Borussia, Ricken hangs up his boots

Lars Ricken, youth team coordinator at Borussia Dortmund since 2008, has now officially retired from football. The 32-year-old, who had been playing for BVB since 1990, had been in the reserves’ squad until now. “My new job is fun, but it also demands total commitment”, Ricken explained his decision.

Ricken had started playing football at TuS Eving-Lindenhorst before he joined Borussia from TSC Eintracht Dortmund in 1990. Aged just 17, he was called up to the first team by then-coach Ottmar Hitzfeld and went on to play 301 Bundesliga (49 goals) and 74 European games (14 goals) for BVB.

His goal in the 1997 Champions League final against Juventus has gone down into BVB folklore. Ricken had come on after 70 minutes and scored the decisive 3-1 just seconds later. The midfielder has also won the Bundesliga with BVB in 1995, 1996 and 2002 and represented Germany 16 times.