Lutz Pfannenstiel

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Lutz Pfannenstiel
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Pfannenstiel with St. Louis City SC in 2022
Personal information
Full name Lutz Pfannenstiel
Date of birth (1973-05-12) 12 May 1973 (age 52)
Place of birth Zwiesel, West Germany
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1979–1989 SC Zwiesel
1989–1991 FC Vilshofen
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1991–1993 1. FC Bad Kötzting 68 (0)
1993–1994 Penang FA 12 (0)
1994–1995 Wimbledon 0 (0)
1995–1997 Nottingham Forest 0 (0)
1996–1997 → Orlando Pirates (loan) 7 (0)
1997 TPV 8 (0)
1997 FC Haka 0 (0)
1998–1999 Wacker Burghausen 14 (0)
1999–2000 Geylang United 46 (0)
2001 Dunedin Technical 18 (0)
2001–2002 → Bradford Park Avenue (loan) 1 (0)
2001–2002 Huddersfield Town 0 (0)
2002 Dunedin Technical 18 (0)
2002 ASV Cham 12 (0)
2002–2003 → Bradford Park Avenue (loan) 14 (0)
2003 Dunedin Technical 18 (0)
2003 → Bærum SK (loan) 13 (0)
2004 Calgary Mustangs 28 (0)
2004–2006 Otago United 36 (0)
2006–2007 Vllaznia Shkodër 14 (0)
2007 Bentonit Ijevan 12 (0)
2007 Bærum SK 9 (0)
2007 Vancouver Whitecaps 4 (0)
2008 Hermann Aichinger 24 (0)
2008–2009 Flekkerøy IL 14 (0)
2009 Manglerud Star 11 (0)
2009–2011 Ramblers 45 (0)
Total477(0)
International career
1986–1987 Germany U-17 5 (0)
Managerial career
2007 Bentonit Ijevan
2008 Flekkerøy IL (assistant)
2008–2009 Cuba (assistant)
2009–2010 Ramblers
2009–2010 Namibia (assistant)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lutz Pfannenstiel (born 12 May 1973) is a German former professional football goalkeeper, coach, scout, TV analyst, and most recently the sporting director for St. Louis City SC. He holds the record as the first of only two footballers to play professionally in each of the six recognized continental associations. Since 2010, he has been a football analyst on various television networks — including ZDF, BBC, CNN, ORF, SRF, DAZN, Eurosport, and ESPN, where he currently covers the Bundesliga with Derek Rae. Pfannenstiel was appointed sporting director for MLS side St. Louis City SC ahead of their entry to the league in 2023. [1] Pffanenstiel was fired as sporting director of St. Louis City SC on August 25th, 2025. [2]

Contents

Playing career

Born in Zwiesel, Bavaria, [3] Pfannenstiel represented Germany at under-17 level. [4] When he was 19, Bayern Munich approached him, but he turned them down, believing that he would have more opportunity at smaller clubs. [5] [6]

Pfannenstiel played for 25 different clubs all around the world during his career, [7] including stints in Germany, Malaysia, England, New Zealand, [8] Singapore, United States, Brazil, South Africa, Finland, Canada, Namibia, Norway, Armenia and Albania. [9] After signing for Hermann Aichinger in Brazil, he became the first (and only) professional to have played in all six FIFA confederations. [10] [11] Throughout his career, Pfannenstiel played in over 500 professional games.

Coaching career

In April 2008, Pfannenstiel became the Assistant Coach for Reinhold Fanz coaching the Cuba national football team [12] and signed a contract in January 2009 to be the player-goalkeeper coach for Manglerud Star. [13] In September 2009, Pfannenstiel left Norway and Europe to sign for Namibian club Ramblers who signed a contract as Player-Coach and Sport director besides working as goalkeeping coach of the Namibia national football team. [14] From February 2011 to 2018, he was the Head Director of International Relations & Scouting for the Bundesliga club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim [15] [6] [16] From 2018–2020, he worked with Fortuna Düsseldorf as their "managing director sports", and since 2020 he has worked at St Louis City SC in the United States as their sporting director.

Post-retirement

Pfannenstiel is the first, and so far only, football player to have played professionally in all six FIFA confederations. [17] Since his retirement from active footballing he has worked for German side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, while also pursuing television and writing.

He wrote his biography Unhaltbar – Meine Abenteuer als Welttorhüter; the book was released on 1 October 2009. [18] and the UK bestseller The unstoppable keeper released in August 2014. [5] During the 2010, 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups, Pfannenstiel worked as a pundit for the German television station ZDF, alongside fellow goalkeeper Oliver Kahn. [19] [20] He works as an expert for BBC World and CNN as well as Eurosport. He also works as a coaching instructor for FIFA and the German Football association (DFB) to educate coaches all over the world.

In 2011, Pfannenstiel also founded Global United FC, an international, non-profit, registered association in Germany dedicated to protecting the environment and raising awareness for climate change issues.

