ST. LOUIS — There may not be another person in the world with a more unique life in soccer than St. Louis CITY SC sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel.
For starters, he's played soccer pretty much every conceivable place in the world.
"It's even difficult for me to say exactly. I think it was 13 countries, 25 teams on six continents," Pfannenstiel said.
In fact, he's the only player to play professionally on all six FIFA continents. And he even has plans to arrange a game in Antarctica through his Global United charity someday.
He was once thrown in jail in Singapore, accused of match-fixing with no evidence or due process. He was cleared and released 101 days later, but said the experience impacted him forever.
"It changed me from being a bit of a spoiled football player into a different person. Getting caught in the middle of something I had no control over where I was cleared in the end anyways. It still took 101 days for me in the worst living conditions you can imagine," he said. "You start to doubt fairness and justice. But it definitely made me into a better person I think I learned a lot about life. I learned to appreciate the small things as well."
Pfannenstiel has also died for the sport of soccer. In quite the literal sense.
While playing as a goalkeeper in England in 2002, Pfannenstiel collided with another player, rendering Pfannenstiel lifeless on the pitch.
"He kind of tried to jump over me and he tripped and his knee fell directly into my sternum. It was more like a boxing injury. It switched off my complete nerve system in my upper body, and I actually died. My lungs collapsed, I had no more pulse, I had no more heartbeat. The physio of Bradford brought me back three times before they got me into the hospital where I was still in a coma. After three hours, I woke up and was lucky to still be here," Pfannenstiel said.
But it's not all doom and gloom for Pfannenstiel's soccer story.
An avid animal lover, the German-born keeper got an idea for a new pet during one of the stops on his soccer journey.
"When I played in New Zealand, In Dunedin, that's the biggest colony of penguins actually outside of Antarctica. When I saw them I fell in love with the idea of a penguin as a pet. So I borrowed one for a few days, put him in my bathtub with a lot of ice, realized pretty quickly it's not really a good pet to have. The smell was terrible. I brought him back where he came from and he lived happily ever after," Pfannenstiel said.
So with perhaps a wider variety of soccer experience than anyone else, why is Lutz Pfannenstiel in the midwestern United States with an MLS start-up?
"I spoke to Carolyn (Kindle), she introduced the project, and I realized, I think within a day, that this was probably the most exciting project in the world of football, to build something completely from scratch. When I came here I had a few PowerPoint presentations, a white piece of paper and an iPad, and we literally drew everything up from day one," Pfannenstiel said.
Since his arrival, CITY SC has made inroads in the community through their academy and youth outreach, built the brand-new CityPark and adjacent training facility and assembled a roster for the inaugural season set to kick off in late February.
There have been a few roster spots that have really gotten fans talking so far.
The goalkeeper, Roman Burki, has been with the team the longest, and Pfannenstiel said the Swiss keeper is the best they could have at one of the most scrutinized positions on the pitch.
"Roman Burki, when I look at him as a player, when I look at the statistics in his past, he is probably in my opinion, the best goalkeeper to ever play in the United States. When Tim Howard left, he was very young, when he came back he was a little bit older already. So he played his prime in Europe," Pfannenstiel said.
A more recent addition to the roster was Njabulo Blom, a central defender acquired from a professional team in South Africa.
"He's there to work hard, to bring a certain physicality to the center of the Park. He's a ball-winner, he's a warrior, he's that missing puzzle piece," Pfannenstiel said of Blom.
As the sporting director, one of Pfannenstiel's big projects every year will be navigating the MLS SuperDraft. CITY SC had the first pick this year but opted to trade it to Charlotte. It was a move that perplexed some at the time, but there was always a plan.
CITY SC traded back into the top 10 to get their preferred player in Creighton's Owen O'Malley, and then took Saint Louis University product John Klein at No. 20.
"O'Malley was our No. 1. That was the player we wanted No. 1. So we could've had the easy way out and picked him No. 1, no risk. But because we did a lot of research, we knew that the first eight picks will definitely not take him because they were looking for foreign strikers," Pfannenstiel said.
"When we did the trade I realized that people were kind of worried. As a No. 20 you normally won't get the player you want. But we knew we could get, most likely, O'Malley at nine. So it worked out. And then also getting Johnny Klein as a local kid, I think that's what St. Louis is all about. We want to give our local talent opportunities ."
Pfannenstiel said that the roster is all but complete, and when the fans see the team in action, it'll be a club that makes life unbearable for teams to visit CityPark.
"We want to be the team that is in charge. I always say 'Gateway to hell', teams should hate to play in St. Louis, because we're going to be all over them, especially at home," Pfannenstiel said. "Playing high-intensity football, especially in the hot summers of St. Louis, is not something teams will enjoy when they're coming here. I think it fits a lot with the midwestern mentality. If I look at the way the Blues play hockey, that's a little bit what you can expect from us as well."
And even though inaugural seasons can be rough on expansion teams in the MLS, Pfannenstiel thinks how this club was assembled could provide them with an edge over other first-year teams of the past.
"It's a tough one. Usually, an expansion team gets kicked around in the first year. I see it a bit different. I say we're not a typical expansion team because we had some of our players early here. But I think we need to be realistic and fair. What's a realistic goal, here? Of course, we would love to make the playoffs, that's clear, that's our biggest goal. But if we're having a good season, and missing out by a few points I think that's a successful year. But I don't want to see us as a pushover. Basically the first year, paying for learning. I think we're a little bit further than that," Pfannenstiel said.