BIOGRAPHY
Goalkeeper Andreas Thiel was named as the best German handballer of the year seven times through his impressive career. Thiel, born in Lünen near Dortmund, began playing handball as a junior in Aachen, before moving on to TV Hochdorf as a teenager.
The bulk of his career was spent at VfL Gummersbach, with the club winning five Bundesliga titles during his 12 years there, and finishing second twice. Thiel also won the EHF Champions League in 1983 with Gummersbach.
It was in Gummersbach that Thiel earned his nickname of ‘Der Hexer’ or ‘The Sorcerer’ after making six seven-metre penalty saves against Großwallstadt.
After Gummersbach, Thiel played at TSV Bayer Dormagen for nine seasons and finished his club career at the age of 41 at SG Flensburg-Handewitt, playing in the Cup Winners’ Cup and Champions Trophy.
Thiel made his debut for the German national team in 1980 against Switzerland, and would play 257 games in total for Germany. His appearances included three Olympic Games — in 1984, 1992 and 1996 — and four world championships. He was named best goalkeeper at the 1995 IHF Men’s World Championship.
At the Olympic Games Thiel was part of the West German squad which won silver at Los Angeles 1984, losing 17:18 to Yugoslavia in the final. At the world championships, Thiel’s best result was fourth, in 1995. He retired from the national team the following year.
Alongside his handball career Thiel qualified as a lawyer, and now practises family law in Cologne. He has worked as the legal adviser to the Bundesliga, is the president of the women’s Bundesliga, and is a goalkeeper coach at TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
