Roman Weidenfeller (born 6 August 1980) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for

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 ...

clubs

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern () or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club also operates in sev ...

and

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 fo ...

, as well as the German national team. Weidenfeller spent 16 seasons with Dortmund and managed to win both the Bundesliga and

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 ...

twice. In 2014, he won the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

with Germany.

Club career

Early career

During his youth years, Weidenfeller played for Sportfreunde Eisbachtal. He then made his professional debut in 1997, after his performances at the 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship.

Kaiserslautern

In 1998, Weidenfeller transferred to the

youth team and later was used in the second team. For the 2000/01 Bundesliga season he was promoted to the first team but made only six league appearances in two years.

Borussia Dortmund

Weidenfeller moved to

in 2002 on a free transfer as a possible replacement for

Jens Lehmann Jens Gerhard Lehmann (; born 10 November 1969) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was a member of Arsenal's " Invincibles", playing every match of their unbeaten title-winning season. He holds the UEFA Ch ...

, who had moved to Arsenal in 2003. Weidenfeller had reportedly been unhappy at Kaiserslautern, where he was used mainly as a backup to Georg Koch. His debut for Dortmund came on 17 December 2003 against his former club, Kaiserslautern, in a 1–0 loss. In 2005, Weidenfeller underwent surgery following a meniscus tear in his left knee during training. Early in the 2007–08 season, Weidenfeller was given a three match ban and fined €10,000 for racist insults leveled against

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

striker Gerald Asamoah. Asamoah originally reported Weidenfeller after a match on 18 August 2007 between the two clubs, where the incident occurred after a clash between the two in the 51st minute. Weidenfeller offered an apology to Asamoah following the news reports but denied making the statement. Weidenfeller won the Bundesliga with Dortmund in 2011 and went on to win the Bundesliga and

double with the club in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, saving a penalty taken by

Arjen Robben Arjen Robben (; born 23 January 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger. He was known for his dribbling skills, speed, ball control and long-range shots. Robben is regarded as one of the best players of his gener ...

in the Bundesliga-clinching match. In the DFB-Pokal final, he was substituted in the 33rd minute due to a collision 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 ...

. On 6 May 2013, Weidenfeller signed a contract extension with Borussia Dortmund, keeping him at the club until 2016. On 27 July 2013, Weidenfeller 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– ...

with Dortmund 4–2 against rivals Bayern Munich. However, 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 ...

leaving at the end of the 2014/15 season, the replacement manager

Thomas Tuchel Thomas Tuchel (; born 29 August 1973) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Premier League club Chelsea. Born in Krumbach, Tuchel retired at age 25 after a chronic knee cartilage injury; in 2000, he b ...

chose new signing Roman Bürki as his first choice goalkeeper as Dortmund began the season in excellent form, winning their first eleven games under Tuchel. Weidenfeller would continue to play in the club's European matches. On 5 February 2016, Weidenfeller signed a new one-year deal with Borussia, keeping him at the club until 2017. On 9 May 2017, he extended his contract until 2018. At the end of the season 2017–18, he finished after his substitution for goalkeeper Bürki on 34 Matchday his active career, but will continue to work in another capacity at Dortmund. His farewell match took place on September 7, 2018 in the Signal Iduna Park where Roman & Friends won against the BVB All Stars and Weidenfeller scored two goals. Following Weidenfeller's retirement, he remained at Borussia Dortmund as an international ambassador.

International career

In November 2013, Weidenfeller was called up to the German national squad for his first time for the friendlies against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

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 b ...

. He received his first cap when he started against England at the

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

on 19 November 2013, making him the oldest ever German goalkeeper débutant. He then appeared for the game against

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, where the game ended tied at 2–2. He made his third appearance in the next game against

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

where Germany won 6–1. Both games were international friendlies. He was nominated as a reserve keeper behind

Manuel Neuer Manuel Peter Neuer (; born 27 March 1986) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper and captains both club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the ...

for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, where the German team won the title a fourth time, but Weidenfeller wasn't used in any match. Weidenfeller made his first appearance for the German national team in a competitive match against

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

during the

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

in June 2015. His international farewell came with this match after winning five caps in total.

Honours

Borussia Dortmund *

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. ...

, 2011–12 *

: 2011–12, 2016–17 * 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 fa ...

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 competi ...

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 ...

Germany U16 *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain national under ...

third place:

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Germany *

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 ...

Career statistics

Club

*1.Includes German Cup *2.Includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Intertoto Cup *3.Includes German League Cup and German Super Cup

International

:Source:

References

External links

* * * * *
Roman Weidenfeller football profile
from

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UK * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weidenfeller, Roman 1980 births Living people Association football goalkeepers German footballers Germany under-21 international footballers Germany B international footballers Borussia Dortmund players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players 1. FC Kaiserslautern II players Bundesliga players Germany international footballers 2014 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players German Roman Catholics Borussia Dortmund non-playing staff