Sami Khedira

Sami Khedira

Khedira playing for Germany in 2011
Personal information
Full name Sami Khedira[1]
Date of birth (1987-04-04) 4 April 1987[1]
Place of birth Stuttgart, West Germany
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Playing position Central midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Juventus
Number 6
Youth career
1992–1995 TV Oeffingen
1995–2004 VfB Stuttgart
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2004–2006 VfB Stuttgart II 21 (1)
2006–2010 VfB Stuttgart 98 (14)
2010–2015 Real Madrid 102 (6)
2015– Juventus 20 (5)
National team‡
2003–2004 Germany U17 10 (2)
2007–2009 Germany U21 15 (5)
2009– Germany 58 (5)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 April 2016.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 March 2016

Sami Khedira (German pronunciation: [ˈsaːmiː xeˈdiːʁaː]; Arabic: سامي خضيرة‎; born 4 April 1987) is a German footballer who plays for Juventus and the German national team as a central midfielder. He is considered a dynamic midfielder with "flawless aerial ability" who can cover a lot of ground, recover the ball and quickly join in the team attack with his powerful mid-range shooting.[3]

He began his career at VfB Stuttgart, winning the Bundesliga in 2007, before moving to Real Madrid in 2010. In his five seasons in Spain, he won seven domestic and international trophies, including the UEFA Champions League in 2014. In 2015, he moved to Italian side Juventus on a free transfer, and immediately won the Serie A title in his first season with the club.

A full international for Germany since 2009, Khedira has earned over 50 caps for the national team. He was part of their squads which reached the semi-finals at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012, and won the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

VfB Stuttgart

Before joining the youth team of VfB Stuttgart in 1995, he played at TV Oeffingen. In the first months of the 2006–07 season, he was called up into VfB's Bundesliga squad by manager Armin Veh. His debut followed on 1 October 2006 against Hertha BSC, replacing Antônio da Silva at the end of the 2–2 away draw. He scored his first two goals on 29 October in the 3–0 win against Schalke 04 at the Mercedes-Benz-Arena. On 29 January 2007 he signed his first professional contract at VfB, valid until June 2009.[4] In the last game of the season on 19 May, Khedira scored the winner as Die Schwaben came from behind to defeat Energie Cottbus 2–1 and became champions for the first time in 15 years.[5]

On 9 July 2008, he extended his contract until the summer of 2011.[6] In the ensuing season, he scored a career-best 7 league goals in 27 games, including both in a 2–2 draw against Bayern Munich on 13 December.[7]

Real Madrid

Khedira running past Atlético Madrid's Arda Turan in the Madrid derby in September 2013.

On 30 July 2010, Khedira moved to Real Madrid for an undisclosed fee, signing a contract until 2015.[8] Khedira made his debut on 13 August in a friendly match against FC Bayern Munich, which Real Madrid won 4–2 on penalties for the Franz-Beckenbauer-Cup. His league debut came sixteen days later, in a 0–0 away draw against Mallorca.[9] He made 40 appearances across his first season in Spain and won his first club honour on 20 April 2011 as his team won the Copa del Rey final against El Clásico rivals FC Barcelona.

He scored his first competitive goal for Real Madrid in the Champions League, on 18 October 2011 against Olympique Lyonnais. He scored his first Copa del Rey goal against Málaga CF in a 3–2 home win when Real Madrid were trailing behind 0–2, and his first league goal against RCD Espanyol in a 5–0 home win.

On 21 April 2012, Khedira scored his second league goal, against Barcelona; the goal was Real Madrid's 108th of the season in the league, breaking the previous La Liga record of 107, also set by them in the 1989–90 season.[10]

Juventus

On 9 June 2015, Italian side Juventus announced that Khedira had signed a four-year deal on a free transfer. The move was completed on 1 July, at the start of the 2015–16 season.[11][12]

On 1 August, Khedira was stretchered off the pitch after just 25 minutes while playing in a pre-season friendly match against Marseille with a hamstring injury and was ruled out of the Supercoppa Italiana a week later against Lazio.[13][14] Two days later Juventus confirmed that it was actually a muscle tear in his right thigh, and that he would be sidelined for approximately two months.[15] He was called back to action on 30 September as he started in a Champions League group stage match in a 2–0 win over Sevilla.[16] On 4 October, Khedira made his Serie A debut, starting and scoring the final goal of a 3–1 home win against Bologna in the 63rd minute.[17]

On 20 March 2016, Khedira scored his fourth goal of the league season in a 4–1 win at Torino in the Derby della Mole, but was given a straight red card for dissent later on.[18]

International career

Khedira playing for the Germany national football team.

Youth teams and debut

Khedira has appeared 30 times in several German youth national teams, he captained the side during the European Under-21 Championship 2009, which Germany has won in the final against England 4–0.

Khedira made his debut for the senior national squad on 5 September 2009 in a friendly match against South Africa. He was substituted on in the 73rd minute for Simon Rolfes.

