Bastian Schweinsteiger, German footballer
Bastian Schweinsteiger (pronounced [ˈbasti̯an ˈʃvaɪ̯nʃtaɪ̯ɡɐ] (listen); born 1 August 1984) is a German former professional footballer who usually played as a central midfielder. Earlier in his career, he primarily played as a wide midfielder. Schweinsteiger is regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, due to his tactical awareness, positioning, passing, tackling ability and also due to his ability to read and control the flow of the game. Joachim Löw has referred to Schweinsteiger as one of the greatest players Germany has ever produced.He spent 17 seasons at Bayern Munich, playing in exactly 500 matches across all competitions and scoring 68 goals. His honours at the club include eight Bundesliga titles, seven DFB-Pokal titles, a UEFA Champions League title, a FIFA Club World Cup title and a UEFA Super Cup title. He joined Manchester United in 2015, playing sparingly for 18 months before moving to Chicago Fire. He announced his retirement from playing in October 2019.

Schweinsteiger played for the German national team from 2004 to 2016. He is Germany's fourth most-capped player of all time, having earned 121 caps and scored 24 goals. He was selected in their squads for four European Championships and three World Cups, including their victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Also, in 2014 FIFA World Cup, he was widely regarded as one of the most important contributors in Germany's victorious campaign, playing an especially important role in defending Lionel Messi in the Final. Following Philipp Lahm's international retirement on 2 September 2014, Schweinsteiger was named captain of the national team. He played his last match for Germany against Finland on 31 August 2016, after which he retired from international football.