Anton Levi Stach (born 15 November 1998) is a German professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

TSG Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. (), commonly known as TSG Hoffenheim (), are a German professional football club based in Sinsheim. Originally founded in 1899 as a gymnastics club, Hoffenheim came into being in their modern fo ...

and the Germany national team.

Club career

Stach was born in the Lower Saxonian town of

Buchholz in der Nordheide Buchholz in der Nordheide (, ; Northern Low Saxon: ''Bookholt'') is the largest town in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km southwest of Hamburg. Geography Buchholz is home to the Brunsberg ...

at the

Hamburg Metropolitan Region The Hamburg Metropolitan Region () is a metropolitan region centred around the city of Hamburg in northern Germany, consisting of eight districts () in the federal state of Lower Saxony, six districts () in the state of Schleswig-Holstein and two ...

and joined Buchholzer FC during his childhood. Since 2010, he has participated to the training at

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

once a week, before he joined one year later the youth academy (Nachwuchsleistungszentrum) of Bremen-based. Stach has played for Werder Bremen until the B-youth and has played later at JFV Nordwest. Afterwards, he joined the U19-team of

VfL Osnabrück VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its Association football, football section. The footba ...

. For the 2017–18 season, the Buchholz-born Stach joined SSV Jeddeloh from Regionalliga Nord, the fourth-highest level in Germany. After a one year, he moved to VfL Wolfsburg II, also in the Regionalliga Nord. With the second team of VfL Wolfsburg II, he has reached the play-off round for the promotion to the professional 3. Liga, the third-highest level of German football, but the Lower Saxonians lost against

Bayern Munich II FC Bayern Munich II (''FC Bayern Munich Amateure'' until 2005) are the German reserve football teams, reserve team of Football in Germany, German association football club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich, currently playing in the Regionalliga B ...

. In the 2020–21 season, Stach left Lower Saxony and joined Franconia-based Greuther Fürth from the second German division, where he signed a contract until summer 2023. Stach helped the team achieve promotion to the

. In July 2021, he joined

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...

on a deal until summer 2024. Later that year, on 4 December, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 3–0 victory over

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

. On 1 September 2023, Stach signed a four-year contract with

. Two months later, on 4 November, he scored his first goal for Hoffenheim in a 3–2 home defeat against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

. He finished the 2023–24 season as the player with second most duels won in 408 occasions, ony behind Bernardo.

International career

In March 2021, Stach was called up for the Germany national under-21 football team for the group stage of the

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth Association ...

. The matches were broadcast live in Germany at ProSieben and ProSieben MAXX and his father Matthias Stach was the commentator during the group stage. The player was substituted in the second match against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and his father has said "''Blamier' mich nicht, Junge!''" (in English "''Don't embarrass me, boy!''" or "''Don't embarrass me, son!''"). Germany advanced past the group stage as Stach made two appearances. In July 2021, he was also a part of the German squad for the knockout stage of the tournament, playing in all three matches as Germany reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, where they won 1–0 against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. Stach was called up to the senior Germany squad for friendly matches against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and the

on 26 and 29 March 2022, respectively. Stach was substituted in the 2–0 win against Israel in Sinsheim in the 64th minute for

Julian Weigl Julian Weigl (born 8 September 1995) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach. He has also represented the Germany national football team, Germany ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Personal life

Anton's father, Matthias Stach, is a sports commentator in Germany. Anton’s sisters, Emma and Lotta, play basketball.

References

External links

Profile
at the 1. FSV Mainz 05 website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stach, Anton 1998 births Living people People from Harburg (district) Footballers from Lower Saxony German men's footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Olympic footballers for Germany Germany men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders SSV Jeddeloh players VfL Wolfsburg II players SpVgg Greuther Fürth players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Oberliga (football) players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century German sportsmen