Stefan Beinlich

Stefan "Paule" Beinlich (born 13 January 1972) is a retired German footballer, who played as a central midfielder.
His main asset was a powerful long-range shot, and he often scored from free kicks; he was one of the first players from the country to play in the Premier League, although he would have little impact at Aston Villa.

Beinlich was born in East Berlin, and played as a youth for Berliner FC Dynamo, making his first senior appearances for their feeder club, SG Bergmann-Borsig, In 1991 he moved to England with Aston Villa, signing along with his compatriot Matthias Breitkreutz, but both players had unassuming stints, appearing very rarely during their three-year stay.

In 1994, he moved to Hansa Rostock, helping it promote in his first year, and scoring 19 times in the following two top level seasons combined (34 in total). Beinlich continued to display excellent football in his three seasons with Bayer 04 Leverkusen; in his last year, he tied a career-best 11 goals (in the first division) as the club lost the league to FC Bayern Munich on goal difference.

After three years apiece with Hertha BSC and Hamburger SV, with relative playing time, Beinlich retired in 2008, after two seasons with former side Hansa. He had to retire due to knee problems, and totalled 288 games in the first division, scoring 56 goals.

Beinlich's international debut for Germany occurred on 2 September 1998 against Malta, playing the whole 2–1 friendly win.

His last two matches were in 2000, also friendlies, before and after the European Championship, for which he was not picked.