Andreas Möller

His medal collection - Club World Cup, European Championship, World Cup, Champions League, UEFA Cup, Bundesliga, DFB Cup - is unparalleled in the German game. Andreas Möller won just about everything there is to win. For someone who never played for Germany's most storied club, Bayern Munich, it is an unrivalled success story. 

Yet his career was not unblemished. Bogus declarations of loyalty to clubs and fans, the 'mother' of all penalty-box dives, a highly strung image and an unthinkable move from Borussia Dortmund to archrivals Schalke 04 may be some of the reasons why Möller was rarely uncontroversial. 
Möller had all the attributes for an unstoppable rise. His incredible speed earned him the nickname 'Turbo'. He also possessed exquisite passing and shooting ability, was incredibly prolific for a midfielder and always had an eye for an incisive pass to set up a teammate. In one spell after his move to Juventus, he even scored a string of headed goals in Serie A. Were it not for his less than perfect defensive qualities, Möller would have been the complete player. What the 85-times capped international produced going forward, on the other hand, with his footballing ability and nimbleness, was a feast for the eyes. In the run-up to a World Cup or European Championships, therefore, Möller was always a candidate to be the tournament's star player. Occasionally, the expectations proved too overwhelming. 

His best tournament, i.e. the one where he was most consistent, came when Germany won the EURO in 1996 and he scored the decisive goal in the penalty shootout to defeat hosts England in the semi-final. The mid-1990s may rightly be considered the Möller years. After returning to the Bundesliga from Italy in 1994, he won the German championship twice in a row with Borussia Dortmund and crowned this highly successful era by winning the Champions League and the Club World Cup in 1997.

At Schalke, the fans were initially very critical but soon had to acknowledge that in the unloved former Dortmund player they now had a genuine guarantee of success in their ranks. Two DFB Cup victories in a row ensured Möller won them over in the autumn of his career before he returned to his parent club Eintracht Frankfurt. It was there he had launched his title-winning career with the Under-19 German championship.