Per Mertesacker

Per Mertesacker (born September 29, 1984 in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany) is a professional football (soccer) who plays as a defender (football) for Werder Bremen and Germany national football team.

Career

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.

International career

In September 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann, manager of Germany national football team, called Mertesacker up to the October 9 2004 game against Iran national football team. 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 national football team won the penalty shoot-out against Argentina national football team in the quarterfinals by Leandro Damián Cufré, an unused Argentinian substitute. He suffered minor injuries to his thigh and a kick to the groin. After Germany's loss to Italy national football team in the semifinals, Mertesacker had surgery on one of his legs (not connected to the attack above, but an injury he had been dealing with during previous matches) and missed the third place play-off.

Career stats

Club stats