Sporting Director at St. Louis City SC

Pfannenstiel was appointed as Sporting Director for Major League Soccer expansion club St. Louis City SC in 2020, [21] [22] tasked with building the team’s roster and footballing identity ahead of their inaugural 2023 season. [23]

Under his leadership, the club earned widespread praise for its high‑pressing style and successful debut campaign, finishing atop the Western Conference regular season standings. [24] [25] [26]

2025 coaching controversy

Following a highly successful inaugural 2023 season and a disappointing 2024 campaign, Pfannenstiel came under scrutiny in 2025 for his decisions regarding head coach appointments. In November 2024, the club hired Olof Mellberg in a multi-year contract. [27] Despite assurances that Mellberg aligned with the club's aggressive playing philosophy, St. Louis City SC posted a 2–8–5 record under his leadership and scored only 11 goals, ranking as the second-worst offense in Major League Soccer. [28]

Pfannenstiel and club president Diego Gigliani publicly took responsibility for the appointment, stating that Mellberg failed to maintain the team’s established style of play and that his dismissal was "about more than results". [29] [30]

Criticism followed from fans and local media, with supporters arguing that Pfannenstiel misaligned the coach's tactical philosophy with the roster. Fan forums and social media discussions described the statement following the release of Mellberg as contradicting public statements made only months earlier, and accused him of insufficient vetting during the coaching search. [31]

St. Louis CITY SC parted ways with Sporting Director, Pfannenstiel, on August 25th, 2025. [32]

While playing football in Singapore, Pfannenstiel was accused of match-fixing and jailed for 101 days. He was later cleared of the charges. [20] [11] During his time in New Zealand, he kidnapped a penguin in Otago and kept it in his bathtub, only to send it back when the president of Otago United warned him he could face deportation if caught. Pfannenstiel was never charged for this incident. [33]

Pfannenstiel stopped breathing three times after a collision with Clayton Donaldson while playing for Bradford Park Avenue against Harrogate Town in a Northern Premier League match on 26 December 2002. The injury was so serious that the referee, Jon Moss, abandoned the match. [34] Bradford Park Avenue were leading 2–1 at the time of the incident. [35]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "St. Louis City SC hire Lutz Pfannenstiel as sporting director before 2023 launch | MLSsoccer.com".
  2. ↑ "St. Louis City SC Part Ways With Sporting Director Lutz Pfannenstiel; stlcitysc.com".
  3. ↑ "Lutz – Global Goalie". Lutz-Pfannenstiel.de (in German). Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  4. ↑ Pfannenstiel, Lutz (26 September 2009). "Malaysia wirkte auf Pfannenstiel wie eine Droge". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  5. 1 2 "Lutz Pfannenstiel: The goalkeeper who gave up Bayern Munich for the Crazy Gang, Bradford and a whirlwind trawl across continents". The Independent. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  6. 1 2 Will Sharp (3 November 2014). "Meet Lutz Pfannenstiel, football's 25-club, 13-country, six-continent man". The Guardian. Guardian News and Madia. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  7. ↑ "Pfannenstiel – globetrotting German goalie with 24 clubs". Agence France-Presse. 26 January 2009. Archived from the original on 31 January 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  8. ↑ "Soccer: Have ball, will travel – and there's plenty of that for goalie". The New Zealand Herald. 15 December 2004. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  9. ↑ Lutz Pfannenstiel, intercontinental Archived 13 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine Diaro Olé (in Spanish)
  10. ↑ "Prost Amerika Interviews Lutz Pfannenstiel". 8 October 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2008. In 2008, I'll be playing in South America and in doing so, I'll become the only player ever to play professional football on every continent.
  11. 1 2 John Bennett (3 April 2012). "The extraordinary life of German goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  12. ↑ Myrrhe, Anke (30 July 2008). "Keine Fluchtgefahr". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  13. ↑ "Lutz Pfannenstiel unterschreibt bei Manglerud Star in Norwegen". soccess.net. 30 January 2009. Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  14. ↑ "Globetrotter Pfannenstiel zieht es nach Afrika". FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  15. ↑ "Traumjob für Lutz Pfannenstiel – Zwiesler Weltenbummler wird Scout bei der TSG Hoffenheim". FUPA (in German). Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  16. ↑ "Hoffenheim v Manchester City: 'The friendly club who do things differently'". BBC Sport. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  17. ↑ "Lutz Pfannenstiel, gardien du monde". Parlons Foot (in French). 23 January 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  18. ↑ Krull, Patrick (27 September 2009). "Sagenhafte Abenteuer eines unhaltbaren Torwarts". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  19. ↑ Benninghoff, Dirk (15 June 2010). "Noch mehr als die Tröte nervt das Gerede darüber". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  20. 1 2 "Slik satte supernomaden verdensrekord" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "St. Louis City SC hires Lutz Pfannenstiel as sporting director". St. Louis Business Journal. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  22. ↑ "Lutz Pfannenstiel's Winding Journey Leads Him to St. Louis and MLS". Sports Illustrated. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  23. ↑ "St. Louis City sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel discusses his vision". MLSsoccer.com. August 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  24. ↑ "MLS debutants are supposed to struggle. Don't tell red-hot St Louis City". The Guardian. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  25. ↑ "St. Louis City SC: What we learned in 2024 & what comes next". MLSsoccer.com. September 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  26. ↑ "St. Louis City SC: A Rising Power in MLS". Soccer Wizdom. 23 March 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  27. ↑ "Olof Melberg agrees deal to become St.Louis boss - sources". ESPN.com. 23 November 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  28. ↑ "St. Louis CITY SC Releases Head Coach Olof Mellberg". STLCitySC.com. 27 May 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  29. ↑ "St. Louis City SC executives discuss decision to fire the coach". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 29 May 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  30. ↑ "St. Louis City SC's Olof Mellberg fired less than a year into his coaching tenure". St. Louis Public Radio. 27 May 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  31. ↑ "He's Gone! Olof Mellberg Relieved of His Coaching Position At St. Louis City SC". yutesmedia.com. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  32. ↑ "St. Louis City SC Part Ways With Sporting Director Lutz Pfannenstiel; stlcitysc.com".
  33. ↑ Masters, James (8 January 2015). "Lutz Pfannenstiel: 'Lazarus' footballer who came back from the dead". CNN. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  34. ↑ "Footballer saved by kiss of life". Telegraph & Argus. 27 December 2002. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  35. ↑ "Goalkeeper's wife tells of match terror". Craven Herald & Pioneer. 28 December 2002. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
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