Mitchell James Langerak ( ; born 22 August 1988) is an Australian 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

Club career

Melbourne Victory

Langerak signed his first professional contract in February 2007, with A-League club

. Soon after he was sent on loan to

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

for the remainder of the 2007 Victorian Premier League season, to gain game time and experience. Once the loan finished Langerak continued his duties as the Victory's third choice goalkeeper before Eugene Galekovic moved to Adelaide United. He made his debut for Melbourne in the Round 21 clash of the 2007–08 season against rivals

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

and despite letting in two goals, his performance in the 2–2 draw was a confident debut. With Galekovic making a move to Adelaide United, Langerak became the second choice keeper. With first choice Michael Theoklitos making his move overseas, Victory signed New Zealand international Glen Moss from

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

. Moss started the 2009–10 as Melbourne's first choice keeper before Langerak grasped his opportunity in the first team to become the side's first choice keeper for the remainder of the season. On 13 April 2010, Melbourne announced that they had rejected a bid for Langerak from German giants

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 ...

, however talks continued. On 4 May 2010, Langerak revealed to FourFourTwo Magazine, that Borussia Dortmund had made a second, substantially increased, bid for his services on the same day as the interview, but was again rejected by Melbourne Victory.

South Melbourne

In 2007, Langerak joined South Melbourne on loan for the 2007 VPL Season. Langerak arrived to the club in turmoil with their first-choice keeper injured and languishing near the bottom of the table at risk of relegation. Langerak's solid performances helped South achieve a mid-table finish and allow him to gain valuable experience.

Borussia Dortmund

On 12 May 2010, Melbourne Victory accepted a third offer for Langerak from Borussia Dortmund, a four-year deal. After joining Dortmund, Langerak became the club's second choice goalkeeper during the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

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 ...

season and was a regular in matchday squads. Langerak said his goal for the season was to learn as much as possible. Mitchell Langerak

With Roman Weidenfeller injured, Langerak started his first game for Dortmund in their 3–1 win against reigning German champions

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 football team, ...

, where he showed a solid performance. Langerak made a return to the first team squad for the first time picked before an available Weidenfeller in Dortmund's second round

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 ...

game with

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, is a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

. During the game many flares were lit in Signal Iduna Park bringing some concern; no action was taken and Langerak showed signs of jubilation with manager

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...

after the game as he recorded his first

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in front of over 80,000 in attendance. On 12 May 2012, two years to the day after sealing his move to Borussia Dortmund, Langerak came on as a 34th-minute substitute in the

final against

. He came on for the injured Roman Weidenfeller who had suspected rib damage after a challenge with

Mario Gómez Mario Gómez García (; born 10 July 1985) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He represented the Germany national football team, Germany national team ...

earlier in the game. Dortmund went on to win the game 5–2 to claim the cup and Langerak's third title in two seasons at the club. On 27 July 2013, Langerak won the 2013 DFL-Supercup with Dortmund 4–2 against rivals

. Langerak played the BVB opener of the 2013–2014 Bundesliga against

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

where he kept a clean sheet in a 4–0 win. This meant that in the seven league and Bundesliga games in which Langerak played

had won. On 18 September 2013, Langerak made his Champions League debut against

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

after Weidenfeller was sent off. He broke two front teeth in collision with a goalpost in an unsuccessful attempt to stop

Lorenzo Insigne Lorenzo Insigne (; born 4 June 1991) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward or Midfielder#Winger, winger for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. Insigne began his pro ...

scoring.On 23 August 2014, Langerak conceded the fastest goal (9 seconds), in the history of

, on the opening game of the season 2014–15, a home match 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 ...

, which ended in a 2–0 loss for Dortmund.

VfB Stuttgart

For the 2015–16 season, Langerak moved to

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

. He made his Bundesliga debut for VfB Stuttgart on 7 May 2016 at home to

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 ...

. The season ended with Stuttgart's relegation to the 2. Bundesliga. After the departure of

Przemysław Tytoń Przemysław Tytoń (; born 4 January 1987) is a Polish professional association football, footballer who plays as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Eredivisie club FC Twente, Twente. Club career Born in Zamość, Tytoń playe ...

, Langerak was handed the starting position and instantly became a fan favourite.

