Sascha Riether (; born 23 March 1983) is a German former professional footballer who played as a right back. In addition to playing in the right-back position, Riether has also played in defensive midfield, center back and right midfield positions throughout his whole career.
His then U19 manager Uli Stielike described him in his early career as "very disciplined, versatile player, strong on the right side." During his playing career, Riether was known for his high commitment during the match and was considered a player who was more inclined to horizontal passes instead of creating chances with long passes. After announcing his retirement from professional football, he was appointed as Schalke 04's first coordinator for the licensed players department and worked for the role for two years before being relieved of duties in February 2021.
Club career SC Freiburg Born in Lahr, West Germany, Riether came from a football family in which his father and older brother and started playing football when he was four years old. Riether then started his football career at B-youth of SC Freiburg before he joined the side in July 1998. Riether previously was at the youth teams of FV Kuhbach (now SC Kuhbach-Reichenbach) and Offenburger FV.
After progressing through the ranks at SC Freiburg for the next four years including some matches for the reserve team in 2001/02 at the 4th level, Riether's reward was earned when he signed his first professional contract with the club. Riether started his professional club career in the 2. Bundesliga ahead of the 2002–03 season. He made his SC Freiburg debut in the opening game of the season, a 1–0 win over Alemannia Aachen. Since making his debut for SC Freiburg, he quickly established himself in the first-team for the club, replacing Tobias Willi in the right-back position. Over the season, Riether was praised for his good performance in a number of matches. However, during a 4–0 win against Rot Weiss Ahlen on 9 February 2003, he suffered a "suffered a thick foot with a bruise" despite playing the whole game. After the match, it was announced that Riether was sidelined for two months. But he made his return on 25 April 2003, coming on as a second–half substitute, in a 4–0 loss against SpVgg Greuther Fürth. His return later contributed Freiburg become champions and secure promotion back into the Bundesliga. At the end of the 2002–03 season, Riether he appeared in 23 league games (26 appearances in all competitions) in his first season at the club.
In the 2003–04 season, Riether started the season well when he scored in the opening game of the season, in a 4–1 loss against Bayer Leverkusen. Riether started the start of the season, rotating in playing either the right–back position and defensive midfield position. Riether also an ever-present for the side until he missed one match, due to suspension. After serving a one match suspension, Riether returned to the starting line–up against 1. FC Köln on 27 March 2004 and scored his second goal of the season, in a 3–0 win. He then scored his third goal of the season, scoring from a header, in a 4–1 win against Hannover 96 on 1 May 2004. Riether went on to become the club's top performers and helped the side survive in the Bundesliga, finishing 13th place. At the end of the 2003–04 season, he went on to make 36 appearances and scoring three times in all competitions. Shortly after the end of the season, Riether signed a contract extension with SC Freiburg.
At the start of the 2004–05 season, Riether continued to feature in the defensive–midfield position for the side. He then scored in the second round of DFB-Pokal, in a 3–2 win over VfL Bochum after the game went extra–time. Riether then rotated in playing in different positions, such as, centre–back and then right–back position, which he did for the rest of the season. He then scored his second goal of the season, on 6 February 2005, in a 3–2 loss against Borussia Mönchengladbach. However, during a 1–0 loss against Bayern Munich on 26 February 2005, Riether suffered a knee injury and was substituted in the 28th minute. After the match, it was announced that he was sidelined for two months. Riether previously suffered an injury during the season, but quickly made a recovery. While on the sidelines, the club were relegated back to 2. Bundesliga after losing 3–1 against Arminia Bielefeld on 22 April 2005. But he made his return to the first team against Werder Bremen on 14 May 2005, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute, in a 4–1 loss. At the end of the 2004–05 season, Riether finished the season, making the twenty–seven appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
At the start of the 2005–06 season, Riether set up a goal for Aleksandr Iashvili to score the only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win against Sportfreunde Siegen in the first round of the DFB–Pokal. He resumed his first team place in the midfield position, playing in the first five league matches. In a match against Karlsruher SC on 11 September 2005, however, he suffered an injury and was substituted in the 11th minute, as SC Freiburg drew 0–0. But Riether made his return to the starting line–up against Eintracht Braunschweig on 2 October 2005 and played the whole game, as the club drew 0–0. However, his return was short–lived when he suffered another injury and was substituted in the 21st minute, as SC Freiburg won 3–1 against 1. FC Saarbrücken on 16 October 2005. But Riether made his return to the starting line–up against Energie Cottbus on 30 October 2005 and played 82 minutes before substituted, in a 4–1 win. By December, Riether began to play in different positions, rotating in playing either in centre–back position, right–back positions and back to defensive midfield position for the rest of the 2005–06 season. However, the club failed to bounce back to Bundesliga after finishing fourth place in the league. Despite being sidelined two more times later in the 2005–06 season, he finished the season, making 31 appearances in all competition.
