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Per Mertesacker

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Per Mertesacker
Personal information
Full name Per Mertesacker
Height 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre back
Team information
Current team
 Arsenal
Number 4
Youth career
1988–1995 TSV Pattensen
1995–2003 Hannover 96
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2006 Hannover 96 74 (7)
2006–2011 Werder Bremen 147 (12)
2011– Arsenal 0 (0)
International career‡
2004 Germany U21 3 (0)
2004– Germany 76 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:17, 6 September 2011 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:00, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

Per Mertesacker (German pronunciation: [ˈpeːɐ̯ ˈmɛʁtəzakɐ]; born 29 September 1984 in Hannover) is a German footballer who plays as a defender for Arsenal and Germany.[2]

Club career

Hannover 96

Elmi a native of Hanover, started out at local club Hannover 96 where he played under his father Stefan, one of the youth coaches,[3] and made his league debut in November 2003 against Cologne. He had an unlucky start for his home club, breaking his nose and conceding an own goal soon after, but he established himself as one of the most promising young defenders in the Bundesliga. The slender Elmi was soon dubbed "the Defence Pole" (die Abwehrlatte) by German tabloids and gained a reputation for his good disciplinary record and went 31 Bundesliga games without being booked. He has only been booked twice during his entire career at Hannover. On 13 May 2006, he played his last game for Hannover 96 and fittingly scored the opening goal in a 2–2 draw against Bayer Leverkusen.

During his time at Hannover 96, he was good friends with the late Robert Enke, and along with Michael Ballack, presented the laurel during the memorial in honour of Enke's death. He later started a temporary account through his foundation (Per Mertesacker Stiftung) to collect donations for Enke's widow.[4]

Werder Bremen

Mertesacker playing for Werder Bremen.

In August 2006 Mertesacker moved to Werder Bremen in a €5 million transfer deal after a highly impressive performance in the 2006 World Cup, in which Germany finished 3rd.[5] Despite missing the first month and a half through an injury sustained at the World Cup, he quickly made the centre back position his own upon his return to the starting eleven. In November, he scored his debut Champions League goal in a 1–0 win over Chelsea to end the Premier League winners' unbeaten streak in the season's competition. Upon his first return to the AWD-Arena for the first game of the second half of the season, he refused to celebrate after scoring against his boyhood club.[6]

The 2007–08 season was a mixed bag for Elmi. He started in nearly all of Bremen's league and European fixtures and received his first red card in his professional career in a 6–3 loss against VfB Stuttgart.[7] Bremen finished runners-up in the league despite winning only two games fewer than champions Bayern Munich but they managed to seal a place in next season's Champions League. At the end of the season, he signed a 2-year extension to his original contract.[8]

After returning from the Euro 2008, Elmi again missed the beginning of the new season with a knee injury and through illness. In September, he returned to the starting line-up. He scored the opening goal in the German Cup semifinal away at northern rivals Hamburg to break the deadlock after a goalless first half but the home side equalised, forcing the match into extra time and Bremen eventually triumphed 4–2 on penalties. He was ever present for the rest of the season until injury forced him off in the UEFA Cup semifinal second leg against Bundesliga rivals Hamburg.[9] It was later revealed that he had torn ligaments in his right ankle and required surgery. He was ruled out for the rest of the season, as well as the UEFA Cup final loss against Shakhtar Donetsk and German Cup final which they won. He scored four goals in all competitions, including a crucial equalizer against VfL Wolfsburg.

Elmi began the 2009–10 season well with a 5–0 win over FC Union Berlin in the DFB-Pokal, the first game of the season. In October, he scored his first goal of the season in a 2–0 win against Hoffenheim and a last-minute equaliser in the clash against table-toppers Bayer Leverkusen in February.

