Benjamin Kirsten

Benjamin Kirsten (born 2 June 1987) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent much of his active career with Dynamo Dresden and 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig.

Benny Kirsten
Kirsten with Dynamo Dresden in 2008
Personal information
Date of birth (1987-06-02) 2 June 1987
Place of birth Riesa, East Germany
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Dynamo Dresden (youth coach)
Youth career
1989–1990 Dynamo Dresden
1990–2006 Bayer Leverkusen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Bayer Leverkusen II 2 (0)
2008 Waldhof Mannheim 0 (0)
2008–2011 Dynamo Dresden II 35 (0)
2008–2015 Dynamo Dresden 123 (0)
2015 NEC 6 (0)
2016–2021 Lokomotive Leipzig 68 (0)
Total 234 (0)
Managerial career
2022– Dynamo Dresden (youth coach)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

Kirsten was born in Riesa, East Germany. In 1989, at the age of two, he began to play football at Dynamo Dresden and in July 1990 left with his father Ulf Kirsten for Bayer 04 Leverkusen where he played the following 16 years with the club's youth team.

Career

In July 2006, Kirsten was promoted to the Bayer Leverkusen reserve squad in the Regionalliga. He played two games for the team who were coached by his father Ulf.[1]

In January 2008, he left Bayer Leverkusen after 17 years and six months to join Waldhof Mannheim. On 16 June 2008, after only half a year with Waldhof he returned to Dynamo Dresden,[2] where he made his debut – his first professional game – on 2 May 2009 against Fortuna Düsseldorf.[3] Kirsten played the entire ninety minutes, conceding one goal.

In his first two years, Kirsten regularly featured for Dynamo Dresden II. He was part of the team that won the Sachsenliga and Sachsenpokal in 2009. Kirsten was involved in a controversy after the cup win, when he was seen lighting fireworks on the pitch. Dynamo had previously been punished for similar incidents from their fans, and Kirsten was suspended for three games and fined €4,000 (about £3,500).[4]

On day 25 of the 2010–11 season team manager Matthias Maucksch made Kirsten the regular first-choice keeper of Dynamo Dresden.[5] With his persuasive performances Kirsten had a major part in that Dynamo reached the third place at the end of the season and after beating VfL Osnabrück in the relegation matches promoted to the 2. Bundesliga.

Following this success, Kirsten remained Dynamo's substitute keeper behind Wolfgang Hesl but was promoted to the team's starting eleven in February 2012. He remained in this role for most of the 2012–13 through 2014–15 seasons, with his team being re-relegated to the 3. Liga in 2014. Kirsten eventually left Dynamo in 2015,[6] after which he spent a season with Dutch side NEC Nijmegen;[7] he appeared in six games for them.

Returning to Germany, Kirsten joined Regionalliga Nordost team Lok Leipzig in November 2016.[8] After spending five years with the club, Kirsten retired in 2021, citing continuing issues related to his meniscus.[9]

In January 2022, Kirsten was hired as a youth coach at his former club, Dynamo Dresden.[10]

Personal life

Benjamin Kirsten is the son of former Germany national team forward and three-time Bundesliga top scorer Ulf Kirsten.[11] He was trained as a merchant in sports and fitness at Dynamo Dresden.[12]

References
  1. "Keine Chance gegen Papa Ulf" (in German). Bild. 7 July 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  2. "Dynamo Dresden verpflichtet Jens Grembowietz und Benjamin Kirsten" (in German). dynamo-dresden.de. 16 June 2008. Archived from the original on 19 June 2008.
  3. "Der Sohn von Stürmer Ulf Kirsten steht im Dynamo-Tor" (in German). derwesten.de. 1 May 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  4. "Kirsten sorgt für Eklat" (in German). kicker. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  5. Klein, Daniel (21 February 2011). "Wird beim Torwart-Roulette falsch gespielt?" (in German). Sächsische Zeitung. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  6. Wogawa, Steffen (22 April 2015). ""Lebenstraum geht zu Ende": Dynamo plant ohne Kirsten". www.liga3-online.de (in German). Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  7. "Keepersprobleem voor NEC opgelost met Benjamin Kirsten" (in Dutch). Omroep Gelderland. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  8. "Benjamin Kristen ab sofort beim FCL" (in German). Lok Leipzig. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  9. Schramm, Stefan (21 June 2021). "Benjamin Kirsten beendet Karriere und bekommt neue Rolle bei Dynamo Dresden" (in German). Sportbuzzer. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  10. Neue Aufgabe für Kirsten: Dynamo stellt Torwarttrainer-Team um, kicker.de, 25 January 2022
  11. "Prominente Väter, talentierte Kinder" (in German). soccer-warriors.de. 2 July 2007. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  12. "Dynamo schnappt sich Kirsten" (in German). kicker. 16 June 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
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