Christoph Metzelder

Christoph Metzelder

Metzelder with Schalke in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Christoph Tobias Metzelder
Date of birth	(1980-11-05) 5 November 1980 (age 36)
Place of birth	Haltern, West Germany
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Youth career
1986–1995
1995–1996	Schalke 04
1996–1998	Preußen Münster
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2000	Preußen Münster	32	(4)
2000–2007	Borussia Dortmund	126	(2)
2007–2010	Real Madrid	23	(0)
2010–2013	Schalke 04	52	(2)
2013–2014		1	(0)
Total		234	(8)
National team
2000–2001	Germany U21	9	(1)
2001–2008	Germany	47	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Christoph Tobias Metzelder (pronounced [ˈkʁɪstɔf toˈbiːas mɛˈt͡sɛldɐ]; born 5 November 1980) is a German former footballer who played as a central defender.

Most of his professional career, which was spent mostly at Borussia Dortmund, was blighted by injuries. He did manage, however, to collect nearly 50 caps for the German national team, appearing with it at two World Cups and Euro 2008.

Metzelder also played three seasons apiece for Real Madrid and Schalke 04, amassing Bundesliga totals of 178 games and four goals over the course of one full decade.

Metzelder was born in Haltern, North Rhine-Westphalia. In the summer of 2000 he signed with Borussia Dortmund from lowly SC Preußen Münster, and he was an instant success. At the end of his first season in the Bundesliga he won his first cap for Germany, playing the second half of a 5–2 friendly win in Hungary on 15 August 2001.

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 the latter. However, he missed the entire 2003–04 campaign due to an Achilles tendon injury, and only took part in 16 league contests in the following season.