Per Mertesacker

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Per Mertesacker
Per Mertesacker Arsenal vs Sunderland, 18 August 2012, pre match 7 (cropped) .jpg
Per Mertesacker (2017)
Personnel
birthday September 29, 1984
place of birth HanoverGermany
size 199.5 cm
position Central defense
Juniors
Years station
1988-1995 TSV Pattensen
1995-2003 Hannover 96
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
2003-2004 Hannover 96 amateurs 16 0(1)
2003-2006 Hannover 96 74 0(7)
2006-2011 Werder Bremen 147 (12)
2011-2018 Arsenal FC 156 0(6)
National team
Years selection Games (goals) 2
2003 Germany U20 2 0(0)
2004 Germany U21 4 0(0)
2004-2014 Germany 104 0(4)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
2019 Arsenal FC (assistant coach; interim)
1 Only league games are given.
Status: end of career

2 Status: end of career

Per Mertesacker (born September 29, 1984 in Hanover ) is a former German soccer player . He was most recently at Arsenal under contract and chairs its football academy Arsenal Academy . From 2004 to 2014 he played 104 games for the national team and became world champion in Brazil in 2014 .

Life

Mertesacker grew up in Pattensen in the Hanover region and attended the Ernst Reuter School there up to the tenth grade. He graduated from high school at the Carl Friedrich Gauß School in Hemmingen .

Career

society

Per Mertesacker, on the left during the game Werder Bremen against Bayern Munich (2007) and on the right in the jersey of FC Arsenal in the game against Crystal Palace (2014). Per Mertesacker, on the left during the game Werder Bremen against Bayern Munich (2007) and on the right in the jersey of FC Arsenal in the game against Crystal Palace (2014).
Per Mertesacker, on the left during the game Werder Bremen against Bayern Munich (2007) and on the right in the jersey of FC Arsenal in the game against Crystal Palace (2014).
Per Mertesacker during a goal celebration with Lukas Podolski (center) and Carl Jenkinson (right) (2012)

Per Mertesacker began his career as a football player at TSV Pattensen . At the age of four he stood on the football field for the first time. His father was the coach of the village club at the time. He moved to Hannover 96 in 1995 at the age of eleven . There he played for a few years under his father Stefan Mertesacker , among others . Since he was not considered an outstanding talent, he had already thought about ending his football career. Under youth coach Jürgen Stoffregen he still managed to participate in the professional training and was used in the Bundesliga for the first time in November 2003 at the age of 19 years and one month by the then coach Ralf Rangnick in the game against 1. FC Köln . However, he did not play on his regular position in central defense, but as a right defender and was replaced at half-time.

Mertesacker received a professional contract, but had to wait four months for his next Bundesliga appearance. Under coach Ewald Lienen he developed into a regular player and head of defense in the central defense of Hannover 96. In the 2004/05 season he was one of the team's top performers. His professional colleagues in the Bundesliga voted him the “greatest talent” after the first half of the 2004/05 season.

On August 8, 2006, Mertesacker moved to Werder Bremen for a transfer fee of 4.7 million euros , where he signed a contract until 2010, which was later extended to 2012. At the beginning of the second half of the 2006/07 season he scored his second league goal for Werder Bremen against his former club Hannover 96. In Bremen, as before in Hanover, he quickly became a crowd favorite, regular player and later after the departures of Frank Baumann and Torsten Frings , also to the team captain . He was nicknamed "Merte" by the Hanoverian and Bremen fans. He won the DFB Cup with SV Werder in 2009 and moved into the final of the UEFA Cup in the same year , in which Shakhtar Donetsk had to admit defeat after extra time .

After a weaker 2010/11 season , Mertesacker moved to Arsenal in the Premier League on August 31, 2011 - shortly before the end of the transfer period and after 221 games in the German elite class . At Arsenal he took over the shirt number 4 from Cesc Fàbregas , who had switched to FC Barcelona . Mertesacker made his debut in the Premier League on September 10, 2011 (4th matchday) in a 1-0 win at home against Swansea City ; he scored his first goal for Arsenal on November 17, 2012 (12th match day) in a 5-2 home win against Tottenham Hotspur with the goal to make it 1-1 in the 23rd minute. On March 4, 2014, he extended his contract, which ran until 2015. On May 30, 2015 he won the FA Cup with Arsenal for the second time in a row and scored the 3-0 in the 4-0 final against Aston Villa . For the season 2016/17 Mertesacker was promoted to captain, however, was the entire first round of a knee injury. Nevertheless, his contract was extended for another season in January 2017.

On July 7, 2017, Arsenal FC announced Mertesacker's departure for the 2017/18 season . In his hometown of Hanover on October 13, 2018, a farewell game took place in the HDI-Arena under the motto "Mertes Homecoming - Here it began - Here it ends" between Mertes 96 friends and Pers World Selection with many companions . The world selection won 10: 9, and the proceeds from this game went to the Per-Mertesacker Foundation .

The end of his professional career also took place on the advice of his doctors. His right knee is considered badly damaged due to cartilage damage.

In England he was referred to as a "big fucking German".

