Kai Herdling

Kai Herdling (born 27 June 1984) is a retired German footballer who played as a striker mostly for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.

Kai Herdling
Personal information
Date of birth (1984-06-27) 27 June 1984
Place of birth Heidelberg, West Germany
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1996–2000 SG Heidelberg-Kirchheim
2000–2002 SpVgg Neckarsteinach
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2008 1899 Hoffenheim 56 (7)
2002–2008 1899 Hoffenheim II 112 (77)
2008 Waldhof Mannheim 14 (11)
2009–2016 1899 Hoffenheim II 143 (59)
2010–2016 1899 Hoffenheim 25 (2)
2012 → Philadelphia Union (loan) 4 (0)
Teams managed
2020 1899 Hoffenheim (interim)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Born in Heidelberg, Herdling began his career with SG Heidelberg-Kirchheim and moved later to SpVgg Neckarsteinach in the youth ranks. At the beginning of the 2002–03 season, he joined TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the Regionalliga Süd.

In the third round of the 2003–04 DFB-Pokal, Herdling scored the winning goal for Hoffenheim against Bundesliga side Bayer 04 Leverkusen, which ended 3–2.[1]

He left the club before the 2008–09 season to join Regionalliga team Waldhof Mannheim.[2] After the first half of the 2008–09 season, Herdling returned to Hoffenheim on 26 January 2009.[2]

His first 2. Bundesliga match was against FC Augsburg, on 28 March 2008. He scored his first second division goal in a 1–2 loss against Alemannia Aachen, on 13 April 2008.

He made his Bundesliga debut against FSV Mainz 05, on 7 March 2010, but otherwise stayed with Hoffenheim's reserve team.[3]

On 16 April 2012, Herdling was loaned out to the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer,[4] and played for two months. In his time in America, he played in four league matches (starting three) and two Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup ties.

After he had scored twice in Hoffenheim's 0–9 DFB-Pokal first round win against SG Aumund-Vegesack, coach Markus Gisdol took him to the first-team squad for the 2013–14 season.[3]

In May 2016, he ended his career without having made a single appearance in the 2015–16 season due to a chronic knee injury.[5]

Career statistics
As of 5 June 2012
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Germany League DFB-Pokal Other Europe Total
2008–09Waldhof MannheimRegionalliga Süd14110000001411
2009–101899 HoffenheimBundesliga1000000010
2010–111899 Hoffenheim IIRegionalliga Süd30190000003019
2011–12249000000249
USA League Open Cup League Cup North America Total
2012Philadelphia UnionMajor League Soccer4020000060
Total Germany 69390000006939
USA 4020000060
Career total 73392000007539

References
  1. "Leverkusen blamiert sich in der Provinz" (in German). spiegel.de. 2 December 2003. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  2. "TSG holt Herdling" (in German). kicker.de. 26 January 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  3. "Der ewige Herdling" (in German). Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung. 10 August 2013. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  4. "Union sign German MF/FW Kai Herdling". Philadelphia Union. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  5. "Kai Herdling: "I am staying faithful to TSG"". TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
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