Per Mertesacker
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| Per Mertesacker | ||
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | September 29, 1984 (age 22) | |
| Place of birth | Hannover, Germany | |
| Nickname | Merte | |
| Playing position | Defender | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Werder Bremen | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2003-2006 2006- |
Hannover 96 Werder Bremen |
74 (7) 19 (2) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2004- | Germany | 29 (1) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Per Mertesacker (born September 29, 1984 in Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Werder Bremen and Germany.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Hannover 96
Mertesacker, a native of Hannover, became a youth player at Hannover 96 and eventually made his first-team debut for this club. Mertesacker had an unlucky start for his home club, breaking his nose and scoring an own goal soon after, but established himself as one of the most promising young defenders in the Bundesliga. His type of game was unusually clean, him being rarely booked (as of July 2006, only twice in 74 games) while regularly neutralizing his opponents. The slender Mertesacker was soon dubbed "the Defense Pole" (die Abwehrlatte) by German tabloids. In August of 2006 he moved to Werder Bremen in a €5 million transfer deal after a highly impressive World cup in which Germany finished 3rd.
[edit] International career
In September 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann, manager of Germany, called Mertesacker up to the October 9, 2004 game against Iran. At age 19, he became one of the youngest ever debutants for the German national team. With his quiet but effective game, he established himself as a defensive stalwart, pairing up with Robert Huth and later, Christoph Metzelder.
In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he was violently attacked after Germany won the penalty shoot-out against Argentina in the quarterfinals by Leandro Damián Cufré, an unused Argentinian substitute. He suffered minor injuries to his thigh and a kick to the groin.[citation needed] After Germany's loss to Italy in the semifinals, Mertesacker had surgery on one of his legs and missed the third place play-off.
[edit] Career stats
[edit] Club stats
| Club | Season | Bundesliga | DFB Cup | European Competition | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
| Werder Bremen | 2006-07 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 2 | ||
| Total | 12 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 2 | |||
| Hanover 96 | 2005-06 | 30 | 5 | ||||||
| 2004-05 | 31 | 2 | |||||||
| 2003-04 | 13 | 0 | |||||||
| Total | 74 | 7 | |||||||
| Career Totals | 77 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 79 | 7 | |||
[edit] External links
| SV Werder Bremen - Current Squad |
|---|
|
1 Reinke | 3 Pasanen | 4 Naldo | 5 Wome | 6 Baumann | 7 Vranješ | 8 Fritz | 9 Rosenberg | 10 Diego | 11 Klose | 14 Hunt | 15 Owomoyela | 16 Andreasen | 17 Klasnić | 18 Wiese | 19 Polenz | 20 D. Jensen | 22 Frings | 23 Almeida | 24 Borowski | 26 Mohr | 27 Schulz | 29 Mertesacker | 30 K. Jensen | 32 Schachten | 33 Vander | 34 Harnik | 37 Rockenbach | 38 Bischoff |
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Germany squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Third Place | |
|---|---|---|
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1 Lehmann | 2 Jansen | 3 Friedrich | 4 Huth | 5 Kehl | 6 Nowotny | 7 Schweinsteiger | 8 Frings | 9 Hanke | 10 Neuville | 11 Klose | 12 Kahn | 13 Ballack | 14 Asamoah | 15 Hitzlsperger | 16 Lahm | 17 Mertesacker | 18 Borowski | 19 Schneider | 20 Podolski | 21 Metzelder | 22 Odonkor | 23 Hildebrand | Coach: Klinsmann |
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