Nadine Keßler (; born 4 April 1988) is a German retired footballer and current UEFA's head of women's football. She played for VfL Wolfsburg and the

German national team German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

. Keßler was the recipient of the FIFA World Player of the Year award at the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or.

Early life

Born in Landstuhl, Keßler was raised in nearby

Weselberg Weselberg is a municipality in the Wallhalben municipality of the Südwestpfalz district of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. The sister portion of the town on the western outskirts is Zeselberg. The chief economic activity is agriculture. The ...

, 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 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 in Health Economics 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 in the top-division Frauen Bundesliga 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 e ...

after defeating

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, th ...

in penalty kicks.

VfL Wolfsburg

In 2011, Keßler transferred to VfL Wolfsburg. 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 p ...

after defeating Olympique Lyonnais 1-0 in the final. In 2014, Keßler led Wolfsburg to championships in the Frauen Bundesliga and UEFA Women's Champions League. 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. She was awarded the

FIFA 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 representativ ...

award in January 2015 having received 17.52% of the vote over

Marta Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) :István Márta composer * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river), an ...

(14.16%) and

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on the U.S. women's natio ...

(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 on 26 February 2010 in a match against Finland after coming on as a 46th-minute substitute for Lena Goeßling 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.

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

* UEFA Women's Champions League: 2009–10 * DFB-Hallenpokal: 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:

, 2014–15 Germany * FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup: 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 The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, is a competition in women's football for European national teams of players under 19 years of age. National under-19 teams whose countries belong to the ...

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 ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

* UEFA Women's Championship:

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 ...

* Algarve Cup:

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: Silver 2006 * UEFA Best Women's Player in Europe Award: 2014 * FIFA World Player of the Year: 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