Heiko Westermann (born 14 August 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
central defender
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
Greuther Fürth
Westermann began his professional career with
2. Bundesliga club
Greuther Fürth. He joined the senior squad in July 2002 but did not make his first appearance until 26 January 2003 in a 1–0 win over
MSV Duisburg
Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jers ...
. He played a total of 83 league games in his three seasons with the club, scoring two goals.
Arminia Bielefeld
Following the
2004–05 season, Westermann signed for recently promoted
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 ...
club
Arminia Bielefeld
DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of ...
. In his first season, he played in every single game for Bielefeld, including 34 league and five
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 ...
matches. The following season Westermann remained an integral part of the team, missing only one match.
[
]
Schalke 04
Westermann moved 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 ...
in 2007 for a fee of €2.8 million. He played his first game for Schalke on 24 July in a Ligapokal fixture against 1. FC Nürnberg. Schalke won 4–2 with Westermann contributing one goal. Missing Schalke's first two league games through injury, Westermann made his Bundesliga debut for the club on 26 August 2007. He was substituted on in the 79th minute for Rafinha in a third round match against VfL Wolfsburg
Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...
. For the remainder of the season, Westermann started all 31 of Schalke's Bundesliga matches. He was also instrumental in Schalke's Champions League campaign, being the only outfield player for the club to play every single minute.
With new coach Fred Rutten
Fredericus Jacobus Rutten (; born 5 December 1962) is a Dutch football coach and former player. As a player, he spent his entire career with Twente during the years 1979 to 1992. Following his playing career, Rutten also managed Twente, before m ...
taking charge of Schalke for the 2008–09 season, combined with his keen eye for goal, Westermann has often been positioned in midfield. The current season has been Westermann's highest scoring yet. He scored both goals in a 2–0 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 ...
win over 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 ...
. He also scored a goal in three consecutive Bundesliga matches including the equalizing goal in a 1–1 draw against 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 ...
and a game-winning goal against VfL Bochum
Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seas ...
.
Hamburger SV
In July 2010, Westermann agreed to a transfer to 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 ...
, reportedly in the region of €7.5 million. Despite being a new signing, he was named new captain by then ''HSV'' coach Armin Veh
Armin Veh (; born 1 February 1961) is a German football manager and former player who last managed Eintracht Frankfurt. He won the German championship with Bundesliga team VfB Stuttgart in 2007. Veh and his team also had the chance to win "the d ...
. On 9 April 2013, following a run of bad results, including a 9–2 drubbing by Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
, Rafael van der Vaart
Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart (born 11 February 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and is currently the assistant manager of Danish 2nd Division club Esbjerg fB.
Van der Vaart began his c ...
was announced as Westermann's successor as the club's captain, in a bid to relieve him of mounting pressure.
On 25 June 2015, Hamburg confirmed Westermann's contract would not be renewed for the 2015–16 campaign.
Betis
On 6 August 2015 Westermann signed a two-year deal with Real Betis
Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...
, newly promoted to La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
. He received his first ever career red card on 28 November 2015 after his second bookable offence against Levante.
Ajax
On 14 July 2016, it was announced that Westermann had signed a two-year deal with Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...
side Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
. However, he was used sparingly, so he worked as a youth coach during his time there.
Austria Wien
Shortly after his contract with Ajax had been dissolved, Westermann signed a two-year deal with Austrian side Austria Wien
Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (; known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria (German: Österreich) in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the mos ...
.
He announced his departure from the club along with the end of his active player career in April 2018.
International career
On 31 January 2008, Westermann was first called up by Germany's manager Joachim Löw
Joachim Löw (born 3 February 1960) is a German football coach and former player. He was the manager of the Germany national team from 2006 until 2021. During his tenure as manager, he led Germany to victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil ...
for the friendly on 6 February 2008 at Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
's Ernst-Happel-Stadion
Ernst-Happel-Stadion (), known as Praterstadion until 1992, sometimes also called Wiener-Stadion, is a football stadium in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Austria's capital Vienna. With 50,865 seats, it is the largest stadium in Austria. It wa ...
against Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. Germany won the match 3–0 and Westermann was in the starting eleven and played 90 minutes. Westermann was part of the German team that finished in second place at Euro 2008
The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...
. On 2 June 2009, Westermann scored the first international goal in Germany's 7–2 rout against United Arab Emirates national football team
The United Arab Emirates national football team ( ar, منتخب الإمارات العربية المتحدة لكرة القدم) represents United Arab Emirates in international association football and serves under the auspices of the coun ...
. He was part of Germany's preliminary selection for the World Cup 2010
, 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 ...
, but had to pull out because of an injury suffered in a friendly against Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
. He has been capped 27 times by Germany and has scored four goals for them since 2008.
Personal life
Westermann's wife is named Irina, they married in June 2007. In May 2008, the couple had their first daughter, Lana. In October 2010, Nikita, their second daughter was born.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Westermann goal.''
Honours
Ajax
* UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
runner-up: 2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
Germany
* UEFA European Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...
runner-up: 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westermann, Heiko
1983 births
Living people
People from Alzenau
Sportspeople from Lower Franconia
Footballers from Bavaria
German footballers
Germany international footballers
Germany under-21 international footballers
Germany youth international footballers
Association football defenders
Association football midfielders
Association football utility players
SpVgg Greuther Fürth players
Arminia Bielefeld players
FC Schalke 04 players
Hamburger SV players
Real Betis players
AFC Ajax players
FK Austria Wien players
Bundesliga players
2. Bundesliga players
La Liga players
Eredivisie players
Austrian Football Bundesliga players
UEFA Euro 2008 players
German expatriate footballers
German expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
Expatriate footballers in Austria