Ulrike Mertesacker ( Stange; born 25 April 1984) is a German former professional

handball player Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

. She played for several top-flight handball clubs and the Germany national team in her seven years as a professional. Since 2011 she has lived in London with her husband, Arsenal Academy manager and retired footballer Per Mertesacker, and last played for amateur side

Thames Handball Club Thames Handball Club is an amateur handball club founded in 2005 in London, UK. It is affiliated to the England Handball Association and currently runs competitive men’s Team handball, handball team in Development leagues. The women's team volun ...

Early life

Stange began playing handball from an early age as her mother and grandmother were both former handball players. At the age of 14, she moved to Leipzig to join

HC Leipzig HC Leipzig is a women's handball club based in Leipzig, Germany. They play in Handball-Bundesliga Frauen and are often competing in the EHF Women's Champions League, the now defunct EHF Women's Cup Winners' Cup, which merged with the Women' ...

's youth academy and boarded at the Landesgymnasium für Sport Leipzig, one of the region's most elite sports gymnasiums.

Club career

From 1998 to 2003, and again from 2005 onwards, Stange played on the right wing position at Handball-Bundesliga club

. Between 2003 und 2005 she was on loan to Borussia Dortmund. In 2009 she won with HC Leipzig the German championship. That same year she chose not to see out the final year of her contract and opted to move to

VfL Oldenburg VfL Oldenburg is a German sports club from the town of Oldenburg, Lower Saxony which is best known for its football team, which plays in the Niedersachsenliga, the fifth level of the German football league system. The club has over 2,000 mem ...

to be nearer to her partner (later husband), German footballer Per Mertesacker, who was then playing for

SV 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, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

. In October 2010 Stange announced her decision quit professional handball due to her pregnancy. She played for amateur club

in London, where she resides with her family, prior to the birth of her second child.

International career

Stange made her international debut for the Germany national team on 4 March 2005 against Croatia. She missed out on the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during a pre-tournament friendly against Cuba. She has 38 caps (63 goals). Stange and her husband were named as ambassadors for the

2017 World Women's Handball Championship The 2017 IHF World Women's Handball Championship, the 23rd event hosted by the International Handball Federation, was held in Germany from 1 to 17 December 2017. Germany was the only applicant for this championship. Germany was host of the World C ...

hosted by Germany.

Personal life

Stange married German footballer Per Mertesacker on 22 June 2013. and they have two sons (born April 2011 and May 2014). They began a relationship after first meeting in 2008 while both were recovering from injury at a rehab clinic in Donaustauf.

Honours and awards

* German Championship Winner 2006, 2009 * DHB-Cup (Women) Winner 2006, 2007, 2008 * DHB-Supercup Winner 2008, 2009 * German Runner-up (U18) 2001, 2003 * 2. Place Junior European Championships 2001 * 3. Place Women's World Championships * 2. Place EHA Cup England Handball Association 2012 * 2. Place Super 7 League England Handball Association 2013

References

External links

Profile at dhb.de
German female handball players 1984 births Living people People from Oschatz Sportspeople from Saxony Wives and girlfriends of association football players {{Germany-handball-bio-stub