Marcel Schmelzer (; born 22 January 1988) 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 last 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 ...

for

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

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

, serving as captain from 2016 to 2018. He was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

at international level. A one-club man, Schmelzer spent his entire professional career at Dortmund.

Club career

Schmelzer was born in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it th ...

. He started his professional career with

, making his first appearance on 9 August 2008, in the

German Cup 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 ...

first-round match against

Rot-Weiss Essen Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße. The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 195 ...

. His first league appearance came in the following week, as he played the final twenty minutes of a 3–2 win at

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

. Schmelzer had his best season for Borussia Dortmund in the 2010–11 season, where he managed to play every minute of the season for the team who went on to win the Bundesliga that year. The following season, Schmelzer, who missed the beginning of the Bundesliga due to injury, enjoyed yet another trophy as he helped Dortmund win another Bundesliga title. In addition to being the left back for the team for the entire season, Schmelzer also helped Dortmund secure the

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 considered ...

with a 5–2 win against Bayern Munich, making it three titles in two years. On 11 January 2013, Schmelzer extended his contract with Borussia, which will keep him at the club until 2017. On 27 July 2013, Schmelzer won the

2013 DFL-Supercup The 2013 DFL-Supercup was the fourth DFL-Supercup, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal competitions. It featured Bayern Munich, winners of the 2012–13 Bundesliga and the 2012– ...

with Dortmund 4–2 against rivals Bayern Munich. On 25 April 2016, Marcel Schmelzer yet again extended his contract with BVB. He agreed on a five-year deal which will keep him with the black and yellows through 2021. After the departure of Mats Hummels, Schmelzer was named a candidate to be the new captain. On 14 August 2016, Schmelzer captained his first match against league champions Bayern Munich during the 2–0 defeat of the DFL-Supercup. On 31 May 2020, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in seven years in a 6–1 win against

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

, coming off the bench for Moroccan right-back

Achraf Hakimi Achraf Hakimi Mouh ( ar, أشرف حكيمي موح; born 4 November 1998) is a professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Morocco national team. He mainly plays as a right-back. Known for his speed, runs and ...

. Later that day, fans voted him as Man of the Match on the club's official Instagram account. Despite missing virtually the entire 2020–21 season and Dortmund's DFB-Pokal triumph, Schmelzer extended his contract with Dortmund in summer 2021 for another year, although this was primarily to cover medical insurance regarding a long-term knee injury rather than concerning game time. He retired after 17 seasons as a

player and was celebrated after their game against Hertha BSC. Overall he played 258 German top-flight matches.

International career

Schmelzer was called up by the U21 team for the 2009 European Championship, being used regularly, although not as a starter, he played the final five minutes in the final, a 4–0 success against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. For the full national team he made 16 appearances between 2010 and 2014.

Personal life

Schmelzer is married to Jenny Schmelzer.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Borussia Dortmund *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 2011–12 *

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 considered ...

: 2011–12, 2016–17, 2020–21 * DFL-Supercup:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

runner-up:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

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

References

External links

Borussia Dortmund profile
* * * *
Bundesliga profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmelzer, Marcel 1988 births Living people Footballers from Magdeburg German men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Germany men's under-21 international footballers Germany men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2012 players Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Regionalliga players Borussia Dortmund players Borussia Dortmund II players