Marcel Schäfer (born 7 June 1984) is a retired German 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 ...

. He is currently the Sporting Director for

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 ...

Career

1860 Munich

Schäfer made 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 footbal ...

on matchday 11, 1 November 2003, as

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members o ...

defeated

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seasons in the Bundesli ...

3–1. After descending to the 2. Bundesliga at the end of that season, he established himself in the following years as a regular player. On 4 March 2005, Schäfer scored his first goal for 1860, helping the club to a 3–0 league win over

Wacker Burghausen SV Wacker Burghausen is a German football club based in Burghausen, Bavaria and is part of one of the nation's largest sports clubs with some 6,000 members participating in two dozen different sports. History The club was founded on 13 Novem ...

. On the final day of the 2004–05 season, he opened the scoring for 1860 in the 12th minute, but his side fell to a 4–3 defeat to

LR Ahlen Rot Weiss Ahlen is a German football club based in Ahlen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Until 2006 the club was known as ''LR Ahlen'' for its major sponsor, but underwent a name change when the sponsor withdrew its support after the team was relegate ...

. His only goal of the

2005–06 2. Bundesliga The 2005–06 2. Bundesliga was the 32nd season of the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system. VfL Bochum, Alemannia Aachen and Energie Cottbus were promoted to the Bundesliga while Dynamo Dresden, 1. FC Saarbrüc ...

season came on the third matchday, heading in 1860's second goal of their 2–2 draw with

SpVgg Greuther Fürth Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth (), commonly known as Greuther Fürth (), is a German football club based in Fürth, Bavaria. They play in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system, following relegation from the Bu ...

on 29 August 2005. In the 2006-07 campaign he appeared in 31 of the 34 scheduled matches.

Wolfsburg

On 1 July 2007 he returned to the Bundesliga, signing for

in a €1.2 million deal. He made his

debut for Wolfsburg in

Felix Magath Wolfgang Felix Magath (; born 26 July 1953) is a German football manager and former player. The most notable spell of his playing career was with Hamburger SV, with whom he won three Bundesliga titles, the 1977 European Cup Winners' Cup Final a ...

's managerial debut on 11 August 2007, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–3 defeat to

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 ...

. His first goal for the club came on 4 November, scoring on a pass from Marcelinho in the 49th minute, but Wolfsburg fell in an entertaining 3–5 defeat to Bochum. He opened the scoring for Wolfsburg and provided two assists in their match against

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 foot ...

on 15 December, scoring on the volley after 'keeper

Roman Weidenfeller Roman Weidenfeller (born 6 August 1980) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga clubs 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Borussia Dortmund, as well as the German national team. Weidenfeller spent 16 seasons wit ...

parried an initial shot from

Ashkan Dejagah Seyed Ashkan Dejagah ( fa, سید اشكان دژآگه, born 5 July 1986), known as Ashkan Dejagah, is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Persian Gulf Pro League club Foolad. He represented Germany at youth level ...

to Schäfer's feet, sending Wolfsburg on their way to a 4–0 victory. In his next appearance for the club, a league match against

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jerseys, the club was on ...

on 9 February 2008, Schäfer scored Wolfsburg's equalizer after an assist from

Sascha Riether Sascha Riether (; born 23 March 1983) is a German former professional footballer who played as a right-back. In addition to playing in the right back position, Riether has also played in defensive midfield, center back and right midfield position ...

, helping the Wolves to a 2–1 comeback victory. On matchday 32, he picked up a pass from

Christian Gentner Christian Gentner (born 14 August 1985) is a German professional football official and a former player who played as a midfielder. He works as a head of the professional player department at VfB Stuttgart. He won the Bundesliga twice, with VfB ...

and scored from the edge of the penalty-box to put Wolfsburg up 2–1 in the 28th minute over

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

, and a late

Edin Džeko Edin Džeko (; born 17 March 1986) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Inter Milan and captains the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Džeko was named Bosnian Footballer of the Year for three years in a ...

strike secured a 3–2 win for the Wolves, their first in five games. On the final day of the Bundesliga season, 17 May 2008, Schäfer received the ball from Grafite and hammered the ball into the goal from twenty yards out to score the game winner in the Wolves' 4–2 defeat of Dortmund and secure a spot for Wolfsburg in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

. On 18 September 2008, Schäfer made his first appearance in

European football UEFA competitions (french: competitions de l'UEFA), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur as ...

, helping his side keep a clean sheet in the first round first-leg 1–0 victory over

Rapid București Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascad ...

. On 24 September, he scored his first

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 ...

goal for Wolfsburg, netting with his left foot after a cross from

Mahir Sağlık Mahir Sağlık (born 18 January 1983) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a striker. Career Sağlık signed a three-year deal for VfL Wolfsburg in September 2008. On 1 February 2009, he was loaned out to Karlsruher SC until ...

