41 Facts About Per Mertesacker

1.

Per Mertesacker is a German football coach and former professional player who played as a centre back.

2.

Per Mertesacker is the current manager of the Arsenal Academy.

3.

Per Mertesacker was dubbed "the Defence Pole" by German tabloids, and gained a reputation for his exceptional disciplinary record, going 31 league games without being booked.

4.

At Arsenal, Per Mertesacker quickly established himself as the first-choice centre back for the club, becoming a mainstay despite sharing several defensive partners over his first two seasons.

5.

Per Mertesacker eventually built up a solid relationship with fellow defender Laurent Koscielny, and the duo would star as Arsenal ended their nine-year trophy drought by winning the 2014 FA Cup.

6.

At national level, Per Mertesacker played for Germany at the under-20 and under-21 levels, prior to debuting for the senior side in 2004 against Iran.

7.

Per Mertesacker would retire from international competition following this win.

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8.

The second of three sons, Per Mertesacker was raised in Pattensen, a small town on the outskirts of the city of Hanover.

9.

Per Mertesacker began playing football alongside his brothers at the local amateur club TSV Pattensen before joining Hannover 96, where their father was a part-time coach.

10.

Per Mertesacker joined the youth system of Hannover 96 where he played under his father Stefan, one of the youth coaches, until age 15.

11.

Per Mertesacker was not seen as an exceptional player at that time and had thought about changing sports.

12.

Per Mertesacker returned to the first team during the latter half of the season and contributed to Hannover 96's successful battle against relegation.

13.

The slender Per Mertesacker was dubbed "the Defence Pole" by German tabloids and gained a reputation for his good disciplinary record.

14.

Per Mertesacker has only been booked twice during his entire career at Hannover.

15.

Per Mertesacker later started a temporary account through his foundation to collect donations for Enke's widow.

16.

In October 2018, Per Mertesacker returned to Hanover for his charity-cum-testimonial match, which featured his former teammates from Hannover 96 facing off against a "World XI" team composed of his former teammates from Arsenal, Werder Bremen and the Germany national team.

17.

Per Mertesacker was ever present for the rest of the season until injury forced him off in the UEFA Cup semifinal second leg against Bundesliga rivals Hamburg.

18.

Per Mertesacker was ruled out for the rest of the season, as well as the UEFA Cup final loss against Shakhtar Donetsk and DFB-Pokal final, which they won.

19.

Per Mertesacker scored four goals in all competitions, including a crucial equalizer against VfL Wolfsburg.

20.

Per Mertesacker played 33 Bundesliga matches in total, scoring five goals in the process.

21.

Per Mertesacker averaged less than one foul per game, cementing his reputation as an astute reader of the game, defying critics' predictions that his height would render him clumsy and having a tendency to frequently concede fouls.

22.

Per Mertesacker was presented the number 4 shirt previously worn by former team captain Cesc Fabregas.

23.

Per Mertesacker remained an integral part of Arsene Wenger's first team, playing in every one of Arsenal's available Premier League fixtures over the next month.

24.

Per Mertesacker scored his first goal of the season against Stoke following a free-kick from compatriot Mesut Ozil.

25.

On 4 March 2014, Per Mertesacker signed a new contract with Arsenal.

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26.

On 12 April 2014, Per Mertesacker scored an 82nd-minute equalising goal for Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final against Wigan Athletic.

27.

Per Mertesacker scoring the third goal, a header, during the second half.

28.

On 24 January 2016, in a match against London rivals Chelsea, Per Mertesacker was sent off after 18 minutes for a late tackle on Diego Costa, who later scored the only goal of the game at Emirates.

29.

Per Mertesacker was a second-half substitute on the last day against Everton.

30.

Per Mertesacker made his debut less than two weeks after his 20th birthday when he came on as a second-half substitute for Christian Worns.

31.

At the 2006 World Cup on home soil, Per Mertesacker paired with Metzelder in central defence.

32.

Per Mertesacker was first-choice when fit during 2008 European Championship qualification and was ever present in the final tournament itself.

33.

Per Mertesacker was called up for the 2012 European Championship but spent the whole tournament on the bench as an unused substitute due to the emergence of youngsters Mats Hummels and Holger Badstuber.

34.

Per Mertesacker broke his seven-year goal drought for the national team when he scored his second international goal for Germany on 17 October 2012, in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Sweden.

35.

Per Mertesacker was called up for the final World Cup squad and played in all but one of the matches during Germany's successful run to the final, as well as reaching his 100th cap during the group stage match against Ghana.

36.

On 15 August 2014, Per Mertesacker announced his retirement from international football.

37.

Several days later Per Mertesacker uploaded a picture of himself in an ice bath on his Twitter account as a tongue-in-cheek response.

38.

Per Mertesacker launched a coaching programme as part of the club's partnership with Save the Children in the Zaatari refugee camp to provide football pitches and training for coaches specifically in the area of detecting PTSD symptoms.

39.

Per Mertesacker often uses his strength to shrug opponents off the ball and his standing tackling ability to win balls.

40.

Per Mertesacker possesses solid technique, is a good defensive organizer, and a neat distributor of the ball.

41.

Per Mertesacker met his future wife German international handballer Ulrike Stange in 2008 while both were recovering from injury at a rehab clinic in Donaustauf and began a relationship not long after.