Mitchell James Langerak ( ; born 22 August 1988) is an Australian 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 plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

club

Nagoya Grampus (formerly known as ) is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and founded as the company team of the Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939, the c ...

Club career

Melbourne Victory

Langerak signed his first professional contract in February 2007, with A-League club

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

. Soon after he was sent on loan to

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

for the remainder of the 2007

Victorian Premier League The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer leagu ...

season, to gain game time and experience. Once the loan finished Langerak continued his duties as the Victory's third choice goalkeeper before

Eugene Galekovic Eugen Josip Galekovic ( ; hr, Eugen Josip Galeković, ; born 12 June 1981) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the current goalkeeper coach for Adelaide United. Biography Club career Galekovic's j ...

moved to

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

. He made his debut for Melbourne in the Round 21 clash of the 2007–08 season against rivals

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

and despite letting in two goals, his performance in the 2–2 draw was a confident debut. With Galekovic making a move to

, Langerak became the second choice keeper. With first choice

Michael Theoklitos Michael Theo (formerly Theoklitos) (born 11 February 1981) is an Australian goalkeeper who is the goalkeeping coach at A-League club Western United FC. Career Early career Theoklitos began his career as a young lad playing in the Victorian ...

making his move overseas, Victory signed New Zealand international

Glen Moss Glen Robert Moss (born 19 January 1983) is a retired New Zealand goalkeeper who played for New Zealand at international level. A foundational member of both the New Zealand Knights and Wellington Phoenix, Moss has competed in 14 seasons of the ...

from

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

. Moss started the 2009–10 as Melbourne's first choice keeper before Langerak grasped his opportunity in the first team to become the side's first choice keeper for the remainder of the season. On 13 April 2010, Melbourne announced that they had rejected a bid for Langerak from German giants,

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 footb ...

, however talks continued. On 4 May 2010, Langerak revealed to FourFourTwo Magazine, that Borussia Dortmund had made a second, substantially increased, bid for his services on the same day as the interview, but was again rejected by Melbourne Victory.

South Melbourne

In 2007, Mitch joined South Melbourne on loan for the 2007 VPL Season. Langerak arrived to the club in turmoil with their first-choice keeper injured and languishing near the bottom of the table at risk of relegation. Langerak's solid performances helped South achieve a mid-table finish and allow him to gain valuable experience.

Borussia Dortmund

On 12 May 2010, Melbourne Victory accepted a third offer for Langerak from Borussia Dortmund, a four-year-deal. After joining Dortmund, Langerak became the club's second choice goalkeeper during the

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. I ...

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 ...

season and was a regular in matchday squads. Langerak said his goal for the season was to learn as much as possible. With

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 w ...

injured, Langerak started his first game for Dortmund in their 3–1 win against reigning German champions

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 ...

, where he showed a solid performance. Langerak made a return to the first team squad for the first time picked before an available Weidenfeller in Dortmunds second round

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 ...

game with

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, are a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

. During the game many flares were lit in

Signal Iduna Park Westfalenstadion (, ) is a football stadium in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which is the home of Borussia Dortmund. Officially called Signal Iduna Park for sponsorship reasons and BVB Stadion Dortmund in UEFA competitions, the na ...

bringing some concern; no action was taken and Langerak showed signs of jubilation with manager

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Liverpool. He is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world. Klopp spent most of his playing c ...

after the game as he recorded his first

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in front of over 80,000 in attendance. On 12 May 2012, two years to the day after sealing his move to Borussia Dortmund, Langerak came on as a 34th-minute substitute in the

final against

. He came on for the injured

who had suspected rib damage after a challenge with

Mario Gómez Mario Gómez García (; born 10 July 1985) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker. He represented the Germany national team over a period of 11 years between 2007 and 2018. Gómez began his professional career with ...

earlier in the game. Dortmund went on to win the game 5–2 to claim the cup and Langerak's third title in two seasons at the club. On 27 July 2013, Langerak 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 2012–1 ...

with Dortmund 4–2 against rivals

. Langerak played the BVB opener of the 2013–2014 Bundesliga against

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

where he kept a clean sheet in a 4–0 win. This means that in the 7 league and Bundesliga games in which Langerak has played,

have won. On 18 September 2013, Langerak made his Champions League debut against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

after Weidenfeller was sent off. He broke two front teeth in collision with a goalpost in an unsuccessful attempt to stop

Lorenzo Insigne Lorenzo Insigne (; born 4 June 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC and the Italy national team. Insigne began his professional career with čelik Niksic in 2009, making his ...

scoring. On 23 August 2014, Langerak conceded the fastest goal (9 seconds), in the history of

, on the opening game of the season 2014–15, a home match against

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 ...

, which ended 0–2 loss for Dortmund.

VfB Stuttgart

For the 2015–16 season, Langerak 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 ...

