Thomas Kraft

Thomas Kraft (born 22 July 1988) is a former German professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Thomas Kraft
Kraft at practice with Hertha in 2019.
Personal information
Full name Thomas Kraft
Date of birth (1988-07-22) 22 July 1988
Place of birth Kirchen, West Germany
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1996–2000 Sportfreunde Daaden
2000–2002 VfB Wissen
2002–2004 SG Betzdorf
2004–2006 Bayern Munich
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2010 Bayern Munich II 103 (0)
2010–2011 Bayern Munich 12 (0)
2011–2020 Hertha BSC 143 (0)
National team
2004 Germany U16 1 (0)
2005 Germany U17 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:56, 19 July 2020 (UTC)

Career

Bayern Munich

Kraft made his debut for Bayern's reserve team in 2006,[1] and played in their first game in the newly formed 3. Liga on 17 July 2008.[2] From 2008 to 2010, he was third-choice goalkeeper for the senior team, behind Hans-Jörg Butt and Michael Rensing. Following Rensing's release in 2010, he was promoted to second choice, and he made his first-team debut at the beginning of that season, in the 2010 DFL-Supercup.

On 23 November 2010 he made his debut Champions League match in Rome against AS Roma. Bayern lost 3–2 after going into half-time with a 0–2 lead. The young goalkeeper had a good start and made some outstanding saves. During the 2010–11 winter break, Bayern coach Louis van Gaal announced that Kraft would replace Hans-Jörg Butt as Bayern's first-choice 'keeper for the second half of the season.[3] Kraft made his debut as Bayern's first-choice keeper in a 1–1 Bundesliga draw to VfL Wolfsburg. Kraft produced top performance with several impressive saves to help FC Bayern to a 1–0 win on 23 February 2011 in a round of 16 Champions League clash against Inter Milan.[4] However, the decision to replace Butt with Kraft earned the displeasure of the Bayern board, and contributed to Van Gaal losing his job: after an error by Kraft allowed Christian Eigler to score the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Nuremberg. Van Gaal – who was already due to leave – was sacked early, and temporarily replaced by his assistant Andries Jonker.[5] Jonker reinstated Butt at Kraft's expense in his first game in charge,[6] and shortly afterwards it was announced that Kraft would leave the club at the end of the 2010–11 season.[7] The following week, 2. Bundesliga champions Hertha BSC announced that they had signed a four-year deal with Kraft on a free transfer.[8] He made 19 appearances for Bayern's first team.[1]

Hertha BSC

On 1 July 2011, Kraft joined Hertha BSC, which was promoted to the Bundesliga along with FC Augsburg. On 16 October 2011, Kraft returned for the first time with Hertha back to his old club Bayern Munich which turned out to be a quite bitter reunion for Kraft; the Berlin club lost 0–4. Prior to the game, Kraft and two other members of Hertha (Christian Lell and Andreas Ottl) were honored with a bouquet of flowers by the Bayern staff and the fans were chanting pro Kraft throughout the game.

On 25 June 2020, Hertha BSC announced the departure of Thomas Kraft, along with Salomon Kalou and four other players.[9] Kraft announced his retirement shortly after, citing health problems.[10]

Career statistics
As of 19 July 2020.
ClubSeasonLeagueDFB-PokalEuropeOther1TotalRef.
LeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bayern Munich II2006–07 Regionalliga Süd 130———130 [11]
2007–08 Regionalliga Süd 330———330 [12]
2008–09 3. Liga 240———240 [13]
2009–10 3. Liga 270———270 [14]
2010–11 3. Liga 60———60 [1]
Totals1030———1030—
Bayern Munich2010–11 Bundesliga 120204010190 [1]
Hertha BSC2011–12 Bundesliga 34020—20380 [15]
2012–13 2. Bundesliga 28000——280 [16]
2013–14 Bundesliga 32020——340 [17]
2014–15 Bundesliga 32020——340 [18]
2015–16 Bundesliga 6010——70 [19]
2016–17 Bundesliga 000010—10 [20]
2017–18 Bundesliga 300040—70 [21]
2018–19 Bundesliga 4010——50 [22]
2019–20 Bundesliga 4010——50 [23]
Totals14309050201590—
Hertha BSC II 2017–18 Regionalliga Nordost 10———10 [21]
2019–20 Regionalliga Nordost 10———10 [23]
Career totals260011090302830—
  • 1.^ Includes German Super Cup and Bundesliga relegation playoff.

Honours

Club

Bayern Munich[24]

Hertha BSC[24]

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References
  1. "Thomas Kraft » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  2. "Bayern siegen verdient" (in German). kicker. 27 July 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  3. Raphael Honigstein (12 January 2011). "Van Gaal risks Bayern's future with promotion of Kraft as No. 1 keeper". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  4. "Thomas Kraft could leave Bayern Munich". BBC Sport. 25 February 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  5. Raphael Honigstein (11 April 2011). "Hannover emerge from the shadows for tilt at European dream". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  6. "Bayern München – Bayer Leverkusen 5:1, 1. Bundesliga, Saison 2010/11, 30.Spieltag – Spielanalyse". kicker (in German). 17 April 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  7. "Jörg Butt verlängert bis 2012". FC Bayern Munich (in German). 3 May 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  8. "Hertha BSC holt Thomas Kraft" [Hertha BSC sign Thomas Kraft]. official website (in German). Hertha BSC. 9 May 2011. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  9. "Grujic, Wolf, Kraft und Co.: Sechs Spieler verlassen Hertha BSC - Großer Bahnhof für Skjelbred". Sportbuzzer (in German). 25 June 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  10. "Goalkeeper Thomas Kraft – career end at 31 – sport". Archyde. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  11. "Thomas Kraft". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  12. "Thomas Kraft". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  13. "Thomas Kraft". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  14. "Thomas Kraft". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  15. "Thomas Kraft". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  16. "Thomas Kraft". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  17. "Thomas Kraft". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  18. "Thomas Kraft". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  19. "Thomas Kraft". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  20. "Thomas Kraft". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  21. "Thomas Kraft". kicker.de. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  22. "Thomas Kraft". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  23. "Thomas Kraft". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  24. "T. Kraft". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
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