A footballing heritage

Swiss Stephane Chapuisat acknowledges his goal to give Switzerland a 1-0 lead over Wales during the European Championships qualification game in Zurich 31 March 1999.

Some stars might be forgiven for not encouraging their children to follow in their same career footsteps.

However with Pierre-Albert Chapuisat, that was definitely not the case. A Swiss international in the 1960's and 70's and a star at club level with Lausanne and Paris FC, he greatly encouraged his son Stephane to attempt a career in football.

"My son is my pride and joy," he beamed, disuading any idea of jealousy that his son is now approaching 100 caps for his country while the 'old man' turned out 'only' 34 times.

At 18-years-old, Stephane had already made his professional debut for Lausanne Sports in his native city but he did not stay in his homeland for long.

Borussia Dortmund's Swiss striker Stephane Chapuisat (C) is flanked by his teammates Thomas Hengen (L) and Russian Wladimir But (R) as he watches the Bundesliga match Borussia Dortmund against Hertha BSC from the bench, 22 August. Chapuisat has had an offer from English Premiership champions Arsenal, daily newspaper Ruhr Nachrichten revealed.

In 1990, he moved to the Bundesliga and wore the colours of Bayer Uerdigen for one season before joining Borussia Dortmund with whom he would taste glory at the very highest level.

Wearing the famous yellow jersey of Dortmund, he helped the club win two German titles and two German Supercups in 1995 and 1996 before touching the holy grail the following season.

Borussia Dortmund's Swiss striker Stephane Chapuisat celebrates his goal which finally settled the Champions League quarter final tie between the defending champions and Bayern Munich in Dortmund late 18 March. Chapuisat scored in the second half of extra time to send his team into the semi finals with a 1-0 aggregate victory.

Out of nowhere, Dortmund stormed their way into the 1997 Champions League final where Chapuisat led the attack alongside Matthias Sammer and felled the mighty Juventus by a scoreline of 3-1.

The win all but erased the memory of a lost Uefa Cup final in 1993 where they were beaten by none other than Juventus.

Retirement in sight

In nine seasons in Germany, the man from Lausanne scored 106 goals, making him the highest scoring foreign player in Bundesliga history, until the Brazilian striker Giovane Elber later surpassed his mark for Bayern Munich.

Marco Zwyssig (L) of Basel struggles for the ball with Stephane Chapuisat (R) of Grasshoppers Zurich during their Swiss soccer league (NLA) match in Basel, 14 April 2002. AFP PHOTO EPA/KEYSTONE/ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE

His glorious spell with Dortmund came to an end in 1999 and he returned to the Swiss top flight helping Grasshoppers Zurich win the domestic title two years later in a campaign in which he was also the league's top scorer.

In 2002, he was on the move again, this time signing with the Bern club Young Boys where he will likely see out his career.

Georgia's Dato Kvirkvelia (L) and Revaz Kemoklidze (R) fight for the ball with Swiss Stephane Chapuisat during their Euro 2004 qualifying match, group 10, 02 April 2003 in Tbilisi.

With retirement approaching, he recently picked up the honour as Swiss player of the last half century and can now look forward to a his second crack at the European championships in 2004. He also played at Euro 96 in England.

He has scored more than 20 goals for his country and will likely win over a 100 caps by the time he walks away from the game but he remains the star symbol of Switzerland despite the emergence of Hakin Yakin and Alexander Frei.

Whatever transpires in Portugal, fans will be certain to raise a glass in tribute to this great footballing servent when the curtain finally comes down on a sparkling career.