 where the winger first cut his teeth professionally. After making just one Bundesliga appearance for Lautern, he opted for a step back with a move to Rot-Weiss Essen in the second tier. He didn’t manage any goals in his first season there but got six the following campaign, prompting a move to Hertha Berlin in 1991. Again, his first year there wasn’t great, with three goals in 21 Bundesliga 2 North games, but he improved in his second with 12 from 44 matches in 1992/93 to catch the eye of Otto Rehhagel at Bremen. Basler managed 21 goals from 119 appearances in the second tier, which is a total he very nearly got in the 1994/95 Bundesliga season alone, finishing as top scorer on 20 goals alongside Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Heiko Herrlich. The winger would win the DFB Cup with Werder (1994) and Bayern (1998), as well as two Bundesliga crowns with the latter in 1997 and 1999. One of his last games for the Bavarians was the 1999 UEFA Champions League final, scoring the opening goal against Manchester United before their famous late comeback in Barcelona. Basler also played at the 1994 World Cup and was part of Germany’s 1996 Euros winners.
Not many people manage to become a legend as both a player and a coach, but Jürgen Klopp undoubtedly did that during his time in Bundesliga 2. The former defender played 325 games – all for Mainz – in the second division following his 1990 move from Rot-Weiß Frankfurt. No player has represented the 05ers more often in Bundesliga 2, while he also scored 52 goals. Those numbers could’ve perhaps been even greater, if not for a now famous decision during Carnival in 2001 to throw Klopp the player into the coaching hotseat for his relegation-threatened team. What was originally seen as a short-term solution, and one often derided at the time, turned into one of the best decisions in the history of German football. Klopp kept his former teammates up with six wins and a draw in his first seven games, twice came agonisingly close to Bundesliga promotion before finally taking the 05ers up to the top flight for the first time in their history. After relegation in 2007 and another narrow promotion miss, Klopp left Mainz for Borussia Dortmund, from where his coaching career has taken off to extraordinary heights – but it all began in Bundesliga 2.
Podolski has been a fan favourite wherever he’s played, be it at Bayern, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Galatasaray, Vissel Kobe, Antalyaspor or now at Górnik Zabrze, but it’s with boyhood club Cologne where ‘Prince Poldi’ is most admired, having made a big splash in Bundesliga 2. Despite scoring 10 goals in 19 games in the Bundesliga in 2003/04, the young forward saw his Billy Goats relegated to the second tier, but it presented a huge opportunity for the Polish-born attacker. The 19-year-old netted 24 times in 30 games to finish as the division’s top scorer, seven clear of the next best. He got 21 of those with his now legendary left boot, which is a season record for left-footed goals since detailed data collection began in 2000/01, plus nine assists, meaning he was directly involved in over half of Cologne’s 62 goals as they finished as champions to secure an immediate Bundesliga return. So impressive were his performances that he was handed his senior Germany debut by Rudi Völler in June 2004 aged 19, becoming the first player in the second division to earn a first Germany cap since 1975. Ten years later, he lifted the World Cup in Brazil before retiring from international duty in 2017 with 49 goals – behind only Miroslav Klose and Gerd Müller – while only Klose and Lothar Matthäus had earned more caps than his 130 at the time he quit the national team.
When you think of Reus, you think of Borussia Dortmund. Those who remember beyond his 12 years starring for BVB will remember his scintillating three-year spell with Gladbach. But it was actually at Rot Weiss Ahlen, having been released by Dortmund, that the 48-time Germany international made his professional debut. He helped them to promotion to Bundesliga 2 as an 18-year-old in 2007/08 and then scored his first goal in the second division in just his second game on 12 September 2008, also netting alongside later Dortmund teammate Kevin Großkreutz and being captained by current Fortuna Düsseldorf coach Daniel Thioune. A return of four goals and four assists from 27 games placed Reus on the list of numerous Bundesliga clubs, with Gladbach winning the race after only one year in Bundesliga 2. Things then really took off for Reus, being named Germany’s Footballer of the Year in 2012 and sealing his return home to BVB. There he became a legend, playing 429 times to sit fourth on the club’s all-time appearance list, top of their Bundesliga-era scoring chart with 170 goals and appearing in two Champions League finals before leaving at the end of 2023/24.
Watch: the story of Marco Reus
Kevin Großkreutz
Like Reus, Großkreutz also holds legendary status at Dortmund, originally got released from the academy and made a detour via Ahlen in the second division before a glorious return. The winger broke into the first team alongside Reus in the 2008/09 Bundesliga 2 campaign and made an even greater impact than his long-time teammate with six goals and seven assists. But while Reus got snapped up by Gladbach, Großkreutz returned straight to Dortmund that summer to join Klopp’s developing side and made his dream debut for his boyhood club on the opening day of the 2009/10 Bundesliga season against Cologne. He would become a key part of the team that won back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012, and was part of the Germany squad that won the 2014 World Cup – although he didn’t play in Brazil. Großkreutz would again return to Bundesliga 2 in 2016 when relegated with Stuttgart and would spend a second season at that level with Darmstadt in 2017/18.
