three matches, helping his team to defeat Portugal in the quarter-final and setting up Philipp Lahm for a 90th-minute winner against Turkey in the semi-final. Germany were defeated 1–0 by Spain in the final, in which Hitzlsperger was substituted in the second half. Hitzlsperger remained first-choice in 2010 World Cup qualifying, playing in all but one match and scoring a goal, but he missed out on his nation's World Cup squad in June 2010. His international career ended on 11 August 2010 with his 52nd cap. VfB Stuttgart management On 12 February 2019, Hitzlsperger became Head of Sport of VfB Stuttgart. He was promoted to CEO and resigned in January 2022 to return to his television career. Personal life Hitzlsperger, the youngest child of Ludwig and Anneliese Hitzlsperger, was born in Munich and grew up in Forstinning, alongside his five brothers and one sister. Hitzlsperger has an interest in economics, and while in England studied investment strategies, although he did not complete the course. He regularly visited the Bank of England to discuss finance with the bank's governor, Mervyn King, a lifelong Aston Villa fan. Hitzlsperger has blogged for Störungsmelder, an anti-racism site that encourages debate about xenophobia and racism in Germany. In June 2007, Hitzlsperger split after an eight-year relationship from his longtime girlfriend, Inga, just one month before they were due to get married. On 8 January 2014, he became the highest-profile male footballer to come out as gay to date. Hitzlsperger said that he had only realised that he was gay in the past few years. He received widespread support from former fellow players of the Germany national team, such as Lukas Podolski, who said of his coming out as "brave" and "an important sign of our time" as well as a reaction from Joachim Löw who said of his decision as "personal" and that he "deserved respect from every side." On 9 April 2011, Hitzlsperger was caught travelling in his Range Rover at on the A14 in Suffolk. On 14 July 2011, he was fined £750, plus £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge, and was given six penalty points on his driving licence by Bury St Edmunds Magistrates' Court. However, he was spared a driving ban as he was at the time unemployed and his barrister, Craig Harris, successfully argued that he needed his car to drive around the country and look for a new