Gonzalo Castro
Castro with VfB Stuttgart in 2018
Personal information
Full name Gonzalo Castro Randón
Date of birth (1987-06-11) 11 June 1987 (age 36)
Place of birth Wuppertal, West Germany
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Post SV Wuppertal
Viktoria Rott
0000–1999 Bayer Wuppertal
1999–2005 Bayer Leverkusen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2006 Bayer Leverkusen II 10 (3)
2004–2015 Bayer Leverkusen 286 (25)
2015–2018 Borussia Dortmund 72 (6)
2018–2021 VfB Stuttgart 79 (9)
2021–2022 Arminia Bielefeld 12 (1)
Total 459 (44)
International career
2005 Spain U19 1 (0)
2006–2009 Germany U21 21 (3)
2007 Germany 5 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Germany
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Winner 2009 Sweden
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gonzalo Castro Randón (born 11 June 1987) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.[2] He is also a former Germany international.

Club career

Bayer Leverkusen

Castro before coming on in a match in 2012

Born in Wuppertal to Spanish parents, he began his career with Post SV Wuppertal. Other clubs during his youth were Viktoria Rott and SV Bayer Wuppertal.[citation needed] In 1999, he moved to Bayer 04 Leverkusen. At 17, he played his first game for the Leverkusen senior team in the Bundesliga and in the Champions League.[3] In his first year, he played the last 13 matches of the season.[citation needed] He played 21 times in the 2005–06 season as a substitute.[citation needed] From 2006, Castro moved from midfield to the back four of Leverkusen and played with solid performances in the starting eleven.[citation needed] For four years in a row he largely held his place. Only in the 2010–11 season, he saw his place on the right side of defence contested by Daniel Schwaab. Since the 2012–13 season, Castro has again played in midfield.[citation needed]

Castro trained as a sports and fitness administrator at Bayer 04 Leverkusen.[citation needed]

Borussia Dortmund

On 24 May 2015, it was announced that Castro would join Borussia Dortmund after a transfer release clause of 11 million was met, signing a four-year deal.[4] On 28 October, Castro scored a brace in a 7–1 win against Paderborn in the second round of the DFB-Pokal. On 29 November, Castro scored his first league goal for Dortmund in a 4–1 win over VfB Stuttgart.[5] On 20 April 2016, he was one of three goalscorers as Borussia won 3–0 away at Hertha BSC in the semi-final of the same competition to reach the 2016 DFB-Pokal Final.[6] In March 2017, the club extended his contract until 30 June 2020.[7]

VfB Stuttgart

On 29 June 2018, Castro signed a three-year-contract with VfB Stuttgart, enabling him to join the club on 1 July 2018.[8]

Arminia Bielefeld

On 21 December 2021, Castro signed for Arminia Bielefeld on a contract until the end of the season with an option to extend the deal for a further year.[9]

In September 2022, after his contract with Arminia was not renewed, Castro announced his retirement from professional football.[10]

International career

In his youth, Castro was invited by the Spanish Football Federation to several courses.[11] He played a single match for a Spanish junior selection and chose at the age of 18 to play for the German Football Association.[12][13] Castro has played for the German national U-21 team at the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.[14] After three test caps at the beginning of 2006, Castro gained a place in the German squad for the finals of the U-21 European Championship 2006 in Portugal. There he delivered solid performances. His biggest footballing success was winning the U-21 Championship 2009 in Sweden under coach Horst Hrubesch. In a 4–0 victory in the final against England, Castro scored the first goal in the 23rd minute.[citation needed]

In the European Championship qualifier against the Czech Republic on 24 March 2007, Castro was called up to the senior squad for the first time and four days later, he made his debut against Denmark. Following this, Castro would never again feature in the national squad.[3]