Ahead of the 2006–07 season, Riether signed a contract with the club, keeping his contract running until 2009. He started the season, rotating in playing either the right–back position and then in midfield position. After missing one match, Riether made his return to the starting line–up, in a 1–1 draw against MSV Duisburg on 13 October 2006. Following his return from absent, he continued to regain his first team place, playing in either defensive midfield position and centre–back position. Once again, SC Freiburg failed to secure promotion to Bundesliga after finishing fourth place in the league. Despite missing two matches later in the 2006–07 season, Riether went on to make thirty–one appearances in all competitions. During his five seasons with the club, Riether made 151 appearances and scoring five times.
VfL Wolfsburg
Riether stayed with Freiburg until July 2007 when he was signed by Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg for €500,000 and signing a three–year contract. Manager Felix Magath said he saw the player signing as "an alternative for the back right."
Riether made his debut for Wolfsburg, starting the whole game, in the right–back position, in a 3–1 loss against Arminia Bielefeld in the opening game of the season. Since making his debut for the club, he quickly established himself in the first team, playing in the right–back position. At times, Riether rotated into playing different position at either midfield position and centre–back position. After missing two matches due to a thigh injury, he returned to the starting line–up against Bayer Leverkusen on 27 April 2008 and started the whole game, as Wolfsburg drew 2–2. In the last game of the season, Riether scored his first goal for the club, in a 4–2 win over Borussia Dortmund, a win that saw Wolfsburg qualify for the UEFA Cup for next season. At the end of the 2007–08 season, he went on to make thirty–two appearances and scoring once in all competitions at his first season at the club.
Ahead of the 2008–09 season, Riether was expected to compete with Cristian Zaccardo over the right–back position, though he stated his preference to play in the midfield position. In the opening game of the season against 1. FC Köln, Riether came on as a second-half substitute for Zaccardo and set up a goal for Christian Gentner, who scored an equaliser, as Wolfsburg went on to win 2–1 at the end of the game. Since the start of the 2008–09 season, he regained his first team place in the right–back position, putting Zaccardo on the substitute bench at the start of the season. On 13 September 2008, Riether scored his first goal of the season, when he scored in injury time, in a 2–2 draw against Hertha BSC. Five days later, on 18 September 2008, he made his UEFA Cup debut, starting the whole game, in a 1–0 win over Rapid București; the club went on to go through to the group stage after drawing 1–1 in the return leg. However, Riether soon suffered injuries on two separate occasions between November and March. After returning from injury, he made his first appearance on 21 March 2009, in a 3–0 win over Arminia Bielefeld. Due to Zaccardo's playing time in the right–back position, Riether occasionally played in the midfield position, which he later played more active role later in the season. Riether was instrumental in the campaign, featuring in 28 league games as part of a solid defense helping his side record 10 straight Bundesliga victories, including a memorable 5–1 thrashing of Bayern Munich. He also helped on the attacking side of the undefeated run, scoring the game winner against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 11 April 2009. Riether went on to help the club achieve their first Bundesliga title in 2008–09 season after beating Werder Bremen 5–1 in the last game of the season. At the end of the 2008–09 season, he went on to make 37 appearances and scoring two times in all competitions. Shortly after the end of the season, Riether signed a contract extension, keeping him until 2012.
In the 2009–10 season, Riether started the season well when he set up two goals in two matches, both were a win against VfB Stuttgart and 1. FC Köln. He continued to regain his first team place at the club, playing in the right–back position following Zaccardo's departure back to Italy. Riether then made his UEFA Champions League debut on Matchday 1 Group Stage, in a 3–1 win over CSKA Moscow. He went on to make six Champions League appearances, as they were eliminated in the Group Stage. A week later on 23 September 2009, Riether scored his first goal for the club, in a 3–2 loss against 1. FC Köln in the second round of DFB-Pokal. In the second half of the season, he began rotating in playing either the right–back position, centre–back position and right–midfield position. After missing one match against Borussia Dortmund on 1 May 2010, Riether returned to the starting line–up in the last game of the season against Eintracht Frankfurt and scored his second goal of the season, in a 3–1 win. At the end of the 2009–10 season, he went on to make a total of forty–two appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.