Kevin Großkreutz (born 19 July 1988) is a German former professional footballer who plays as a right back and winger for TuS Bövinghausen in the amateur-level Oberliga Westfalen. He made his senior debut at Rot Weiss Ahlen, and in 2009 joined Borussia Dortmund of the Bundesliga, making 233 appearances for them across all competitions and scoring 27 goals. His honours during his time at the Westfalenstadion included two consecutive Bundesliga titles, including a double in 2012. In summer 2015, after featuring sparingly at Borussia Dortmund, Großkreutz moved to Süper Lig club Galatasaray where he did not make a single appearance in half a season. He returned to the Bundesliga signing with VfB Stuttgart in January 2016. In March 2017 his contract was terminated after he was involved in a bar fight. A month later, he joined

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 ...

side

Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was briefly known as ''Rasen-Sp ...

. After one season with Darmstadt 98, he spent two seasons with KFC Uerdingen 05 in the

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

before announcing his retirement in January 2021. A full international for Germany between 2010 and 2014, he was part of their team which won 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 ...

Club career

Early career

Großkreutz began his career with the Dortmund clubs DJK Rot-Weiß Obereving, VfL Kemminghausen and FC Merkur 07. In 2002, he joined Borussia Dortmund, where he played until he moved to Rot Weiss Ahlen. Promoted to first team in 2006, he led the club to promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in 2008. He scored 12 goals and was named in the German sports magazine's '' kicker'' XI of the year. Großkreutz performed in the 2nd tier of the German league pyramid well too and went up to the German top-flight after the 2008-09 season.

Borussia Dortmund

He opened his account with Dortmund on 5 December 2009 in a 4–0 victory over

1. FC Nürnberg 1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bund ...

. Sven Bender provided him with a diagonal pass that Großkreutz tucked past

Alexander Stephan Alexander Stephan (August 16, 1946 – May 29, 2009) was a specialist in German literature and area studies. He was a professor, Ohio Eminent Scholar, and Senior Fellow of the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at Ohio State Uni ...

in goal to give Dortmund a 1–0 lead on eight minutes. Großkreutz opened his goalscoring account for the new season on 22 September 2010, finishing a nice play as Dortmund thrashed 1. FC Kaiserslautern 5–0. In the following round of fixtures, Dortmund faced promoted side FC St. Pauli at the Millerntor-Stadion in Hamburg. Großkreutz scored two goals on either side of a Shinji Kagawa strike as Dortmund won 3–1 with Großkreutz being named man of the match. On 29 November 2010, Großkreutz signed a four-year contract extension to stay with Dortmund until July 2014. He was involved in all three goals on 14 January 2011, scoring two and providing an assist for Mario Götze, as Dortmund defeated Bayer Leverkusen 3–1 at the BayArena. Großkreutz had a phenomenal second season with Dortmund, netting eight goals and managing seven assists as ''die Borussen'' lifted the Bundesliga title. Großkreutz figured in Borussia Dortmund's 4–2 victory over Bayern Munich on 27 July 2013, at BVB's Signal Iduna Park,

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

to lift 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 ...

. On 11 December 2013, Großkreutz scored the winning goal away to Marseille in a 2–1 UEFA Champions League win to qualify Dortmund for the knockout phase. From April to August 2015, Großkreutz was demoted to

Borussia Dortmund II Borussia Dortmund II are the reserve team of Borussia Dortmund. They play in the 3. Liga, at Stadion Rote Erde. Until 2005, the team played as Borussia Dortmund Amateure. History From Kreisliga to Oberliga (Until 1997) The second team of Boruss ...

, for whom he played 6 times in lower divisions. In September 2015 he was sold to Galatasaray. However, the deal was not completed before the closure of the transfer window.

Galatasaray

On 2 September 2015, it was announced by FIFA that Galatasaray had failed to submit the relevant documentation for Großkreutz before the transfer window closed. As a result FIFA refused to sanction Großkreutz's proposed move from Borussia Dortmund to Galatasaray, and the player was ineligible to play any matches until 1 January 2016. Großkreutz signed a three-year contract worth an average of about €1.6 million per season, plus €20,000 per match bonus. Dortmund received a €1.5 million transfer fee and an extra €250,000 if Galatasaray qualified for the UEFA Champions League.

VfB Stuttgart

On 6 January 2016, having not made a single competitive appearance for Galatasaray, Großkreutz returned to Germany to join VfB Stuttgart for about €2.2 million. On 3 March 2017, the contract of Großkreutz was mutually terminated hours after he got into a bar fight. Großkreutz said in a statement on the club website that he "made a mistake" and he wants "nothing to do with football for the time being."

Darmstadt 98

In April 2017, one month after his departure from VfB Stuttgart, Großkreutz signed with

club

SV Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was briefly known as ''Rasen-Spo ...

for the 2017–18 season until 2019. He gave his pre-season debut in a warm-up fixture against SG Modau on 23 June 2017.

KFC Uerdingen

On 5 July 2018, Großkreutz joined KFC Uerdingen 05. His contract was terminated by the club in October 2020. On 24 January 2021, Großkreutz announced his retirement from professional football.

TuS Bövinghausen

On 26 January 2021, Großkreutz joined TuS Bövinghausen in the sixth-tier Westfalenliga. At the end of the 2021–22 season, the club was promoted to the fifth-tier Oberliga Westfalen. On 27 August 2022, Großkreutz extended his contract with the club until 2025.

International career

Großkreutz made his full international debut in a friendly match against Malta on 13 May 2010, helping set up striker Cacau for one of his two goals in a 3–0 win. He next appeared for Germany as a starter against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in a 0–0 draw on 18 November 2010. In June 2014, he was named in Germany's squad for the

. Germany went on to win the tournament, though Großkreutz did not make any appearance during the competition. His sixth and last cap came later in this summer in an international friendly against World Cup final opponent Argentina.

Personal life

Großkreutz is a lifelong Borussia Dortmund supporter, growing up and living in the Dortmund area until his move away from the club.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Kevin Großkreutz 2014 FIFA World Cup (cropped)

Borussia Dortmund * Bundesliga:

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 ...

, 2011–12 * DFB-Pokal: 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 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 * FIFA World Cup:

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grosskreutz, Kevin 1988 births Living people Footballers from Dortmund German footballers Association football midfielders Rot Weiss Ahlen players Borussia Dortmund players Galatasaray S.K. footballers VfB Stuttgart players SV Darmstadt 98 players KFC Uerdingen 05 players Oberliga (football) players Regionalliga players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Germany under-21 international footballers Germany international footballers 2014 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players German expatriate footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Outfield association footballers who played in goal