National team

Per Mertesacker on September 11, 2012 in a 2-1 win in the World Cup qualifier against Austria in Vienna.

At 199.5 cm, Per Mertesacker is physically the largest national player in DFB history . The next step in his career followed shortly after jumping from the A-youth to the professional team of Hannover 96: After around 20 Bundesliga appearances as a regular player, the then national coach Jürgen Klinsmann appointed Per Mertesacker to the A-national team for the first time . He played his first international match on October 9, 2004 in Tehran against Iran .

Due to his constant performance and consistent but fair play at the Confederations Cup 2005 in Germany, where he also scored his first international goal in the game against Australia , he established himself in the national team as a constant and was one of the few players who had already played in advance the 2006 World Cup could count on a regular place.

Per Mertesacker made his World Cup debut on June 9, 2006 in Munich in the opening game against Costa Rica . Besides Jens Lehmann and Philipp Lahm, he was the only regular player to play all German World Cup games up to the semi-finals for the full season. His partner in central defense was Christoph Metzelder . He was one of the World Cup players with the best tackle values ​​and got by without a yellow card. In the match for 3rd place he could because of bursitis not play and was designed by Jens Nowotny represented.

For the European Championship 2008 he was appointed to the German team by the new national coach Joachim Löw . In this tournament, too, he played alongside Metzelder and was on the pitch for a full 90 minutes in all of the German team's matches.

On May 6, 2010, Joachim Löw appointed him to the squad for the 2010 World Cup and again played all of the German team's games over 90 minutes in this tournament. His partner in central defense was Arne Friedrich .

For the European Championships in 2012 he was called up again by Löw in the German squad . However, the central defense of the regular lineup consisted of Mats Hummels and Holger Badstuber , so that Mertesacker was only a substitute player at a major tournament for the first time and was not used, having been in the starting line-up for almost all of the previous seven years.

On May 29, 2013, in the absence of Philipp Lahm, he led the national team in the friendly against Ecuador for the first time as captain on the field, after he had previously taken the captain's armband four times after replacing the actual captain.

On September 10, 2013, Mertesacker scored his third goal for the national team in the 23rd minute in the World Cup qualifier against the Faroe Islands . On November 19, 2013, in his 95th international match, which brought him level with Sepp Maier and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge , he led the national team onto the field for the second time in the game against England at Wembley Stadium , scoring with his first header. Goal for the national team the 1-0 winning goal.

In 2014 Mertesacker crowned his national team career by winning the world championship . Due to a system change by national coach Löw in the form of a defensive chain of four central defenders, Mertesacker initially played all preliminary round matches as well as the round of 16 over the full playing time. On June 21, 2014, he completed his 100th international match against Ghana . In the quarter-finals against France , however, Löw returned to the old game system and gave Mats Hummels and Jérôme Boateng preference in central defense, so that Mertesacker was not used. In the historic 7-1 victory in the semi-finals against hosts Brazil , Mertesacker was substituted on for Hummels at halftime (score 5: 0). In the final against Argentina he was again not on the starting line-up. It was only in the last minute of extra time that he came on when Mesut Özil was 1-0, making his 104th international appearance.

On August 15, 2014, he resigned from the national team. Together with Philipp Lahm and Miroslav Klose , who also retired from the national team after the World Cup , Mertesacker was officially retired from the national team on September 3, 2014 as part of the friendly against Argentina in Düsseldorf. He was no longer in the squad.

After the active career

At the beginning of October 2018, Mertesacker took over the management of the Arsenal Academy football academy at his former club . At the end of November 2019, he temporarily became assistant coach of interim coach Freddie Ljungberg for the professional team. After Mikel Arteta took over the team at the end of December 2019, Mertesacker left the coaching staff.

In addition, he was appointed DFB - manager Oliver Bierhoff middle of the month in the newly established "Expert Advisory Board", the as yet Berti Vogts and former CEO of Adidas AG , Herbert Hainer belonged.

Furthermore, he has been working as an expert for the DAZN streaming portal since the 2018/2019 season .

Style of play

Mertesacker was known for his fair play, he got by with very few fouls. He owed this mainly to his good positional play. He showed a keen sense of space. With his game intelligence, Mertesacker guessed at an early stage where a ball was being played and was able to often run down opposing passes without getting into difficult one-on-one situations. The game opening was also one of his strengths. After conquering the ball, Mertesacker did not hit the ball forward uncontrollably, but was the first stop in a quick build-up of the game through midfield. One of his weaknesses was the lack of speed. The 1.99 m-man was repeatedly accused of being slow and slow.

Mertesacker was seen as a strong duel, but with only nine yellow and two red cards in 221 Bundesliga games, a relatively fair defensive player and was an important identification figure for the fans. At Arsenal, he received eleven yellow and two red cards in his 155 league games up to and including 2017.

successes

Photo of the German national team after winning the 2014 World Cup

National team

societies

Werder Bremen

Arsenal FC

Individual honors

Private

Per Mertesacker has been in a relationship with handball player Ulrike Stange since summer 2008 . A son was born on April 24, 2011. In June 2013 the couple married in Marienburg Castle in Mertesacker's hometown Pattensen ( Hanover region ). On May 20, 2014, he became the father of another son.

