Christian Schulz (born 1 April 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 le ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Schulz joined

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, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

in 1995 at the age of twelve and stepped up to the reserve side, playing in the

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord ( en, Regional League North) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regional ...

in 2001–02. He made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

debut on 15 February 2003 as a substitute against 1. FC Nürnberg. When

Ümit Davala Ümit Aydın Davala (born 30 July 1973) is a Turkish football coach and former player. During his stint at Galatasaray, he won four Süper Lig, three Turkish Cup, one UEFA Cup and one UEFA Super Cup title between 1996 and 2001. He won the 2003� ...

was injured, Schulz stepped in and made the

position his own. Wit Bremen he won the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

German football championship German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

. Although he had previously stated that he did not want to leave Bremen, he moved to

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

on 30 August 2007. After nine years with Hannover, he joined

SK Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian association football club, based in Graz, Styria, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austria ...

. With Graz he won the

2017–18 Austrian Cup The 2017–18 Austrian Cup was the 84th edition of the national cup in Austrian football. The champions of the cup, Sturm Graz, earned a place in the 2018–19 Europa League and would have begun play in the third qualifying round. Sixty–four clu ...

. Schulz retired at the end of the 2020–21 season. Overall he played more than 400 matches in the German and Austrian top-flight respectively.

International career

Schulz earned four caps for the Germany national team, making his international debut on 16 December 2004 in a 3–0 friendly win over

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He was part of the DFB squad of the

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FIFA World Cup winners ...

on home soil but didn't take part in the tournament because of an injury.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Werder Bremen *

: 2003–04, runner-up 2005–06 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

: 2003–04 *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous ...

: 2006, runner-up 2004 Sturm Graz *

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (german: ÖFB-Cup), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for 27th t ...

: 2017–18

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schulz, Christian 1983 births Living people People from Diepholz (district) Footballers from Lower Saxony German men's footballers Germany men's international footballers SV Werder Bremen players SV Werder Bremen II players Germany men's under-21 international footballers Germany men's youth international footballers Bundesliga players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Hannover 96 players SK Sturm Graz players Regionalliga players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football central defenders German expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria German expatriate sportspeople in Austria