Roger Schmidt (footballer)

On 18 May 2022, Schmidt signed a two-year deal with Primeira Liga club Benfica. He became the second German to be appointed as manager of the club, with the first being Jupp Heynckes. Joining at the beginning of the summer window, Schmidt brought in several significant signings, including midfielders Enzo Fernández from River Plate, Fredrik Aursnes from Feyenoord and Julian Draxler on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, winger David Neres from Shakhtar Donetsk, and defender Alexander Bah from Slavia Prague. Along with the new signings, Schmidt promoted António Silva, Henrique Araújo, Diego Moreira and reintegrated Florentino Luís to the first-team squad. The squad also saw various departures with Darwin Núñez, Haris Seferovic, Pizzi, Roman Yaremchuk, Soualiho Meïté, Julian Weigl, Adel Taarabt and Jan Vertonghen leaving the club.

Schmidt became the new coach of PSV Eindhoven on 11 March 2020, on a contract until 2022. His team came second, 16 points behind Ajax in his first season, and faced the same team in the 2021 Johan Cruyff Shield which they won 4–0 on 7 August. Also against the Amsterdam-based club, PSV won the 2022 KNVB Cup Final 2–1 on 17 April.

On 31 July 2019, he was sacked. Hundreds of fans came to the airport for an emotional farewell when he left.

Schmidt took charge of his first match on 2 August, defeating Midtjylland 4–1 at home in the Champions League third qualifying round, and then won his first Primeira Liga match by defeating Arouca 4–0 also at home on 5 August. On 23 August, Schmidt guided Benfica to qualification to the Champions League group stage, following a 5–0 aggregate win over Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League play-off round. This run was eventually extended to ten games after Benfica defeated Maccabi Haifa 2–0 home in a Champions League group stage match, marking Benfica's best start to a season in 39 years. On 21 October, Schmidt won his first O Clássico beating arch-rivals Porto 1–0 in Primeira Liga at the Estádio do Dragão ending their nine-match Clássico winless streak and extending their unbeaten run to 19 matches. This was Benfica's first win against Porto since March 2019. After defeating Maccabi Haifa 6–1 away on 2 November, Benfica surprisingly topped their Champions League group over favourites Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, surpassing the latter on away goals scored with a club record of 14 points in the competition.

On 5 March 2017, Schmidt was sacked by sporting director Rudi Völler following a 6–2 loss at Dortmund which left Leverkusen in 9th place.

In June 2017, Schmidt joined Chinese Super League side Beijing Sinobo Guoan on a two-and-a-half-year contract. He won the Chinese FA Cup in 2018.

After his first season, Schmidt signed a new contract until 2019. On 21 February 2016, he was sent off by referee Felix Zwayer in a game against Dortmund after disputing a free kick that led to the opponents scoring the only goal of the match. He initially refused to leave, causing Zwayer to suspend the game and lead the players off the field, culminating in an eight-minute delay before the match resumed without Schmidt on the field. The 2015–16 season ended in third with Champions League qualification.

Bayer Leverkusen hired Schmidt on 25 April 2014, replacing the sacked Sami Hyypiä. His two-year contract was effective from the start of the 2014–15 season.

In 2013–14, Schmidt led Salzburg to the double, with an 18-point league advantage over SK Rapid Wien sealing the league title with eight games remaining. The team won 4–2 in the cup final over SKN St. Pölten.

On 24 June 2012, Schmidt was announced as the new manager of Austrian Football Bundesliga reigning champions Red Bull Salzburg, after Ricardo Moniz. The team were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round by Luxembourg's F91 Dudelange in July, on the away goals rule after a 4–4 aggregate draw. Domestically, they came runners-up five points behind FK Austria Wien, and lost 2–1 in the Austrian Cup semi-finals to shock overall winners third-tier FC Pasching.

He played as a midfielder in Germany's amateur regional leagues, where he began his managerial career before joining SC Paderborn 07 of the 2. Bundesliga in 2011 and Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga in 2014. He won the league and cup double with Red Bull Salzburg in 2014, as well as cups with Beijing Sinobo Guoan in 2018 and PSV Eindhoven in 2022.

Schmidt became manager of 2. Bundesliga club SC Paderborn 07 on 1 July 2011. On his professional debut 16 days later, the team won 2–1 at Hansa Rostock. On 30 July, the team won 10–0 in the first round of the DFB-Pokal away to Rot Weiss Ahlen, though the second round was a 4–0 loss at SpVgg Greuther Fürth. His sole league season at the Benteler-Arena ended in 5th place.

Having to balance the commitments of his marriage and young children, as well as his engineering profession, Schmidt only wanted to manage for one season but stayed for three. He decided to leave football for good, but was drawn back by interest from fellow Oberliga team SC Preußen Münster, for whom he quit his engineering job. He was appointed manager in May 2007, effective 1 July, and was sacked on 21 March 2010. Schmidt's contract stated that the club would find him an engineering job in the city of Münster should he be dismissed, but by that stage he was ready to commit solely to football management.

In 2004, Schmidt was made player-manager of Delbrücker SC in the fifth-tier Verbandsliga. Two years later, with the team now one division up into the Oberliga, he retired from playing but stayed on for one further year solely as manager.

Roger Schmidt (German pronunciation: [ˈʁoːɡɐ ˈʃmɪt]; born 13 March 1967) is a German professional football manager and former player. He currently manages Primeira Liga club Benfica.