On March 27, 2015 Mertesacker received the honorary citizenship of the city of Pattensen.

In May 2018 he published his autobiography “World Champion Without Talent: My Life, My Career” , which he wrote with Raphael Honigstein .

Mertesacker runs a real estate company together with his former teammate from SV Werder Bremen, Clemens Fritz .

Remarkable

In November 2006, Mertesacker set up the “Per-Mertesacker Foundation”. This promotes the integration and sports training of socially disadvantaged young people and also supports people who are in need through no fault of their own. Other celebrities such as the comedian Oliver Pocher are represented on the foundation board . To raise money, soccer jerseys and other things are auctioned on the internet. In addition, T-shirts with Mertesacker's likeness are offered by the SpielRaum label, the proceeds of which will benefit the foundation. In addition, the Per-Mertesacker-Stiftung regularly organizes a charity football match for celebrities. The first took place on June 9, 2007 between “Mertesacker & Friends” and the “Pocher Comedian Allstars” in the Rudolf-Kalweit Stadium in Hanover, another in 2008 and 2009 (here against a team from Philipp Lahm ) and “Best of Mertesacker & Pocher "vs. "Friends of Robert Enke" (2011).

Per Mertesacker got involved in the social project We Help Africa for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa , for which he acted as city sponsor for Tettnang .

Mertesacker was one of four representatives of the Bundesliga or 1st leagues in the players' council of the association of contract footballers .

Shortly after the German team's round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup , Mertesacker reacted indignantly to the criticism of the team's performance expressed by reporter Boris Büchler . This led to a strong echo in the press and social networks, the interview was sometimes parodied.

In March 2018, Mertesacker caused a stir when he reported on the physical and psychological stress reactions that he experienced before each match day. Other professional athletes followed his example and also reported their symptoms of stress.

plant

See also

Web links

Commons : Per Mertesacker  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Statement by Per Mertesacker in the BILD podcast "Phrasenmöpf" - time 04:11
  2. Which school for my child? , Supplement to the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from January 12, 2011, pp. 14 and 17
  3. a b c d e f g h i j k Antje Windmann: The man in the jersey . In: Der Spiegel . No. 11 , 2018, p. 94-97 ( online ).
  4. rp-online.de: Mertesacker change to Werder Bremen perfect
  5. FOCUS Online: Mertesacker will stay with Werder until 2012
  6. ^ Matthias Arnhold: Per Mertesacker - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga . RSSSF . September 6, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  7. Werder and Arsenal agree: Mertesacker moves to England ( Memento from March 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  8. Per Mertesacker extended to the Gunners
  9. ^ "Our new captain was the natural choice" on Arsenal.com, accessed August 13, 2016.
  10. “2016 is over! Wenger reports Mertesacker-Aus “ on kicker.de, accessed on August 15, 2016.
  11. ^ Roberto Mamrud: Per Mertesacker - International Appearances . RSSSF . September 6, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  12. Match report for the final between Germany and Argentina at the 2014 World Cup, including fussballdaten.de. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  13. Arsenal defender: Mertesacker resigns from the national team spiegel.de. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  14. ^ Festive farewell for the world champions , dfb.de, accessed on September 4, 2014.
  15. Per Mertesacker to lead Arsenal academy. In: arsenal.com. Arsenal FC , accessed January 26, 2018 .
  16. Mertesacker steps in as assistant coach at Arsenal , kicker.de, November 30, 2019, accessed on November 30, 2019.
  17. Coaching team named , arsenal.com, December 24, 2019, accessed January 14, 2020.
  18. Mertesacker becomes a member of the expert advisory board of the DFB , rp-online.de, accessed on October 18, 2018
  19. RP ONLINE: Champions League on DAZN: World Champion Per Mertesacker becomes a TV expert. Retrieved February 20, 2019 .
  20. ^ Mertesacker phenomenon: defensive giant with a good nursery
  21. Arsenals Mertesacker: Leading figure despite mistakes
  22. Arteta: "Mertesacker is better than most people think"
  23. Mertesacker is an honorary citizen - tears from the world champion from Pattensen. HAZ , March 27, 2015, accessed December 16, 2015 .
  24. Per Mertesacker back in the HDI Arena , hannover96.de, accessed on June 5, 2018
  25. Kreiszeitung.de , interview with C. Fritz from October 9, 2018
  26. Contribution by the Per-Mertesacker-Stiftung ( Memento from September 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  27. With the "BFG" Mertesacker T-shirt ( Memento from December 11, 2014 in the web archive archive.today )
  28. Note in: RevierSport 38/2013, p. 12
  29. Mertesacker explains TV trouble , sport1.de on July 1, 2014.
  30. Mertesacker and his ice bin as Internet hype , welt.de on July 2, 2014.
  31. Mertesacker feat. Vanilla-Ice ( Memento from July 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de on July 2, 2014.
  32. Iniesta, Gomes, Krkic talk about their torments of the soul , welt.de on March 17, 2018.