After just two training sessions with the first team, coach Ottmar Hitzfeld gave Schweinsteiger his debut as a late substitute in a UEFA Champions League game against RC Lens in November 2002, and the youngster made an immediate impact, creating a goal for Markus Feulner within minutes. He signed a professional contract the following month and went on to appear in 14 Bundesliga games in 2002-03, helping Bayern to a league and cup double. The next season he played 26 Bundesliga games.

Schweinsteiger scored his first Bayern goal against VfL Wolfsburg in September 2003

Surprisingly sent back to Bayern's amateurs by new coach Felix Magath at the beginning of the 2004-05 season despite his international exploits of the summer in the Confederations Cup, Schweinsteiger swiftly returned to play a role in the double-winning campaign and scored in Bayern's Champions League quarter-final first-leg defeat at Chelsea FC.

He made his international debut in 2004 in a friendly against Hungary. Bayern's number 31 earned rave reviews for his Euro 2004Michael Ballack in Germany's 2-1 loss against the Czech Republic. performances in Portugal, showing combative skills and even setting up the opening goal for Bayern teammate

He scored his first two international goals on June 8, 2005 against Russia and scored his first goal at a major tournament against Tunisia on June 18, 2005 at the Confederations Cup in Germany. This was followed up by two strikes in the third place play-off game at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, also in his home country. He practically performed a hat-trick with his two goals and an own goal, also off his shot, by Portugal's Petit, which led the Germans to a third place win over Portugal in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

During Euro Cup 2008 qualifiers, he scored two goals enroute to a 13-0 win over San Marino in San Marino. He scored the third goal in Germany's 4-1 win over Slovakia in Bratislava.

At the age of 22, he has already played 41 matches for the German national team which is a record for any German player. At the same age, Lothar Matthäus (German all-time record holder with 150 caps) had only played 13 times for the national team. Schweinsteiger's 21-year-old co-striker and friend Lukas Podolski is coming close behind with currently 37 caps.

Schweinsteiger has been hailed as the new Stefan Effenberg, and he indeed bears a resemblance to the great Bayern star in his playing style.

Bastian Schweinsteiger is currently popular with the young soccer players for he is young and skilled.

Honours

• World Cup: 3rd place 2006
• Confederations Cup: 3rd place 2005
• Bundesliga champion: 2003, 2005, 2006
• German Cup: 2003, 2005, 2006
• League Cup: 2004
• German U-17 championship: 2001
• German U-19 championship: 2002