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 counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 March 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 8 July 2006. * Appearances (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 1 Career 1.1 Hannover 96 1.2 International career 1.3 Career stats 1.3.1 Club stats 2 External links

[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

All-Time Club Performance

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

• Profile Player (English)
• Personal website (German Only)

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

	Germany squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Third Place
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