Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Journeymen: Lutz Pfannenstiel

I would guess that most average soccer fans have never heard of the player Lutz Pfannenstiel. The German goalkeeper is not really known for the impact he's made on the field, but rather for his journeymen ways throughout his long career. Lutz has played professionally on 6 continents with 23 different clubs in the countries of Germany, Malaysia, England, Belgium, Malta, Singapore, South Africa, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Canada, Albania, and Brazil.

Interestingly, Lutz has only made more than 20 appearances for 5 of the 23 clubs he's played for and in 17 years, has never been with a single club for more than two years in a row.

Do you think his arms are getting tired from doing this so many times?


After I finished the map and began to research a bio, I ran into a nice article on The Bleacher Report that chronicles Pfannenstiel's interesting career. From match fixing with the Asian mafia in Singapore to a "stopped-breathing" incident in England, Lutz has definitely led an interesting life.

There's also an interesting interview with Lutz on the site Prost Amerika, where among other things, he talks about the standard of the USL (he spent time with Vancouver and Calgary) and his favorite countries that he's played in.


The map icons are placed at each home stadium that Lutz played at in his long career. Click view larger map for better navigation options and more information.


View Larger Map




Here's some video of Lutz in action:

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