Manchester United newlywed Bastian Schweinsteiger is party addict in bizarre love triangle
NEW Manchester United ace Bastian Schweinsteiger loves fast cars, wild parties – and complicated romantic adventures.
The Germany captain lost his virginity at 14 and was once caught cavorting in a Jacuzzi with a woman he said was his cousin.
The midfielder, 30, had been dating German model Sarah Brandner for seven years when they split in July last year, shortly after he lifted the World Cup for Germany.
Just weeks later he was spotted holding hands in New York with world tennis No6 Ana.
Bastian then reconciled with Sarah, 26, in September before returning to Serbian 27-year-old Ana earlier this year.
A friend close to the couple said: “Most people thought Bastian and Sarah were going to get married but instead Bastian moved on quite quickly with Ana.
“It was very hard to keep up with who he was dating.”
In fact, even Sarah seemed confused until January this year, when the man dubbed “Germany’s footballing cowboy” for his wild ways took an outlandish public stance.
While training in Qatar, he carefully covered up the word “Sarah” which he had previously worn proudly on his favourite football boots.
The pal said: “Sarah couldn’t understand why Bastian would announce their break-up to the world like that.
“Everyone was quite shocked that Bastian would just black out her name with a marker pen.
“But at least it confirmed the fact they had broken up. I don’t think even they knew what was going on with the relationship until that point.”
He finally made public his relationship with beautiful Ana in February and was even pictured cheering her on this month at Wimbledon, where she went out in the second round.
The due tied the knot in Venice today after Germany's Euro 2016 exit.
Speaking about her split from Bastian, Sarah said: “I’m doing OK. I have slowly tried to get people to see me as a person.
“Before, it used to bug me that people could only see me as a footballer’s girlfriend.”
Sarah might be relieved to be shot of the rakish player as he heads to Old Trafford, but many of her fellow Germans are gutted. For them, Bastian is a national institution.
In 2007 — the same year he first met Sarah — German newspaper Bild described him as: “Loved by the women, worshipped by the men.”
It added of the man known as “Schweini”: “No one is as cool or as crazy as he!”
Prior to his move, he had been with Bayern Munich since he was a boy, and made more than 500 appearances for the club as well as being part of eight league championship wins.
But Bastian, who has won 111 caps for his country, nearly didn’t make it as footballer. He was born in 1984 in Rosenheim, just outside Munich, to mum Monika and dad Alfred, a sports shop owner who had played football in Austria.
Brought up a Catholic, he still has deep faith and has said he believes God is “in the game of my life”.
Footie was also a big part of his world, and he has said: “From the start I knew quite well that I wanted to become a footballer.”
But his parents wanted him to focus on academic life and aim for a more realistic future.
He recalled: “As a young boy I played football, of course, but I was in school and had to learn, and every day do my homework. It was not so easy for me.”
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But already Bastian showed signs of his lothario ways, losing his virginity at 14 to a girl he went to school with.
After graduating from high school, the youngster trained as an office clerk before finally deciding to try to make it in professional football.
After becoming a name in Bayern Munich’s youth team, he made his debut for the first team in 2002.
At 18 he was caught in his club’s sauna and hot tub with a bikini-clad girl after sneaking in at 2am.
They might have got away with their frolics had they not triggered a silent alarm system which sent armed security men flooding into the area.
Bastian, who once described scoring a goal as “better than sex”, later defended his antics, saying: “It was my cousin — I wanted to show her the professional scene.”
As his career took off, he found himself in the headlines more often.
The party animal once again caused outrage when he was seen in a disco at 4am ahead of a game later that day.
And in 2006 his love of fast cars also landed him in trouble.
Bastian, who drives an Audi R8 with 420hp under the bonnet, was hauled over by cops in Munich after they caught him speeding through a 50mph zone at 100mph.
To make things worse, he had not completed the theory part of his driving exam so had no licence.
He received a hefty fine. Then, during Euro 2008, his on-pitch antics got him sent off, prompting Germany’s football-mad Chancellor Angela Merkel to beg him: “Stop doing all these foolish things.”
But despite his hell-raising ways, Bastian is sensible with one thing — his money.
The star, who is the first German to play for Manchester United and will be one of the club’s top earners, has described the money earned by modern footballers as “frightening”.
He has already started house hunting in Manchester and Cheshire but does not plan to splash too much of his cash.
He said: “I am not throwing it around. There are so many former football players who have no money. Basically, I’m a very frugal person.”