FOX Sports Adds German Star Thomas Hitzlsperger as Soccer Analyst

Thomas Hitzlsperger, known during his professional soccer career in Germany and England as “Der Hammer,” joins FOX Sports as a contributing studio and game analyst assigned to cover Bundesliga and other high-profile European matches beginning next week with the UEFA Euro Playoffs. The announcement was made today by Jonty Whitehead, executive producer for FOX Sports’ soccer coverage. A midfielder by trade, the accomplished Hitzlsperger was a member of Germany’s 2006 World Cup team, won a Bundesliga league title with Stuttgart in 2007 and played for English Premier League clubs Aston Villa, Everton and West Ham United during his standout career.

Hitzlsperger, who played on the German national team that advanced to the 2008 UEFA EURO tournament final, makes his FS1 debut prior to the second leg of the 2016 UEFA EURO playoff. On Monday, Nov. 16 (2:00 PM ET), Hitzlsperger joins host Ian Joy and former England international Warren Barton for pregame coverage from FOX Sports’ Los Angeles studio before the Republic of Ireland takes on Bosnia & Herzegovina. He returns to the studio alongside Joy and Barton on Tuesday, Nov. 17 (2:30 PM ET) for FS1’s coverage of the highly-anticipated international friendly between England and France on FS1.

Late next week, Hitzlsperger joins FOX Sports’ Bundesliga Match Day 13, calling Hamburg vs. Borussia Dortmund on Friday, Nov. 20 (2:20 PM ET) and Ingolstadt vs. Darmstadt on Sunday, Nov. 22 (11:25 AM ET) with play-by-play announcer Keith Costigan. His Bundesliga studio debut is sandwiched in between on Saturday, Nov. 21 (9:00 AM ET), as he offers analysis on the day’s games, which feature Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen in action.

Hitzlsperger contributed to FOX Sports’ UEFA Europa League coverage earlier this season and provides commentary from the studio and the booth during the competition’s group stage play. He is also slated to be part of the network’s FA Cup pregame, halftime and postgame shows in the coming months.

All matches on FS1 and FS2 stream live on FOX Sports GO and FOXSportsGO.com, while all matches are also available via FOX Soccer 2Go. Next week’s schedule and broadcasting assignments are below.