Career statistics

Club

Castro with Borussia Dortmund in 2015
Club Season League Cup Continental Other1 Total Ref.
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bayer Leverkusen 2004–05 Bundesliga 13 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 14 0 [15]
2005–06 Bundesliga 21 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 26 0 [16]
2006–07 Bundesliga 26 3 1 0 11 0 1 0 39 3 [16]
2007–08 Bundesliga 33 1 1 0 11 0 — 45 1 [17]
2008–09 Bundesliga 27 2 6 0 — — 33 2 [18]
2009–10 Bundesliga 29 1 1 0 — — 30 1 [19]
2010–11 Bundesliga 23 3 1 0 8 3 — 32 6 [20]
2011–12 Bundesliga 31 2 1 0 8 0 — 40 2 [21]
2012–13 Bundesliga 31 6 3 0 6 2 — 40 8 [22]
2013–14 Bundesliga 30 5 3 0 6 0 — 39 5 [23]
2014–15 Bundesliga 22 2 3 0 7 0 — 32 2 [24]
Total 286 25 22 0 60 5 2 0 370 30 —
Bayer Leverkusen II 2005–06 Regionalliga Nord 10 3 — — — 10 3 [16]
Borussia Dortmund 2015–16 Bundesliga 25 3 5 3 11 1 — 41 7 [25]
2016–17 Bundesliga 28 3 6 0 7 1 1 0 42 4 [26]
2017–18 Bundesliga 19 0 2 1 6 0 1 0 28 1 [27]
Total 72 6 13 4 24 2 2 0 111 12 —
VfB Stuttgart 2018–19 Bundesliga 25 2 1 0 — 2 0 28 2 [28]
2019–20 2. Bundesliga 28 3 3 0 — — 31 3 [29]
2020–21 Bundesliga 26 4 2 0 — 0 0 28 4 [30]
Total 79 9 6 0 — 2 0 87 9 —
Arminia Bielefeld 2021–22 Bundesliga 12 1 0 0 — — 12 1 [31]
Career total 459 44 41 4 84 7 6 0 590 55 —

Honours

Bayer Leverkusen[32]
Borussia Dortmund
Germany U21[33]

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Borussia Dortmund".
  2. ^ Haslam, Andrew (14 June 2009). "Castro commits to nurture over nature". UEFA. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Gonzalo Castro profile". UEFA. Archived from the original on 21 June 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  4. ^ "LEVERKUSEN'S CASTRO AGREES MOVE TO DORTMUND". Bundesliga.com. 24 May 2015. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Borussia Dortmund 4–1 Stuttgart". BBC Sport. 29 November 2015.
  6. ^ "Marco Reus drives Borussia Dortmund past Hertha Berlin to German Cup final". Deutsche Welle. 20 April 2016.
  7. ^ "Borussia Dortmund verlängert Vertrag mit Gonzalo Castro". bvb.de. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  8. ^ "VfB sign Gonzalo Castro". VfB Stuttgart. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Gonzalo Castro débarque à l'Arminia Bielefeld". Foot Mercato : Info Transferts Football - Actu Foot Transfert (in French). Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Nach 17 Profi-Jahren: Gonzalo Castro beendet seine Karriere". sportschau.de. 16 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  11. ^ FIFA.com
  12. ^ "Gonzalo Castro: De acudir con España a rival con Alemania". 13 June 2009.
  13. ^ "Today it's Catanha's birthday, 43, do you know how many players born abroad have worn the Spain jersey? | SEFutbol". Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  14. ^ "Castro entscheidet sich für Deutschland". Leverkusen.com. 10 November 2005. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  15. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  16. ^ a b c "Gonzalo Castro » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  17. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  18. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  19. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  20. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  21. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  22. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  23. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  24. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  25. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  26. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  27. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  28. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  29. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  30. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  31. ^ "Gonzalo Castro". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  32. ^ "G. Castro". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  33. ^ Gartenschläger, Lars (6 June 2013). "Khedira, Özil, Neuer – Aufstieg der Euro-Helden". Die Welt (in German). welt.de. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  34. ^ "UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season". UEFA. 20 May 2016.

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