| Date/place of birth: | 29.09.1984 | ![]() | |||||||||||||||
| Height: | 1,96 m | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 85 kg | ||||||||||||||||
| Club: | Werder Bremen | ||||||||||||||||
| Former clubs: | Hannover 96 TSV Pattensen | ||||||||||||||||
| Position: | Defence | ||||||||||||||||
| all statistics | |||||||||||||||||
|
Per Mertesacker: From civil service to model pro
Mertesacker, who carried out his civil service during his 'apprenticeship' as a football pro in a center for handicapped people in Hanover, was therefore especially annoyed, when he was sent off for the first time in the Bundesliga in March 2008. Of all fouls, one against his National team mate Mario Gomez of VfB Stuttgart made him leave the pitch early. Still, Gomez wasn't cross at Mertesacker for his professional foul during their 3-6 loss at Stuttgart on March 8. His significance among his colleagues is best shown by their election of him as the 'biggest talent' after the first round of matches in the 2004/05 season. Since then, the talented youngster, who debuted on All Saints' Day 2003 aged 19 under coach Ralf Rangnick against 1. FC Köln for Hannover 96, has become a veteran pro. Even though he had a successful career so far, he has stayed to be a model for modesty. That didn't change either after his transfer to Werder Bremen, completed after the World Cup 2006. At Werder he continuously developed and wasn't thrown off track by smaller injuries or other setbacks.
Mertesacker doesn't only think of football though. In November 2006 he started the 'Per-Mertesacker-Stiftung', a foundation, which supports amateur sports as well as people being hard up.
|