Levante

On 30 August 2017, Langerak joined Levante on a two-year deal.

Nagoya Grampus

On 14 January 2018, Langerak signed for

Nagoya Grampus ; formerly known as is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, and have for all but one season since the inauguration of the league, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture an ...

. On 12 December 2020, he made his 100th appearance in the J.League in a 0–0 away draw against

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

. On 19 December 2020, he set new J.League record, keeping 17 clean sheets in the 2020 J.League campaign in 1–0 win against

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima () is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Hiroshima. The club competes in the J1 League, top flight of the Japanese football league system. Sanfrecce is one of the most successful clubs in Ja ...

. On 12 September 2021, Langerak broke his own clean sheets record in J.League, keeping 18 clean sheets in a 3–0 victory over

Tokushima Vortis is a Japanese professional football club located in Tokushima, capital of Tokushima Prefecture. The club currently playing in the J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football league. Name origin The name, "Vortis" was named in 19 ...

. He also set the new all-time record at 823 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal in the 2021 J.League campaign. On 23 September 2023, Langerak made his 200th appearance in the J.League in a 1–1 draw against

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo is a Japanese professional football club based in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. They will play in the 2025 J2 League, the second tier league of Japanese football, after relegation from the J1 League at conclusion of the 2024 season. Th ...

. On 2 November 2024, he scored Grampus's second penalty of the shoot-out in the 2024 J.League Cup final victory over

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. They currently play in J1 League after being promoted from J2 League as cha ...

Melbourne Victory

On 3 August 2024, Melbourne Victory announced the signing of Langerak on an 18 month contract, with the transfer to take place during the January 2025 transfer window.

International career

Langerak was selected in the Young Socceroos squad to play in the 2006 AFC Youth Championship. Langerak received his first senior national team call-up in March 2011, named by coach Holger Osieck as a member of the 17-man squad to play

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 ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

. Langerak made his debut for Australia's senior team in an international friendly against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 12 October 2013, a match in which the Socceroos were thrashed 6–0. This match turned out to be manager Holger Osieck's final match in charge of Australia, with his sacking coming shortly after the conclusion of the match. Langerak made his second appearance for Australia against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, a match which Australia won 3–0. Langerak was included in the 23-man squad going to Brazil for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. He was also included in Australia's final list for

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 201 ...

, which was held in Australia, but he didn't play a single match. In May 2021, having represented Australia eight times, Langerak announced his retirement from international football due to wanting to remain with his family during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In September 2022, Langerak came out of international retirement ahead of the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, following relaxation of restrictions on international travel, but was not selected for the World Cup squad.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Melbourne Victory * A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup:

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 ...

* A-League Championship: 2008–09 * A-League Premiership: 2008–09 Borussia Dortmund *

, 2011–12 *

: 2011–12 *

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 ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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 ...

runner-up: 2012–13 VfB Stuttgart * 2. Bundesliga: 2016–17 Nagoya Grampus * J.League Cup:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Australia *

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Australia U-20 *

AFF U-19 Youth Championship The ASEAN U-19 Boys' Championship (formerly AFF U-19 Youth Championship) is an annual international football competition contested by the national teams of the members of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and occasionally invited nations fro ...

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 ...

Individual * PFA Harry Kewell Medal: 2009–10 * J.League MVP of the month: December 2020, September 2021 * J.League Best XI:

* Nagoya Grampus Player of the Season: 2022 * J.League Cup MVP:

Records *

J.League 1 The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

most clean sheets in a season: 21 (2021) * Longest consecutive run without conceding a goal in J.League 1: 823 minutes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Langerak, Mitchell 1988 births Living people Australian people of Dutch descent Australian men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players Australia men's under-20 international soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Australian expatriate sportspeople in Spain VfB Stuttgart players Levante UD footballers Borussia Dortmund players Borussia Dortmund II players Melbourne Victory FC players South Melbourne FC players Nagoya Grampus players A-League Men players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players J1 League players Australian Institute of Sport soccer players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Sportspeople from Bundaberg AFC Asian Cup–winning players 2019 AFC Asian Cup players People from Emerald, Queensland Soccer players from Queensland 21st-century Australian sportsmen