Malik Fathi warming up for FC Spartak Moscow

Malik Deniz Fathi (born 29 October 1983) 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

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

From 2003 to 2008 he played as a defender for

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

. On 12 March 2008, he signed for

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * ...

. In January 2010, he was loaned to

1. FSV 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 ...

. This move was made permanent in July 2011. He was loaned to

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

for the 2012–13 season, but at the end of the winter transfer window of 2012–13, he joined

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's association football, football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football league system ...

on a half-season loan. On 14 April 2014, it was announced that his expiring contract at Mainz 05 would not be extended. On 30 January 2015 he moved to Spanish

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

club Atlético Baleares. Fathi played almost 100 league matches in the third highest level of the Spanish football pyramid.

International career

Fathi represented Germany Under-20 team at the

2003 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 14th FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. Brazil claimed their fourth title, becoming the first country to simultaneously ho ...

, Germany Under-21 team at European under-21 championship 2006. He earned his first cap for the Germany national team on 16 August 2006 in a 3–0 home friendly win against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. He replaced

Marcell Jansen Marcell Jansen (; born 4 November 1985) is a German professional footballer who plays for Hamburger SV III and current president of Hamburger SV. He also plays for Hamburger SV III in the Oberliga Hamburg. He was well known for his accurate ...

at half-time. In his second and last international, he replaced

Thomas Hitzlsperger Thomas Hitzlsperger (born 5 April 1982) is a German football executive and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, currently board member at Serie A club Hellas Verona. In February 2019, he was appointed Head of Sport at VfB ...

against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

for the final 15 minutes of a 2-0 friendly win in

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

Personal life

Before beginning his football career he played tennis for

Hertha Zehlendorf The Hertha Zehlendorf is a German football club from the suburb of Zehlendorf in Berlin, currently playing in Regionalliga Nordost, the fourth tier of German football. The club is one of the largest football clubs in the country and has a st ...

Berlin and for Borussia Berlin. He also plays basketball in his spare time.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fathi, Malik 1983 births Living people German sportspeople of Turkish descent German men's footballers Footballers from Berlin Men's association football defenders Germany men's international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Germany men's youth international footballers Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Russian Premier League players Süper Lig players Segunda División B players Hertha BSC players Hertha BSC II players FC Spartak Moscow players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players 1. FSV Mainz 05 II players Kayserispor footballers TSV 1860 Munich players CD Atlético Baleares footballers German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Russia German expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain 21st-century German sportsmen