| General |
| Image gallery |
| Per Mertesacker | ||
| ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name: | Per Mertesacker | |
| Date of birth: | 29 September 1984 | |
| Place of birth: | Hannover,  West Germany
| |
| Height: | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | |
| Playing position: | Centre back | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club |  Arsenal Academy (manager)
| |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1988-1995 1995-2003 |
TSV Pattensen Hannover 96
| |
| Senior clubs | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls) |
| 2003-2004 2003-2006 2006-2011 2011-2018 Total |
Hannover 96 II Hannover 96 Werder Bremen Arsenal |
16 (1) 74 (7) 147 (12) 156 (6) 393 (26) |
| National team | ||
| 2003 2004 2004-2014 |
Germany U-20 Germany U-21 Germany
|
2 (0) 3 (0) 104 (4) |
| Teams managed | ||
| 2018– | Arsenal Academy (manager)
| |
Per Mertesacker (born 29 September 1984) is a German youth football coach and former player who is the current manager of the Arsenal Academy. Mertesacker is a youth product of Hannover 96 and he made his senior league debut in November 2003. Mertesacker 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. Since joining Arsenal, their fans have nicknamed him the BFG, short for 'Big Fucking German', but also alluding to Roald Dahl's The BFG due to his height. He is described as an imposing, reliable, dominant and an accomplished defender.
With Werder Bremen, Mertesacker has won a DFB-Pokal title and finished runner-up in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup. With his quiet but effective game, he established himself as Germany's first choice centre-back. He has won more than 75 international caps despite his young age. Prior to playing at senior level, he played at under-20 and under-21 level. In September 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann, then-manager of Germany, called Mertesacker 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. Over the course of his final two seasons at Werder Bremen, the defender received just one yellow card in 63 league matches. He has participated in the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups and the UEFA Euros in 2008 and 2012. In 2006, the defender established the 'Per-Mertesacker-Stiftung', a charitable foundation that helps support amateur sportsmen and the poor.
Honours[]
Clubs[]
- Werder Bremen
- Bundesliga Runner-up: 2007–08
- DFB-Pokal: 2008–09; Runner-up: 2009–10
- DFB-Ligapokal: 2006
- UEFA Cup Runner-up: 2008–09
International[]
- Germany
- FIFA World Cup Third Place: 2006, 2010
- European Championships Runner-up: 2008
- FIFA Confederations Cup Third Place: 2005
External links[]
- Official website (German)
- Per Mertesacker at fussballdaten.de (German)
| Germany
|
Template:Germany Squad 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
| Germany – 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 (c)
14. Asamoah
15. Hitzlsperger
16. Lahm
17. Mertesacker
18. Borowski
19. Schneider
20. Podolski
21. Metzelder
22. Odonkor
23. Hildebrand
Manager: |
| Germany – UEFA Euro 2008 – Runners-up |
|
1. Lehmann
2. Jansen
3. Friedrich
4. Fritz
5. Westermann
6. Rolfes
7. Schweinsteiger
8. Frings
9. Gómez
10. Neuville
11. Klose
12. Enke
13. Ballack (c)
14. Trochowski
15. Hitzlsperger
16. Lahm
17. Mertesacker
18. Borowski
19. Odonkor
20. Podolski
21. Metzelder
22. Kurányi
23. Adler
Manager: |
| Germany – 2010 FIFA World Cup - Third place |
|
1. Neuer
2. Jansen
3. Friedrich
4. Aogo
5. Tasci
6. Khedira
7. Schweinsteiger
8. Özil
9. Kießling
10. Podolski
11. Klose
12. Wiese
13. Müller
14. Badstuber
15. Trochowski
16. Lahm
17. Mertesacker
18. Kroos
19. Cacau
20. Boateng
21. Marin
22. Butt
23. Gómez
Manager: |
| Germany – UEFA Euro 2012 – Semi-Finals |
|
1. Neuer
2. Gündoğan
3. Schmelzer
4. Höwedes
5. Hummels
6. Khedira
7. Schweinsteiger
8. Özil
9. Schürrle
10. Podolski
11. Klose
12. Wiese
13. Müller
14. Badstuber
15. L. Bender
16. Lahm
17. Mertesacker
18. Kroos
19. Götze
20. Boateng
21. Reus
22. Zieler
23. Gómez
Manager: |
| Germany – 2014 FIFA World Cup – Winner |
|
1. Neuer
2. Großkreutz
3. Ginter
4. Höwedes
5. Hummels
6. Khedira
7. Schweinsteiger
8. Özil
9. Schürrle
10. Podolski
11. Klose
12. Zieler
13. Müller
14. Draxler
15. Durm
16. Lahm (c)
17. Mertesacker
18. Kroos
19. Götze
20. Boateng
21. Mustafi
22. Weidenfeller
23. Kramer
Manager: |