Mike Hanke
Hanke made his debut in club sports at TuS 1910 Wiescherhöfen before moving to Hammer SpVgg and later to the youth team of VfL Bochum. In the years that followed, Mike Hanke had a steep career that saw him promoted to the Schalke 04 amateur team in the 2001/02 season and then to the Schalke professional team in the current season. Here Hanke became one of the most popular players in the 1st Bundesliga. As a center forward, he impressed many times with his quick and intelligent play in preparing attacking situations. On June 8, 2005, Mike Hanke celebrated his debut for the German national team at the Confederations Cup against Russia (2-2) in Mönchengladbach. This came about when he came on as a substitute for the injured Miroslav Klose in the second half.
In 2005 he became German runner-up and DFB Cup runner-up with Schalke. For the 2005/06 season he moved to VfL Wolfsburg for a transfer fee of 3.5 million euros. In the match between Germany and Tunisia (3-0) in Cologne on June 18, 2005, Hanke scored his first goal for the DFB team. On May 15, 2006, Mike Hanke was appointed to the DFB squad by national coach Jürgen Klinsmann for the World Cup in Germany. As a result of a serious foul against Carlos Salcido in the preliminary round match between Germany and Mexico, he was suspended for the first two games of the World Cup. After the German national team won the World Cup on June 30, 2006 with a 5-3 victory. After reaching the semi-finals against Argentina, the team under captain Michael Ballack lost 0-2 goals in extra time against Italy on July 4, 2006.
In the game for third place on July 8th in Stuttgart, the German team won 3-1 against Portugal. The triumph of the 2006 World Cup title went to Italy in the final on July 9th, to which France lost on penalties. In August 2006, Federal President Horst Köhler awarded the German national team the "Silver Laurel Leaf", the highest award that Germany can give to athletes.
In 2005 he became German runner-up and DFB Cup runner-up with Schalke. For the 2005/06 season he moved to VfL Wolfsburg for a transfer fee of 3.5 million euros. In the match between Germany and Tunisia (3-0) in Cologne on June 18, 2005, Hanke scored his first goal for the DFB team. On May 15, 2006, Mike Hanke was appointed to the DFB squad by national coach Jürgen Klinsmann for the World Cup in Germany. As a result of a serious foul against Carlos Salcido in the preliminary round match between Germany and Mexico, he was suspended for the first two games of the World Cup. After the German national team won the World Cup on June 30, 2006 with a 5-3 victory. After reaching the semi-finals against Argentina, the team under captain Michael Ballack lost 0-2 goals in extra time against Italy on July 4, 2006.
In the game for third place on July 8th in Stuttgart, the German team won 3-1 against Portugal. The triumph of the 2006 World Cup title went to Italy in the final on July 9th, to which France lost on penalties. In August 2006, Federal President Horst Köhler awarded the German national team the "Silver Laurel Leaf", the highest award that Germany can give to athletes.