Alex Arthur Rufer (born 12 June 1996) is a New Zealand 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 ...

who captains and plays as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

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

in the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

Personal life

Rufer is the son of former international

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

player

Shane Rufer Shane Arthur Rufer (born 23 March 1960) is a New Zealand former association football player, who played as a centre forward, midfielder and defender. He represented New Zealand on nineteen occasions between 1979 and 1985, making his debut on 2 ...

, and the nephew of Oceania Player of the Century

Wynton Rufer Wynton Alan Whai Rufer (born 29 December 1962) is a New Zealand retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent more than a decade of his professional career in Switzerland and Germany, achieving his greatest success at Werd ...

. He also attended

Palmerston North Boys High School Palmerston North Boys' High School is a traditional boys school located in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Location Palmerston North Boys' High School has a campus located on Featherston Street between Rangitikei and North Streets in the central ...

Club career

Rufer started his career with YoungHeart Manawatu. In February 2013, Rufer joined

Wairarapa United Wairarapa United is a Association football, football club based in Masterton, New Zealand and are currently competing in the Central Premier League, Central League. Club history The club was formed by the merger of Masterton (soccer), Masterton ...

. In August 2013, ahead of the

season, Rufer signed a three-year contract with

. Rufer made his debut for the Wellington Phoenix in the 3–2 away win against

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

on 9 February 2014. In a 2–1 loss against

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

on 12 March 2022, Rufer suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

(ACL) rupture. He was expected to return from injury 12 months later.

International career

Rufer made his international debut for the

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Footbal ...

in a friendly match against Myanmar on 7 September 2015, coming on for

Jeremy Brockie Jeremy Russell Brockie (born 7 October 1987) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a forward. He has represented New Zealand at senior international level, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup and at the 2008 Olympic Games, and wa ...

in the 72nd minute.

References

External links

* 1996 births Living people Footballers from Geneva New Zealand association footballers New Zealand international footballers New Zealand youth international footballers New Zealand people of Swiss descent Swiss footballers Swiss people of New Zealand descent Association football midfielders Wellington Phoenix FC players A-League Men players New Zealand Football Championship players New Zealand Māori sportspeople 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players {{NewZealand-footy-bio-stub