, and also provided an assist to Džeko as the Wolves comfortably defeated FC Oberneuland 7–0. Down 0–2 against

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

at the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums ...

on 17 December, he picked out

Cristian Zaccardo Cristian Zaccardo (; born 21 December 1981) is an Italian former footballer who played as a defender. He mainly played as a centre back, although he was also capable of playing as a full-back or in midfield. He began his club career with ...

for Wolfsburg's first goal and a late Sağlık strike completed the comeback, securing a point and top spot in

Group E Group E may refer to: * E-Group: E-Groups are unique architectural complexes found among a number of ancient Maya settlements * Group E (vase painting), a group of Attic vase painters of the black-figure style, active between 560 and 540 BC. * One ...

. On 4 March 2009, he provided the assist for Džeko's first goal as Wolfsburg came from 0–2 down to draw level at half-time, but two second-half goals from

Claudio Pizarro Claudio Miguel Pizarro Bosio (; born 3 October 1978) is a Peruvian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently serving as Club Ambassador for Bayern Munich. He was captain of Peru's national football team, being ...

and a

Diego Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. ...

strike secured a 5–2 win for

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, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

and a spot in the semi-finals of the German Cup. On 4 April 2009, Schäfer assisted the go-ahead goal to Džeko in the 63rd minute, as Wolfsburg notched an eighth successive victory and completed an historic 5–1 defeat of Bayern Munich. On 2 May, he provided his eighth

assist of the season, picking out Grafite for Wolfsburg's final goal of their 4–0 win over

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentioned ...

. On 23 May, Schäfer played the entire match as Wolfsburg defeated Bremen 5–1 at the

Volkswagen Arena Volkswagen Arena (; also known as the VfL Wolfsburg Arena due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a football stadium in the German city of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. It was opened in 2002 and named after the automotive group Volkswagen AG. The V ...

, securing the club and the player their first Bundesliga title. In his first Champions League match, Schäfer provided an assist for one of Grafite's three goals as the Wolves dispatched

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

3–1 to top

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportsc ...

after the first round of fixtures. Schäfer received the first red card of his professional career in the second round of the

on 23 September 2009, picking up two yellow cards in stoppage time as Wolfsburg fell to a 2–3 defeat to

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ballsp ...

. He made his first appearance of the 2014–15 season in the league on 21 September 2014, coming on as a late substitute for Junior Malanda in the Wolves' 4–1 defeat of

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, th ...

. Schäfer made his first start of the campaign on matchday 3 of the

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. ...

, playing the entirety of Wolfsburg's 4–2 win over

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in south ...

on 23 October. Schäfer continued to deputize in Ricardo Rodríguez's absence, providing an assist for

Naldo Naldo may refer to: * Ronaldo Aparecido Rodrigues (born 1982), Brazilian football defender * Edinaldo Gomes Pereira (born 1988), Brazilian football defender *Marinaldo dos Santos Oliveira (born 1990), commonly known as Naldo, Brazilian footballer * ...

and helping keep a clean-sheet in a 3–0 win over

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

on 26 October.

Tampa bay Rowdies

In March 2017, Schäfer signed a contract with

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tier ...

International career

He made his international debut for

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

on 19 November 2008 in a friendly 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 ...

, replacing

Marvin Compper Marvin Compper (born 14 June 1985) is a German football manager and a former player who played as a centre back. He won one cap for the German national team. Club career Borussia Mönchengladbach During the 2002–03 season, Compper moved fro ...

in the 2–1 loss. He made his full debut for Germany on 29 May 2009, playing the entirety of their 1–1 draw with China at the

Shanghai Stadium The Shanghai Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Shanghai. Between 2009 and 2019, the stadium hosted home matches of the Chinese Super League team Shanghai SIPG. History The stadium opened on 14 March 1999 when the eighth National Games ...

. On 12 August 2009, Schäfer participated in his first competitive game for the national side, a 2–0 win over

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

in a

World Cup qualifying The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are h ...

match in Baku. His 8th and last international was a friendly against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

in August 2010.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;VfL Wolfsburg *

: 2008–09 *

: 2014–15 * DFL-Supercup:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

Individual

* Lower Saxony Footballer of the Year: 2009 * United Soccer League Best XI: 2017

References

External links

Bundesliga profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schafer, Marcel 1984 births Living people German footballers Germany international footballers Germany B international footballers TSV 1860 Munich players TSV 1860 Munich II players VfL Wolfsburg players Tampa Bay Rowdies players Association football defenders Viktoria Aschaffenburg players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players USL Championship players People from Aschaffenburg Sportspeople from Lower Franconia Footballers from Bavaria VfL Wolfsburg non-playing staff