Per Mertesacker

Per Mertesacker

Personal information
Full name	Per Mertesacker
Height	1.97 m (6 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Werder Bremen
Number	29
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 12 2008

Per Mertesacker (born September 29, 1984 in Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Werder Bremen and Germany.

Career

Personal career

Mertesacker in action with Werder Bremen.

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 performance in the 2006 World Cup, in which Germany finished 3rd.

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 World Cup, he was violently attacked by Leandro Damián Cufré, an unused Argentine substitute, after Germany won the penalty shoot-out against them in the quarterfinals. He suffered minor injuries to his thigh and a kick to the groin. After Germany's loss to Italy in the semifinals, Mertesacker had surgery on one of his legs (not related 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

All-Time Club Performance

Club	Season	Bundesliga		DFB Cup		European Competition		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Werder Bremen	2007-08	32	1	2	0	7	0	41	1
	2006-07	25	2	0	0	10	2	35	4
Total		57	3	2	0	17	2	76	5
Hanover 96	2005-06	30	5	3	0	-	-	33	5
	2004-05	31	2	4	1	-	-	35	3
	2003-04	13	0	1	0	-	-	14	0
Total		74	7	8	1			82	8
Career Totals		131	10	9	1	10	2	150	13

External links

• Personal website Template:De icon
• Profile on club website
• Career stats at fussballdaten.de Template:De icon