World Cup 2010

He was called up to the Germany squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa by coach Joachim Löw. Filling in for injured Michael Ballack as Central midfielder, he played in all seven matches, and was only substituted twice. After appearances in five friendlies prior to the World Cup, he made his first competitive match against Australia in Germany's first group game. On 10 July 2010, with his first international goal on senior level, he scored Germany's 16th and last goal of the tournament in the third place match against Uruguay. This game-winning header eight minutes from time ensured the final 3–2 score and won the young German team the bronze medal.[19]

Euro 2012

Khedira was in the starting lineup in eight qualification matches for Euro 2012, helping Germany top their group with a record ten wins out of ten matches. He featured in every minute of their run to the semi-finals, scoring in the 4–2 quarter-final win over Greece at the PGE Arena Gdańsk, and was selected for the Team of the Tournament.[20]

World Cup 2014

Khedira playing against Bernard at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Khedira tore his ACL in his right knee in a friendly match against Italy on 15 November 2013 and was estimated be out for around six months, which put his participation at the 2014 FIFA World Cup into question.[21] However, he recovered in time to be named in Germany's squad for the tournament,[22] and was selected to start in the team's opening match, a 4–0 win against Portugal.[23] On 8 July, he scored Germany's fifth goal in the 7–1 semi-final defeat of Brazil.[24] He was injured during the pre-match warmup for the Final against Argentina, and was replaced by Christoph Kramer,[25] as Germany eventually won 1–0 after extra time.[26]

Personal life

Khedira was born in Stuttgart. His father is Tunisian and his mother is German.[27] Sami's younger brother Rani plays for RB Leipzig[28] and is a member of the Germany U19 team.[29]

Khedira has been dating German fashion model Lena Gercke since May 2011.[30] Both were featured in a February 2012 GQ cover story.[31]

Club statistics

As of 24 April 2016.
ClubSeasonLeagueCup1Continental2Other3TotalRef.
LeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Stuttgart II2004–05Regionalliga Süd50—50[32]
2005–067070[33]
2006–079191[34]
Totals211—211—
Stuttgart2006–07Bundesliga22440—264[34]
2007–08241405010341[35][36]
2008–092772081—378[37][38]
2009–102522180353[39]
Totals98141212111013216—
Real Madrid2010–11La Liga2507080—400[40]
2011–12282418120424[40]
2012–132536111020444[40]
2013–141310050—181[40]
2014–15110302010170[40]
Totals1026202341501619—
Juventus2015–16Serie A 20 5 1 0 4000 25 5 [40]
Career totals 241 26 33 3 59 2 6 0 339 31

Honours

Khedira celebrates winning the Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart in 2007

Club

Stuttgart[41]
Real Madrid[41]
Juventus[41]

Country

Germany[41]
Germany U-21

References

  1. 1 2 "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 12 June 2010. p. 11. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "Sami Khedira". juventus.com.
  3. ↑ "Sami Khedira". Real Madrid C.F. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  4. ↑ "Origins are Irrelevant in Football – Portrait of Sami Khedira". Qantara.de. 21 February 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  5. ↑ "El Stuttgart se corona campeón alemán con su triunfo ante el Cottbus" [Stuttgart crown themselves German champions with their triumph against Cottbus] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 19 May 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Khedira signs until 2011". VfB Stuttgart. 9 July 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  7. ↑ "Rescata Stuttgart empate ante Bayern Munich" [Stuttgart rescue draw against Bayern Munich] (in Spanish). Televisa Deportes. 13 December 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "Terms agreed with Real Madrid". VfB Stuttgart. 30 July 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  9. ↑ "Report: Mallorca v Real Madrid". ESPN Soccernet. 30 August 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  10. ↑ Hayward, Ben (21 April 2012). "Real Madrid breaks all-time Liga goals record with Sami Khedira's Clasico strike against Barcelona". Goal.com. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  11. ↑ "Khedira signs for Juventus". juventus.com. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "Juventus sign Sami Khedira from Real Madrid on free transfer". The Guardian. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  13. ↑ "Khedira hamstring strain". Football Italia. 1 August 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  14. ↑ "Juventus midfielder Sami Khedira ruled out of Italian Super Cup". Eurosport. 1 August 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  15. ↑ Gladwell, Ben (3 August 2015). "Juventus midfielder Sami Khedira out for two months with thigh injury". ESPN FC. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  16. ↑ "Sami Khedira impresses on debut as Juventus are too canny for Sevilla". The Guardian. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  17. ↑ "Juventus-Bologna: 3–1". BBC Sport. 4 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "Torino 1-4 Juventus". BBC Sport. 20 March 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  19. ↑ "Khedira completes comeback". ESPN Soccernet. 10 July 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  20. ↑ "UEFA EURO 2012 Team of the Tournament". UEFA. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  21. ↑ "DFB confirms Sami Khedira blow". espnfc.com. 16 November 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  22. ↑ "Germany World Cup 2014 squad". The Telegraph. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  23. ↑ "Germany 4-0 Portugal". BBC. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  24. ↑ "Brazil 1-7 Germany". BBC. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  25. ↑ "Khedira out of final, Kramer steps in". ESPN FC. 13 July 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  26. ↑ "Germany-Argentina: 1–0". BBC Sport. 13 July 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  27. ↑ "Deutsche Talente und ihre Alternativen" (in German). Kurier. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009.
  28. ↑ "Rani Khedira verlässt den VfB". vfb.de (in German). VfB Stuttgart. 17 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  29. ↑ "U 15-Junioren Team Nationalspieler Rani Khedira" (in German). Deutscher Fussball-Bund. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  30. ↑ "Ein Paar, sie sind ein Paar". RP Online. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  31. ↑ "Dream-Team". GQ. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  32. ↑ "Khedira, Sami" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  33. ↑ "Khedira, Sami" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  34. 1 2 "Khedira, Sami" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  35. ↑ "Khedira, Sami" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  36. ↑ "Sami Khedira" (in German). Fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  37. ↑ "Khedira, Sami" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  38. ↑ "Sami Khedira" (in German). Fussballdaten. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  39. ↑ "Khedira, Sami" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  40. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sami Khedira » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  41. 1 2 3 4 "S. Khedira". soccerway.com. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  42. 1 2 3 "Sami Khedira" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  43. ↑ "Der Traum ist wahr: Real gewinnt "La Décima"" (in German). kicker.de. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  44. ↑ Gartenschläger, Lars (6 June 2013). "Khedira, Özil, Neuer – Aufstieg der Euro-Helden" (in German). welt.de. Retrieved 17 July 2014.

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