Even Germany’s captain had to go through the learning curve that is Bundesliga 2, first being named in Nuremberg’s squad as an 18-year-old for their game away at Alemannia Aachen on 15 February 2009. It was a memorable 6-2 loss and a warning to the young midfielder watching on as an unused substitute. He finally made his professional debut on the final day of the season, playing 28 minutes in a 2-1 win against 1860 Munich on 24 May. It was also his only appearance in Bundesliga 2, as Der Club gained promotion via the play-off. His real breakthrough came the following season as he played 22 times in the Bundesliga. After two years at the top table, the Gelsenkirchen native was signed by Dortmund, becoming a two-time Bundesliga champion and making a name for himself. Following a trophy-laden spell at Manchester City, Gündoğan joined Barcelona in 2023 and would be named his country’s captain. A journey that all started as a substitute in Bundesliga 2.
Watch: the best of Joshua Kimmich
Goretzka is also a child of the Ruhr region and also made his first professional steps in Bundesliga 2, this time for boyhood club Bochum. His senior debut came in a 2-1 win over Dynamo Dresden in the first game of the 2012/13 season as a 17-year-old, just a few days after he’d earned the gold Fritz Walter Medal in his age group. It turned out to be a perfect week for the midfielder as he started and scored to make it 1-1 in that home game. Goretzka would go on to net three more times as he made 32 appearances (all starts) that campaign. Although Bochum finished 14th and missed out on promotion, their young midfielder did make the step up with a move to neighbours Schalke in the Bundesliga. He became a key part of the team over the next five years before a 2018 transfer to Bayern, where the Germany international has won five Bundesliga titles and was part of the 2020 sextuple-winning team.
Born just two days after Goretzka, current Bayern teammate Kimmich came through the youth system at Stuttgart but failed to make it into the first team. Instead, he joined up-and-coming RB Leipzig in 2013 and secured promotion to Bundesliga 2 in his first season. He made his debut at that level in a 3-0 win away at 1860 on Matchday 2 of 2014/15, during which he would feature 27 times, including 23 starts. The versatile midfielder/defender got his first goal in a 3-2 win at home to Union Berlin on 1 May 2015. It wasn’t enough for aspirational Leipzig to achieve promotion, as they finished fifth, but – like Goretzka – one year in Bundesliga 2 was enough to convince the big boys that he was something special, being signed by Pep Guardiola’s Bayern as a 20-year-old in 2015. Eight Bundesliga titles and countless other trophies in nine seasons since then say it all about Kimmich, who dared to drop down a level to find his feet before stepping up to the Bundesliga.
Kramer may not exactly remember winning the World Cup after suffering concussion in the 2014 final against Argentina, but he can still say he was a world champion in his career, which began in Bundesliga 2. The central midfielder spent most of his youth at Bayer Leverkusen before being loaned out to Bochum, where Friedhelm Funkel – himself a Bundesliga 2 legend – handed him his senior debut at the age of 20 in a 2-0 loss at Fortuna Düsseldorf – another of Kramer’s youth clubs. He established himself at the heart of the Bochum team, making 61 Bundesliga 2 appearances during his two-year loan at the Ruhrstadion. VfL finished 11th and 14th those seasons, but Kramer soon found himself in the Bundesliga when loaned to Gladbach in 2013, where he emerged as one of Germany’s best in his position and won the World Cup.
People may have only recently become aware of Füllkrug’s goalscoring exploits with Dortmund and Germany, but the 31-year-old had been displaying them for many years in Bundesliga 2. The striker has spent five seasons in the second division with four different clubs, almost always helping them push for promotion. After failing to establish himself over two seasons in the Bundesliga with Werder, he dropped down a level on loan at Greuther Fürth in 2013/14 and scored six times in 21 games but just missed out on promotion after an away-goals defeat to Hamburg in the play-off. ‘Lücke’ then stayed in the second tier with a transfer to Nuremberg and scored 14 times in 30 games in his second season there as they also fell short in the play-off. Things worked out much better in 2016/17 with Hannover and 2021/22 back at Bremen as they both finished second to gain promotion. In total, Füllkrug has netted 47 goals in 135 Bundesliga 2 games, with his personal best of 19 coming in his campaign with Werder. It wasn’t enough to claim the top scorer crown (Simon Terodde smashed 30), but he did get his hands on a Torjägerkanone in the Bundesliga the following year with 16 goals.
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