THIS former Champions League winner was one of football’s most notorious bad boys.
And he even once shared erotic pictures of a teammate’s ex-wife in his autobiography.
Stefan Effenberg, 54, used to be a household name in European football.
The former midfielder enjoyed a glittering top-flight career, taking in two spells at both Gladbach and Bayern Munich.
He won several league titles at club level, as well as the 2001 Champions League.
Effenburg, who also played for Fiorentina and Wolfsburg, won 35 caps for Germany too.
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And he was part of the squad which finished runners-up at Euro 1992.
But off the pitch, his life was just as action-packed.
Effenberg quickly gained notoriety for his rebellious behaviour and even branded himself “every mother-in-law’s nightmare”.
During his first Gladbach spell, Effenberg reportedly smuggled an air rifle to Spain before shooting out street lights from his hotel bedroom window.
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In another incident, he allegedly stole a jeep for a joyride — with the vehicle apparently belonging to his Gladbach and then-Bayern boss Jupp Heynckes.
The World Cup in 1994 saw Effenberg sent home for swearing at Germany fans.
But his most shocking incident came in 1998.
Tabloid reports at the time claimed he had cheated on wife Martina with the partner of team-mate Thomas Strunz, Claudia.
Effenberg later released his autobiography and included intimate pictures of Claudia, who had left Strunz by then, on the pages to leave Germans stunned.
He also took aim at several national team players including Lothar Matthaus, leaving a chapter called “What Matthaus knows about football” completely blank.
In 2004, after 111 goals in 550 club games, Effenberg retired from football with Qatari side Al-Arabi.
That same year, he ended up marrying Claudia, with the couple relocating to Florida.
Effenberg returned to football in October 2015 with second-tier German side Paderborn.
But he was dismissed just five months later after winning only two of his 15 matches at the helm.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
