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Christoph Metzelder
Personal information
Full name	Christoph Tobias Metzelder
Date of birth	5 November 1980 (1980-11-05) (age 29)
Place of birth	Haltern, West Germany
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Real Madrid
Number	21
Youth career
1986–1995 1995–1996 1996–1998	TuS Haltern Schalke 04 Preußen Münster
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1999–2000 2000–2007 2007–	Preußen Münster Borussia Dortmund Real Madrid	032 0(4) 126 0(2) 022 0(0)
National team2
2000–2001 2001–	Germany U-21 Germany	009 0(1) 047 0(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 November 2009. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 20 August 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Christoph Tobias Metzelder (born 5 November 1980 in Haltern, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German footballer who plays for Real Madrid, as a central defender. His career has been blighted by regular injuries. His younger brother Malte is also a footballer (and a centre back), and both played for Borussia Dortmund.

Football career

In the summer of 2000, Metzelder signed for Borussia Dortmund, and he was an instant success. At the end of his first season, he won his first cap for Germany, playing the second half of a 5-2 friendly win in Hungary, on August 15, 2001.

Metzelder at Dortmund

The second season at Dortmund brought him the 2002 national title, and 14 matches with Germany, all the way to the 2002 FIFA World Cup final with Germany. However, he missed the entire 2003-04 due to an Achilles tendon injury,^[1]and only took part in 16 league contests in the following campaign.

After over two years out of the national squad, Metzelder was called by new boss Jürgen Klinsmann for a friendly with China, in October 2005.^[2]He also netted his first two league goals, in 1-1 draws against Mainz 05 and Hamburger SV, and would be Germany's undisputed starter at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, partnering with Werder Bremen's Per Mertesacker.

On 18 April 2007, after failing to renew his contract at Borussia,^[3]Metzelder transferred to Real Madrid at the end of the season on a free transfer.^[4][5]

In February 2008, after managing to be injury-free in the first months of his Spanish adventure, Metzelder had surgery on the sole of his foot, resulting in him missing nearly two months of action.^[6]On 11 May, after having already missed the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 clash against Roma, he returned and played the full 90 minutes against Real Zaragoza (2-2 away draw).

Despite his lack of playing time, Metzelder featured in all of Germany's matches (all the minutes) at Euro 2008, again partnering Mertesacker. In 2008-09's Spanish League, he was the main benefitiary of a 10-match suspension handed to Real's Pepe; after a stellar performance in a 4-2 win at Sevilla FC, he also started in the 2-6 home defeat at the hands of FC Barcelona.

Honours

Team

Borussia Dortmund

• German League: 2001-02

Real Madrid

• Spanish League: 2007–08
• Spanish Supercup: 2008

Individual

• Bravo Award: 2002

Club statistics

(correct as of 12 December 2009)

References

External links

• Real Madrid profile
• Career stats at Fussballdaten (German)
• FootballDatabase profile and stats
• Official website (German)
• Official fanclub

Germany Squad Germany squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Kahn • 2 Linke • 3 Rehmer • 4 Baumann • 5 Ramelow • 6 Ziege • 7 Neuville • 8 Hamann • 9 Jancker • 10 Ricken • 11 Klose • 12 Lehmann • 13 Ballack • 14 Asamoah • 15 Kehl • 16 Jeremies • 17 Bode • 18 Böhme • 19 Schneider • 20 Bierhoff • 21 Metzelder • 22 Frings • 23 Butt • Coach: Völler Germany squad – 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 • 14 Asamoah • 15 Hitzlsperger • 16 Lahm • 17 Mertesacker • 18 Borowski • 19 Schneider • 20 Podolski • 21 Metzelder • 22 Odonkor • 23 Hildebrand • Coach: Klinsmann Germany squad – 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 • 14 Trochowski • 15 Hitzlsperger • 16 Lahm • 17 Mertesacker • 18 Borowski • 19 Odonkor • 20 Podolski • 21 Metzelder • 22 Kurányi • 23 Adler • Coach: Löw