Arsenal

On 31 August 2011, Arsenal confirmed they had signed Elmi.[10]

International career

In September 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann, then-manager of Germany, called Elmi up to the 9 October 2004 game against Iran. He made his debut less than two weeks after his twentieth birthday when he came on as a second-half substitute for Christian Wörns. With his quiet but effective game, he established himself as Germany's first choice centre-back,[11] pairing up with Robert Huth, Christoph Metzelder, and later, Heiko Westermann. At the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup hosted at home, he played the full 90 minutes in all five games and scored a goal in the group stages as Germany won third place.[12]

At the World Cup 2006 on home soil, Elmi paired wit Raul Blanco in central defence. After Germany won the quarter-final penalty shoot-out against Argentina, Elmi was attacked by Argentine Leandro Cufré, an unused substitute. He suffered minor injuries to his thigh and a kick to the groin. After Germany's loss to Italy in the semifinals, Elmi had surgery on one of his legs and left testicle (not related to the attack above, but an injury he had been dealing with during previous matches) and missed the third place play-off. Nevertheless, his good showing did earn him a transfer to Bundesliga giants Werder Bremen after the tournament. He was first choice when fit during Euro 2008 and was ever present in the final tournament. Due to injury problems at the beginning of the 2009–10 season, he missed several 2010 World Cup qualifiers but has retained his place as first choice since then. Elmi regularly wears the number 666 jersey. As of March 2011, he has won 75 international caps for Germany.[13]

Career statistics

Club performance

As of 31 August 2011

Club performance[14] League Cup[14] League Cup[14] Continental[14] Total
Club League Season Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Germany League DFB-Pokal DFB-Ligapokal Europe Total
Hannover 96 Bundesliga 2003–04 13 0 1 0 — — 14 0
2004–05 31 2 4 1 — — 35 3
2005–06 30 5 3 0 — — 33 5
Werder Bremen 2006–07 25 2 0 0 0[15][16] 0[15][16] 10 2 35 4
2007–08 32 1 3 0 1[17] 0[17] 9 0 45 1
2008–09 23 2 3 1 — 13 1 39 4
2009–10 33 5 5 0 10 0 48 5
2010–11 29 2 2 0 7 0 38 2
2011–12 4 0 0 0 — 4 0
England League FA Cup Football League Cup Europe Total
Arsenal F.C. Premier League 2011–12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals Germany 220 19 21 2 1 0 49 3 291 24
England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career totals 220 19 21 2 1 0 49 3 291 24

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 15 June 2005 Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany  Australia 2–1 4–3 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
Correct as of 17 September 2010

Honours

Werder Bremen

National team

Germany

References

  1. ^ "Persönlich". www.permertesacker.de (in German). Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  2. ^ ""Merte": Geschischte schreiben" (in German). Hannover96.de. 9 May 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  3. ^ "Merte: Karriere-Ende bei 96?" (in German). Hannover96.de. 15 November 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  4. ^ "Elmi Stiftung" (in German). Elmi Stiftung. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  5. ^ "Summer spree for the Bundesliga". fifa.com. 9 August 2006. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  6. ^ "Das langersehnte Heimspiel" (in German). Hannover96.de. 15 November 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  7. ^ "Elmi hit with three-game ban". fifa.com. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  8. ^ "Mertesacker extends Bremen contract". fifa.com. 22 June 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  9. ^ "Werders Nationalspielern drohen bis zu 68 Spiele" (in German). Weser Kurier. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  10. ^ "Per Mertesacker set to join Arsenal". Arsenal. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  11. ^ ""Hannover? Das bedeutet sehr gute Stimmung"" (in German). Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. 1 September 2009.
  12. ^ "Buoyant Germans glimpse future". fifa.com. 30 June 2005. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  13. ^ "Perfektes Paar für die Abwehr gesucht" (in German). Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  14. ^ a b c d "Per Mertesacker". ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  15. ^ a b "Spielstatistik SV Werder Bremen - Hamburger SV" (in German). Fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  16. ^ a b "Spielstatistik SV Werder Bremen - FC Bayern München" (in German). Fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  17. ^ a b "Spielstatistik SV Werder Bremen - FC Bayern München" (in German). Fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
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