Nadine Keßler (; born 4 April 1988) is a German retired

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 ...

and current

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

's head of women's football. She played 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 ...

and the German national team. Keßler was the recipient of the

FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representati ...

award at the

2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or The 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the fifth year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 12 January 2015. Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA Bal ...

Early life

Born in

Landstuhl Landstuhl () is a town in the Kaiserslautern district of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. It is the seat of ''Verbandsgemeinde Landstuhl'', a kind of "collective municipality." Landstuhl is situated on the north-west edge of the Palatinate F ...

, Keßler was raised in nearby Weselberg, where she attended kindergarten and primary school. As a youth, she began playing for boys clubs SV Herschberg, SV Hermersberg, and SC Weselberg. At the age of 16, she began playing for the female team

1. FC Saarbrücken 1. FC Saarbrücken (german: 1. Fußball-Club Saarbrücken e. V.) is a football club based in Saarbrücken, Saarland. The club plays in the 3. Liga, which is the third tier of football in Germany. The club began its existence as the football de ...

in the second division. From 2006 to 2007, she was the team's leading scorer. After graduating from high school in 2007, Keßler began basic training in the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

in October 2007. She was stationed in a sports promotion group at the Bundeswehr Sports School in Warendorf and held the rank of Corporal. She also attended the German University for Prevention and Health Management (DHfPG) where she received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

Health Economics Health economics is a branch of economics concerned with issues related to efficiency, effectiveness, value and behavior in the production and consumption of health and healthcare. Health economics is important in determining how to improv ...

in 2012. In 2014, she enrolled in the MBA program at DHfPG.

Club career

1. FFC Turbine Potsdam

Keßler signed with

1. FFC Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

in the top-division

Frauen Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the FLYERALARM Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. In 1990 the German Foo ...

in 2009 at the age of 21. She helped the team finish the regular season at the top of the league table with a record scoring 11 goals. The team clinched the

2009–10 UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League 2009–10 was the first edition of the newly branded tournament, and the ninth edition of a UEFA tournament for women's champion football clubs. For the first time the top 8 leagues of the UEFA were awarded two ...

after defeating Olympique Lyonnais in penalty kicks.

VfL Wolfsburg

In 2011, Keßler transferred to

. The team finished second during the 2011–12 regular season with a record. Keßler scored 11 goals tying for fourth in the league for most goals scored. During the 2012–13 season, Keßler scored eight goals helping Wolfsburg finish first during the regular season with a record. She captained the team to win the

2012–13 UEFA Champions League The 2012–13 UEFA Champions League was the 58th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 21st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pl ...

after defeating Olympique Lyonnais 1-0 in the final. In 2014, Keßler led Wolfsburg to championships in the

and

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

. Wolfsburg became the first German team in the history to win the treble of League, German Cup and Champions League. Keßler was awarded the

UEFA Best Women's Player in Europe Award The UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award (previously known as the UEFA Best Women's Player in Europe Award) is an association football award given to the female footballer that is considered the best player playing for a women's football club i ...

. She was awarded the FIFA Player of the Year award in January 2015 having received 17.52% of the vote over Marta (14.16%) and Abby Wambach (13.33%). Upon receiving the award, she said, "It's a reward for hard work, good performances and a good development track. I know it's a trophy for individuals, but I'd never have won it without my teammates." She signed a new one-year contract on 12 May 2015. She announced her retirement on 14 April 2016.

International career

Keßler represented Germany at the youth level on the under-15, 17, 19, and 20 teams from 2003 to 2008. She made her debut for the senior national team at the

2010 Algarve Cup The 2010 Algarve Cup was the seventeenth edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place between 24 February and 3 March 2010. It was won by the United States who defeated World and ...

on 26 February 2010 in a match against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

after coming on as a 46th-minute substitute for

Lena Goeßling Lena Goeßling (born 8 March 1986) is a German former footballer. She played as a midfielder. Career Club Goeßling began her career at her local football club SV Löhne-Obernbeck. She later joined FC Gütersloh 2000, where she won the German U ...

and scoring her first international goal in the 77th minute. Keßler played attacking midfielder for Germany during the 2013 UEFA Women's Euro helping the team win their sixth consecutive trophy with a 1–0 win over

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Keßler goal.''

Honours

1. FC Saarbrücken *

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

: 2006–07, 2008–09 *

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 ...

: runner-up 2007–08 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam *

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 ...

: 2009–10,

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. ...

: 2009–10 *

DFB-Hallenpokal The DFB-Hallenpokal, also known as Hallen-Masters (Indoor Championship), was a five-a-side indoor football competition which was held from 1988 to 2001 under the direction of the German Football Association (German: Deutscher Fußball-Bund, DFB). ...

: 2010 VfL Wolfsburg * Bundesliga:

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 ...

, 2013–14 * UEFA Women's Champions League:

, 2013–14 *

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 ...

, 2014–15 Germany *

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament for female players under the age of 17. It is organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The tournament is held in even-numbered ye ...

: Third place

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; ...

* UEFA Women's U-19 Championship: 2006, 2007 *

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years, is the main competition in women's association football between national teams of the UEFA confederation. The competition is the women's equivalen ...

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 ...

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious an ...

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 ...

*U-17-Nordic-Cup: 2005 Individual *

Fritz Walter Medal The Fritz Walter Medal is a series of annual awards given by the German Football Association to youth footballers in Germany. First awarded in 2005, it is named in honour of Fritz Walter, captain of West Germany's 1954 FIFA World Cup-winning tea ...

: Silver 2006 *

: 2014 *

: 2014 * IFFHS World's Women Best Playmaker: 2014 * IFFHS UEFA Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kessler, Nadine 1988 births Living people German women's footballers 1. FC Saarbrücken (women) players 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam players VfL Wolfsburg (women) players Women's association football midfielders Germany women's international footballers FIFA World Player of the Year winners UEFA Women's Championship-winning players People from Landstuhl Footballers from Rhineland-Palatinate