Benjamin Kirsten

Benny Kirsten

File:Benny Kirsten.JPG Kirsten with Dresden in 2008.
Personal information
Full name	Benjamin Kirsten
Date of birth	(1987-06-02) 2 June 1987
Place of birth	Riesa, East Germany
Height
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1989–1990	Dynamo Dresden
1990–2006	Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2008	Bayer 04 Leverkusen II	2	(0)
2008	SV Waldhof Mannheim	0	(0)
2008–2011	Dynamo Dresden II	35	(0)
2008–2015	Dynamo Dresden	123	(0)
2015	NEC	6	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Benjamin "Benny" Kirsten (born 2 June 1987 in Riesa, East Germany) is a German footballer.

Career

Early career

In 1989 at the age of two, Kirsten 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 side's youth team.

Professional career

In July 2006, Kirsten was promoted to Bayer 04's reserve squad in the Regionalliga. He played two games for the team who were coached by his father Ulf. In January 2008, Kirsten left Bayer 04 after 17 years and six months to join SV Waldhof Mannheim. On 16 June 2008, after only half a year with Waldhof he returned to Dynamo Dresden, where he made his debut – his first professional game – on 2 May 2009 against Fortuna Düsseldorf. 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 to light a firework 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).

On match day 25 of the 2010–11 season team manager Matthias Maucksch made Kirsten to the regular first-choice keeper of Dynamo Dresden. 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.

Personal life

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

External links

• Benjamin Kirsten at Dynamo-Dresden.de (German)
• Benjamin Kirsten profile at Fussballdaten
• Benjamin Kirsten at worldfootball.net