his 34 Bundesliga matches that season under the management of his father. In February 1976 Bremen, lying in a precarious position in the bottom-half of the Bundesliga then, sacked Herbert Burdenski to replace him with Otto Rehhagel. Later career Initially retired, AIK of Sweden and Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem managed to lure the popular goalkeeper, who was awarded the honorary captaincy of Werder Bremen in 2005, out of retirement. Burdenski played in one match for AIK in Allsvenskan (he had been in touch with the Swedish club due to him knowing AIK's Sanny Åslund after Åslund had been his teammate at Bremen in the 1975–76) and three games for Vitesse in the Dutch Eredivisie respectively. On 23 February 2002, the then 51-year-old made a single appearance for SV Werder Bremen II in the third German division after injuries had seen the reserves ending up short of goalkeepers. Burdenski conceded three that afternoon with SV Werder Bremen II beaten 3–1 by league rivals Chemnitzer FC. International career Looking for decent goalkeepers to someday succeed ageing Sepp Maier in the West Germany goal, Helmut Schön turned his attention to the Werder Bremen man in 1977, handing Burdenski his first of altogether 12 caps in a friendly in Montevideo against Uruguay. He was taken with the squad to Argentina to be a benchwarmer at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, playing three times in the 1980 UEFA European Championship qualifiers (but missing out on making the 1980 UEFA European Championship squad of the West Germans), and was doing the same job on the substitution bench at the 1984 UEFA European Championship. Before that tournament he enjoyed his final appearance for his country, coming on at half-time in a friendly against Italy in Zürich on 22 May 1984. Style of play Not the tallest for a goalkeeper at 1.81 m, Burdenski was exceptionally athletic and a superb shot stopper with amazing reactions. Burdenski was also known for his leadership qualities, he was captain of Werder Bremen many times during his long career. Coaching career In 1997, Burdenski was re-signed by Werder Bremen for their coaching staff, working with the goalkeepers of the club until December 2005. References External links 1950 births Living people Footballers from Bremen German footballers Germany international footballers Germany B international footballers STV Horst-Emscher players FC Schalke 04 players Arminia Bielefeld players SV Werder Bremen players SV Werder Bremen II players AIK