. Mitchell Langerak made his Bundesliga debut for VfB Stuttgart on 7 May 2016 at home to FSV Mainz 05. The season ended with Stuttgart's relegation to the 2. Bundesliga. After the departure of

Przemysław Tytoń Przemysław Tytoń (; born 4 January 1987) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Eredivisie club Twente. Club career Born in Zamość, Tytoń played for Górnik Łęczna until the end of the 2006–07 season when th ...

, Langerak was handed the starting position and instantly became a fan favourite.

Levante

On 30 August 2017, Langerak joined Levante on a two-year deal.

Nagoya Grampus

On 14 January 2018, Langerak signed for

. On 12 December 2020, he made his 100th appearance in the J.League in a 0–0 away draw against

Yokohama FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the first tier of football in the country. The club was formed by fans of Yokoh ...

. On 19 December 2020, he set new J.League record, keeping 17 clean sheets in the 2020 J.League campaign in 1–0 win against

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the coun ...

. On 12 September 2021, Langerak broke his own clean sheets record in J.League, keeping 18 clean sheets in a 3-0 victory over

Tokushima Vortis is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J2 League. The team is located in Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture. Their home stadium is Naruto Otsuka Sports Park Pocari Sweat Stadium, in Naruto, Tokushima. The name, "Vortis ...

. He also set the new all-time record at 823 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal in the 2021 J.League campaign.

International career

Langerak was selected in the Young Socceroos squad to play in the

2006 AFC Youth Championship The 2006 AFC Youth Championship was the 34th instance of the AFC Youth Championship. It was held from 29 October to 12 November 2006 in India. It was the first time for India to host this tournament. Sixteen teams from the AFC qualified to the ...

. Langerak received his first senior national team call-up in March 2011, named by coach

Holger Osieck Holger Osieck (born 31 August 1948) is a German football manager who last managed the Australia national team. Prior to the Australian role, he most recently managed J. League club Urawa Red Diamonds, where he won the 2007 AFC Champions League ...

as a member of the 17-man squad to play

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 ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

. Langerak made his debut for Australia's senior team in an international friendly against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 12 October 2013, a match in which the Socceroos were thrashed 6–0. This match turned out to be manager

's final match in charge of Australia, with his sacking coming shortly after the conclusion of the match. Langerak made his second appearance for Australia against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, a match which Australia won 3–0.. Langerak was included in the 23 man squad going to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. He was also included in Australia's final list for

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015. The tournament was ...

, which was held in Australia, but he didn't play a single match. In May 2021, having represented Australia eight times, Langerak announced his retirement from international football due to wanting to remain with his family during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In September 2022, Langerak came out of international retirement ahead of the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

, following relaxation of restrictions on international travel, but was not selected for the World Cup squad.

Honours

Club

;Melbourne Victory *

A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup The A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup competition was an annual soccer tournament held for all A-League clubs in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The competition featured a group stage and a knockout stage. Co ...

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; ...

A-League Championship A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professionalism in association football, professional men's association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Austral ...

: 2008–09 * A-League Premiership: 2008–09 ;Borussia Dortmund *

, 2011–12 *

: 2011–12 * 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 fact ...

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 ...

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 competit ...

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 ...

;VfB Stuttgart * 2. Bundesliga: 2016–17 ;Nagoya Grampus *

J.League Cup The is a Japanese football (soccer) competition organized by J.League. It has been sponsored by Yamazaki Biscuits (YBC) of Yamazaki Baking (formerly Yamazaki Nabisco) since its inception in 1992. It is also known as the or (Levain is one of YB ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

International

;Australia U20 *

AFF U-19 Youth Championship The AFF U-19 Youth Championship is an annual international football competition contested by the national teams of the members of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and occasionally invited nations from the rest of Asia. The tournament was pre ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

;Australia *

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

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 Apri ...

Individual

* PFA Harry Kewell Medal: 2009–10 *

J.League MVP of the month The Meiji Yasuda J.League KONAMI Monthly MVP is an association football award that recognises the best player each month of the season in the J1 League, J2 League, and J3 League. The first awards were given in the 2013 season to J1 League and J2 ...

: December 2020, September 2021 *

J.League Best XI The J.League Best XI is an acknowledgement of the best eleven players in J.League. J1 League (1993–present) Multiple appearances Appearances by club Appearances by country * Only in two occasions there was a full-Japanese Best XI (20 ...

Records

* J.League 1 most clean sheets in a season: 21 (2021) * Longest consecutive run without conceding a goal in J.League 1 : 823 minutes

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Langerak, Mitchell 1988 births Living people Australian people of Dutch descent Australian soccer players Australia international soccer players Australia under-20 international soccer players Association football goalkeepers Australian expatriate soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Australian expatriate sportspeople in Spain VfB Stuttgart players Levante UD footballers Borussia Dortmund players Borussia Dortmund II players South Melbourne FC players A-League Men players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Australian Institute of Sport soccer players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Spain People from Bundaberg AFC Asian Cup-winning players 2019 AFC Asian Cup players