Christoph Tobias Metzelder (born 5 November 1980) is a German former 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 played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Most of his professional career, which was spent mostly at

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

, was blighted by injuries. He did manage, however, to appear 47 times for the Germany national team, representing the country at two World Cups and Euro 2008. Metzelder also played three seasons apiece for

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and Schalke 04, amassing

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 ...

totals of 178 matches and four goals over one full decade.

Career

Borussia Dortmund

Metzelder was born in

Haltern Haltern am See (''Haltern at the lake'', before December 2001 only Haltern) is a medium-sized town in the northern part of the district of Recklinghausen in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia. The town is located in the n ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. In the summer of 2000 he signed with

from SC Preußen Münster, and he was an instant success. At the end of his first season in the

he won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, playing the second half of a 5–2 friendly win in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

on 15 August 2001. The second campaign at

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

brought Metzelder the 2002 national title and 14 matches with Germany, all the way to the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

final with the latter. However, he missed the entire 2003–04 due to an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

injury, and only took part in 16 league games in the following season. After over two years out of the national squad, Metzelder was called by new boss

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (; born 30 July 1964) is a German professional Association football, football manager and former player. He played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, AS Monaco FC, Monaco, Tottenham Hot ...

for a friendly with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, in October 2005. He also scored his first two league goals, in 1–1 draws against Mainz 05 and

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

, and would be Germany's undisputed starter at the 2006 World Cup, partnering with

SV 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 ...

's Per Mertesacker.

Real Madrid

upright=0.65, left, Metzelder playing for Real Madrid in 2009 On 18 April 2007, after failing to renew his contract at Borussia, Metzelder transferred to

at the end of the season on a free transfer. In February 2008, after managing to be injury-free in the first months of his Spanish adventure, he had surgery on the sole of his foot, resulting in him missing nearly 60 days of action; on 11 May, after having already missed the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

round-of-16 clash against

A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...

, he returned and played the full 90 minutes against

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

(2–2 away draw). Despite his lack of playing time, Metzelder featured in all of Germany's matches at

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

, again partnering Mertesacker. In 2008–09's

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, he was the main beneficiary of a ten-match suspension handed to Real's Pepe; after a stellar performance in a 4–2 win at

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

he also started in the 6–2 home defeat at the hands of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

, for a career-best – in Spain – 12 appearances. Metzelder left Real Madrid after his contract expired on 30 June 2010.

Return to Germany

upright=0.7, Metzelder with Schalke in 2010 On 27 April 2010, prior to the end of the campaign, Metzelder announced his return to Germany, agreeing on a three-year contract with

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...

, with which he had already played youth football 15 years earlier. His first two league games with the club, the first of 2010–11, ended with 2–1 losses, to Hamburger SV and

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

. Metzelder appeared in ten complete matches in the season's Champions League, in an eventual last-four run. He added five in the domestic cup victorious campaign, including the semi-finals against

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional association foo ...

(1–0 win) and the final against

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jer ...

(5–0). In May 2013, 32-year-old Metzelder announced his retirement from professional football at the end of the campaign. In July 2019, he was hired as a pundit by public broadcaster ARD. At the time of coming under criminal investigation in September 2019 he was a pundit for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

Personal life

Metzelder's younger brother, Malte, was also a footballer (and a centre-back), and both played for Borussia Dortmund. He has one daughter, Emma (born 17 October 2009), with girlfriend Julia Gödicke. In 2006 he founded an organisation helping socially disadvantaged German youth and continues to run it.

Possession of child pornography

Metzelder was being investigated for the potential distribution of child pornography, which led him to step down from his role as president of his former club TuS Haltern am See in September 2019. On 4 September 2020, the district court of the city of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

announced that an official charge had been filed against Metzelder by the prosecutor. The prosecutor did not express any specific suspicions. The district court stated in a press release that one female witness received 10 child pornographic pictures, another female witness received 16 child pornographic pictures and two child pornographic videos and a third female witness received one child pornographic picture—all distributed by using Metzelder's

WhatsApp WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...

account. The statement also mentioned nearly 300 media files with child pornographic content having been found on Metzelder's confiscated cell phone. Metzelder himself had the allegations denied by his lawyers. On 14 September, it was reported that the Düsseldorf court's decision "indirectly stated" that Metzelder had confessed. His trial was on 29 April 2021 and he was sentenced to a ten-month suspended prison sentence for owning and distributing child pornography. Giving evidence at trial, he admitted he had collected and disseminated child pornography, and that he engaged in "extreme fantasies in chats." In April 2021, Metzelder's lawyer stated Metzelder was in therapy for "certain issues such as sexuality or dealing with women in certain situations" but was "obviously not" a paedophile.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Borussia Dortmund *

: 2001–02 *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German association football, football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five t ...

runner-up:

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

runner-up: 2001–02 Real Madrid *

: 2007–08 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Schalke 04 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 2010–11 *

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

; runner-up:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Germany *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

runner-up:

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

; third place:

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

runner-up:

Individual * Bravo Award: 2002

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Metzelder, Christoph 1980 births Living people People from Haltern Footballers from Münster (region) German men's footballers Men's association football defenders Bundesliga players TuS Haltern players SC Preußen Münster players Borussia Dortmund players FC Schalke 04 players La Liga players Real Madrid CF players Germany men's under-21 international footballers Germany men's international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players German expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain German expatriate sportspeople in Spain People convicted of child pornography offenses German sportspeople convicted of crimes 21st-century German sportsmen