Sterfan Kiessling
October 26, 2009
Two years ago Kiessling, who's now 25 years old, was touted as one of Germany's most promising young players. He had just transferred from Nuremberg to much higher profile Bayer Leverkusen, and in March 2007 he earned his first cap for Germany in a friendly against Denmark.
But only one further call has come from Germany coach Joachim Loew since then. While Kiessling's productivity has steadily improved, he failed to post the stellar numbers or create the sort of spectacular goals that elevated Mario Gomez and more recently Mesut Oezil into the Nationalelf.
As Germany's qualifying campaign entered its decisive phase this autumn, Kiessling had become an afterthought. At least for Loew.
With six goals in 10 league matches, Kiessling is currently the most successful forward with a German passport. Indeed, Kiessling shares the top spot in the Bundesliga's goal scoring list with Bremen's Claudio Pizarro.
And that hasn't gone without notice. In a poll carried out by the German Web site www.soccer-fans.de, more than 71 percent of respondents said they thought Kiessling deserved a spot in the national side.
And in an editorial, the on-line soccer magazine Fussball Forum criticized Loew for breaking his meritocratic principles.
“If performance is the main criteria for inclusion, someone like Stefan Kiessling would definitely have to have been part of the squad,” the magazine opined.
What has Kiessling done to earn Loew's neglect? Nothing really, as it turns out.
The overrated label
Kiessling was regarded as one of the top prizes on the transfer market in the summer of 2006. And the hopes thereby engendered may have been part of the problem.
“When I first came to Leverkusen, they'd paid 5.5 million euros ($8.3 million), and that was a sum that made me swallow hard back then,” Kiessling told Deutsche Welle. “I didn't have that much experience and hadn't played that many first-division matches for Nuremberg so 5.5 million was a burden to bear.”
Looking at the numbers, it's hard to argue that the striker hasn't lived up to expectations. Kiessling has improved his goal and assist tallies in each of his three seasons with Leverkusen.
His 12 goals and seven assists in 2008-09 put him among the best forwards in Germany, but the key word here is perhaps among.
While Gomez was leading Stuttgart to a league title and challenging for the goal-scorer's crown, Kiessling often played second fiddle to his Leverkusen striking partner Patrick Helmes on a team that always seemed to fade as the season wore on.
A Klinsmann type of player
Another thing that has held Kiessling back is that he doesn't look the part of a German national. Klose, Gomez and even Podolski have a certain gravitas that fits well with the Nationalelf, whereas the blond striker often gives the impression of being a 1meter-90 (6-foot-two) kid who's just happy to be able to kick the ball around.
Moreover, no one who's ever seen him play live would mistake Kiessling for a brilliant technician. He's a striker who scores by being in the right place at the right time, mopping up rebounds or getting a head on crosses.
As such, he's a player whose form usually follows that of his team. When Leverkusen have done well, so has Kiessling, but when things have gone wrong, he hasn't been the one who can turn things round with an individual bit of brilliance.
Leverkusen currently top the table, and Kiessling is off to his best-ever season start in 2009-10. The striker gives much of the credit to Leverkusen's new coach.
“In general, I like to practice because it's fun playing soccer, but under Jupp Heynckes, who was a striker himself, you can learn a lot - and that's unbelievably fun,” Kiessling said.
You don't have to go back too far in German soccer history to find a somewhat gangly forward who had success for the national team - Loew's predecessor, Juergen Klinsmann.
Klinsi, too, as a player was mocked for being inelegant and happy-go-lucky, and he went on to score 47 goals for Germany in more than a decade in the national side.
A team effort
As goes Leverkusen, so goes Kiessling. Ironically, that means the striker's chances in the Nationalelf may be dependent on his club's back four, the part of the squad that wilted most in Leverkusen's plunge from the top to the middle of the table last season.
Kiessling says that, thanks to new acquisitions like veterans Sami Hyypia, this year will be a different story.
“With Sami back there, we have the sort of person we needed last year to hold the defense together,” Kiessling said. “At the moment, everything's clicking. We've got a coach who directs us, and we – so to speak – play the music on the pitch.”
And he's astonishingly cool when it comes to the lack of calls he's had from Germany coach Loew.
“The last contact was in February,” Kiessling told Deutsche Welle. “Since then, I've heard nothing. But that's no big deal. Why should he call me up to say: ‘You're in good form, but despite that I'm not taking you with us?”
Klose, Poldi and Gomez have the inside track, when it comes to the national squad. But injuries could keep one or more of them from travelling to South Africa, and Germany's fourth striker in recent matches, Cacau, is by no means guaranteed to be in the 2010 squad.
So, in his heart of hearts, Kiessling must being hoping that Loew rings up soon to say he is in good form and will be taken along for football's most prestigious tournament.
Stefan Kiessling is this week's featured guest on DW-TV's Bundesliga Kick-Off.
Author: Jefferson Chase
Editor: Chuck Penfold