Dennis Aogo (born 14 January 1987) 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 ...

who played as a

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 ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Born to a German mother and a Nigerian father, Aogo grew up in Oberreut, a suburb in the south-west of Karlsruhe,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

. In 2000, when his parents split up, he moved with his father to

Bruchsal Bruchsal (; orig. Bruohselle, Bruaselle, historically known in English as Bruxhall; South Franconian: ''Brusel'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state of Baden-Württemberg, ...

and left

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the DF ...

to join

Waldhof Mannheim SV Waldhof Mannheim is a multi-sports club, located in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. It is most known for its association football team; however, there are also professional handball and table-tennis sides. The club today has a membership of over ...

. In 2002, aged 15, he joined

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bund ...

and attended their youth academy while graduating with

Mittlere Reife The Mittlere Reife (, lit. ''"Middle Maturity"'') is a school-leaving certificate in Germany that is usually awarded after ten years of schooling. It is roughly comparable with the British GCSE. The official name varies between the federal stat ...

at Max-Weber-Schule in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

Club career

upleft, Aogo with Hamburger SV in 2009 Aogo played with the

academy and has played at several youth levels including the U15s and U16s. Since 2004, he was a part of the

academy, and celebrated his debut in the

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 ...

at seventeen years of age and he immediately won himself a place in the centre of midfield. Aogo joined signed at Bundesliga club

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

in 2008 and was part of the regular starting lineup, mostly as a left back. On 29 August 2013, Aogo was loaned to

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

. S04 then agreed transfer fee terms in June 2014 for a permanent €2,000,000 move, and Aogo signed a contract with

running until 30 June 2017. On 9 August 2017, Aogo moved to

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

. On 3 September 2019, Hannover 96 announced the signing of Aogo on a free transfer. In January 2020, he agreed the termination of his contract with the club. Aogo announced his retirement from playing in August 2020. He amassed 340 appearances in the two top divisions of German pro football.

International career

Dennis Aogo, Germany national football team (02)

Aogo was a member of the German U21 squad. Due to

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

regulations at the time he was prevented from representing the Nigeria national team having earlier represented Germany at youth and at age group levels. But in 2004, FIFA removed the age limit for switching of nationalities, meaning that Aogo could have represented Nigeria. However, after turning down several invitations by the Nigerian Football Association he declared his desire to continue representing Germany as he saw a good chance to earn a place in the German senior squad in the future. Nigeria, the homeland of Aogo's father, wanted to call him up for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

in South Africa as

Shaibu Amodu Shuaibu Amodu (18 April 1958 – 10 June 2016) was a Nigerian football player and coach who played as a forward. Playing career Amodu, a striker, played for Dumez and Niger Tornadoes. His playing career ended after he broke his leg. Coachin ...

watched him for a considerable time but Aogo announced on 5 January 2010 that he would only play for the Germany national team. He made his debut for Germany in their first preparation game against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in a 3–0 victory on 13 May 2010, playing 79 minutes, before being replaced by fellow full-back and then Hamburg club mate

Jérôme Boateng Jérôme Agyenim Boateng (born 3 September 1988) is a German professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for French Ligue 1 club Lyon. Boateng started his career at Hertha BSC where he developed from the youth ranks to the first team. Aft ...

. Aogo was included in Germany's

squad. He won his last cap in early June 2013.

Style of play

Germany national youth football team This article includes current squads of Germany U-19, U-18, U-17, U-16 and U-15 national football teams. Main coaches Germany national under-19 squad * The following players were called up for the friendly matches. * Match dates: 23, 26 and ...

coach

Horst Hrubesch Horst Hrubesch (; born 17 April 1951) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Hamburger SV. As a player, Hrubesch won three West German championships with his club side, Hamburger SV, as well as the European C ...

said about Aogo that he has "a very good left foot, is clever with or without the

ball A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used f ...

at his feet, tactically flexible on the

football pitch A football pitch (also known as soccer field) is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural tu ...

, and can

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

and

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places * Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits * Mountain pass, a lower place in a moun ...

through good diagonal

s to forwards".

Personal life

Aogo was previously engaged to Alessia Walch; the bass player for German

Country-Pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

band Mayor's Destiny. Aogo received the

Silbernes Lorbeerblatt Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (Silver Laurel Leaf), the highest sports award in Germany, was endowed on 23 June 1950 by the German President Theodor Heuss. It is awarded to athletes and teams of exemplary character that have won medals at Olympic and ...

; the highest sports award in Germany.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Germany U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

: 2009 Germany *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

third place:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Individual *

: 2010

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aogo, Dennis Living people 1987 births Footballers from Karlsruhe Association football defenders Association football midfielders German footballers Germany youth international footballers Germany under-21 international footballers Germany international footballers Karlsruher SC players SC Freiburg players Hamburger SV players FC Schalke 04 players VfB Stuttgart players Hannover 96 players German sportspeople of Nigerian descent Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 21st-century German people