National team caps and goals correct as of December 10, 2006. * Appearances (Goals)
Markus Babbel (born September 8, 1972 in Munich) is a former German international footballer who played as a defender.
Starting out in the German Bundesliga, his first club was Bayern Munich, for whom he played initially from the youth squad, forging to the first team and making eight starts, as well as four substitute appearances in league games.
Moving to SV Hamburg in August 1992 gave Babbel the chance to appear regularly in a first-team slot. Between this and his exit in 1994, he managed to score his first league goal. Transferring back to Bayern Munich, he made 167 starts, before being snapped up by then-Liverpool F.C. manager Gérard Houllier in June 2000, building part of the solid back four of Liverpool's 5 trophy winning season of 2001. He went on loan to Blackburn Rovers in August 2003 after having recovered from Guillain-Barré syndrome, achieving regular first team appearances in the league, and 3 goals in the process. Babbel won the UEFA Cup twice, in 1996 with Bayern and in 2001 with Liverpool.
He was an integral member of Liverpool's historic 2000/01 treble winning side and his characteristic raiding runs down the right side led to plenty of important goals, including in the UEFA Cup final itself. His Liverpool career was forced to a sudden halt when he contracted the virus and was unable to play for a whole season.
Babbel's most recent club is VfB Stuttgart, who he joined on a free transfer in July 2004. He has been capped over 50 times for Germany and was part of the Euro 96 winning team. Babbel also played for his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000.
In January 2007, Babbel announced that he would retire at the end of the season. In May 2007, he signed as assistant coach of the VfB Stuttgart.