Full Name: Christoph Metzelder
Alias: Metzelder
Place of Birth: Haltern Am See, Germany
Date of Birth: 05/11/1980
Position: Defender
Weight: 185 lbs / 84 kg
Height: 6′0″ / 194 cm
Nationality: German
Metzelder’s height, good aerial game, and innate capability to defend have made him the ideal centre-back for every team he’s played for.
Christoph began playing football for Schalke 04’s youth system, which he left to join SC Preussen Münster’s Under-19 side. His forward progress on the team took led him to Borussia Dortmund, where he became a prominent figure in the Bundesliga.
Two years after his signing, Metzelder became an unquestionable starter on the German national team, with whom he finished second and third in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, respectively. Borussia won the Bundesliga and reached the UEFA Cup final in 2002. That same year, the defender was awarded the Bravo Trophy by prestigious Italian sports magazine Guerin Sportivo, acknowledging him as the best European player under 21 years of age.
Metzelder went through the most difficult time of his career the following season after seriously damaging his Achilles tendon, an injury which required two operations and kept him sidelined for several months. It’s all a thing of the past now, and in 2006/07 he had one of his best years yet do date.
Metzelder signed for Real Madrid in the summer of 2007.
