Karl-Heinz Riedle (57), soccer world champion in 1990, is no longer an RTL expert for UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League games. The broadcaster announced this on its website. Andreas von Thien, head of the sports department at “RTL News”, thanked the former professional “for the great cooperation over the past few years”. Riedle enriched the RTL broadcasts with his “sympathetic and eloquent analysis”. They remain closely connected and are open to further assignments, it is also said.
This means that Riedle could soon support the RTL expert team again, just not regularly. It is still unclear when the former world-class striker will be involved in broadcasts again. No information was given on the exact reasons for Riedle’s departure after around two years. However, as reported by the “Bild” newspaper, Riedle ended his engagement in order to be able to concentrate more on his work as a brand ambassador for his former team Borussia Dortmund.
The RTL expert team now consists primarily of the former world footballer Lothar Matthäus (62), also world champion from 1990, who forms the team at the Europa League games together with Laura Papendick (34). Papendick will return from maternity leave in August. The moderator announced on June 30 that she and her partner Alexander Hindersmann (34) had become a mom. Marco Hagemann (46) and Steffen Freund (53), European champions from 1996, are also on the microphones as commentators.
Karl-Heinz Riedle started his professional career in 1983 at FC Augsburg. After a stopover at the then Bundesliga promoted Blau-Weiss 90 Berlin, he matured into one of the best German strikers of his time at Werder Bremen. After the World Cup triumph with the national team in 1990, Riedle moved to Lazio Rome. In 1993 he returned to Germany, to Borussia Dortmund. After moving to the island in 1997, where Riedle was active for Liverpool FC and Fulham FC, he ended his career in 2001.
