Heiko Westermann
Westermann at practice with HSV in 2012
Personal information
Full name Heiko Westermann[1]
Date of birth (1983-08-14) 14 August 1983 (age 40)
Place of birth Alzenau, West Germany
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
1988–1994 SG Schimborn
1994–1998 1. FC Hösbach
1998–2000 FC Bayern Alzenau
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2003 Greuther Fürth II 37 (1)
2002–2005 Greuther Fürth 83 (2)
2005–2007 Arminia Bielefeld 67 (5)
2007–2010 Schalke 04 92 (12)
2010–2015 Hamburger SV 159 (9)
2015–2016 Real Betis 20 (1)
2016–2017 Ajax 4 (0)
2016–2017 Ajax II 4 (0)
2017–2018 Austria Wien 10 (0)
Total 476 (30)
International career
2003–2004 Germany U20 3 (0)
2003–2004 Germany U21 2 (0)
2008–2014 Germany 27 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Heiko Westermann (born 14 August 1983) is a German former professional footballer who played as a central defender.

Club career

Greuther Fürth

Westermann began his professional career with 2. Bundesliga club Greuther Fürth. He joined the senior squad in July 2002 but did not make his first appearance until 26 January 2003 in a 1–0 win over MSV Duisburg. He played a total of 83 league games in his three seasons with the club, scoring two goals.[2]

Arminia Bielefeld

Following the 2004–05 season, Westermann signed for recently promoted Bundesliga club Arminia Bielefeld. In his first season, he played in every single game for Bielefeld, including 34 league and five DFB-Pokal matches. The following season Westermann remained an integral part of the team, missing only one match.[1]

Schalke 04

Westermann moved to Schalke 04 in 2007 for a fee of €2.8 million. He played his first game for Schalke on 24 July in a Ligapokal fixture against 1. FC Nürnberg. Schalke won 4–2 with Westermann contributing one goal. Missing Schalke's first two league games through injury, Westermann made his Bundesliga debut for the club on 26 August 2007. He was substituted on in the 79th minute for Rafinha in a third round match against VfL Wolfsburg. For the remainder of the season, Westermann started all 31 of Schalke's Bundesliga matches. He was also instrumental in Schalke's Champions League campaign, being the only outfield player for the club to play every single minute.[3]

With new coach Fred Rutten taking charge of Schalke for the 2008–09 season, combined with his keen eye for goal, Westermann has often been positioned in midfield. The current season has been Westermann's highest scoring yet. He scored both goals in a 2–0 DFB-Pokal win over Hannover 96. He also scored a goal in three consecutive Bundesliga matches including the equalizing goal in a 1–1 draw against Werder Bremen and a game-winning goal against VfL Bochum.

Hamburger SV

In July 2010, Westermann agreed to a transfer to Hamburger SV, reportedly in the region of €7.5 million.[4] Despite being a new signing, he was named new captain by then HSV coach Armin Veh.[5] On 9 April 2013, following a run of bad results, including a 9–2 drubbing by Bayern Munich, Rafael van der Vaart was announced as Westermann's successor as the club's captain, in a bid to relieve him of mounting pressure.[6][7] On 25 June 2015, Hamburg confirmed Westermann's contract would not be renewed for the 2015–16 campaign.[8]

Betis

On 6 August 2015 Westermann signed a two-year deal with Real Betis, newly promoted to La Liga.[9] He received his first ever career red card on 28 November 2015 after his second bookable offence against Levante.[10]

Ajax

On 14 July 2016, it was announced that Westermann had signed a two-year deal with Eredivisie side Ajax.[11] However, he was used sparingly, so he worked as a youth coach during his time there.[12]

Austria Wien

Shortly after his contract with Ajax had been dissolved, Westermann signed a two-year deal with Austrian side Austria Wien.[13]

He announced his departure from the club along with the end of his active player career in April 2018.[14]

International career

On 31 January 2008, Westermann was first called up by Germany's manager Joachim Löw for the friendly on 6 February 2008 at Vienna's Ernst-Happel-Stadion against Austria.[15] Germany won the match 3–0 and Westermann was in the starting eleven and played 90 minutes.[16] Westermann was part of the German team that finished in second place at Euro 2008. On 2 June 2009, Westermann scored the first international goal in Germany's 7–2 rout against United Arab Emirates national football team. He was part of Germany's preliminary selection for the World Cup 2010, but had to pull out because of an injury suffered in a friendly against Hungary.[17] He has been capped 27 times by Germany and has scored four goals for them since 2008.[18]

Personal life

Westermann's wife is named Irina, they married in June 2007.[19] In May 2008, the couple had their first daughter, Lana.[19] In October 2010, Nikita, their second daughter was born.[20]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[21]
Club Season League Cup[a] Continental[b] Other[c] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Greuther Fürth 2002–03 2. Bundesliga 16 0 0 0 — — 16 0
2003–04 34 0 4 1 — — 38 1
2005–06 33 2 2 1 — — 35 3
Total 83 2 6 2 0 0 0 0 89 4
Arminia Bielefeld 2005–06 Bundesliga 34 2 5 0 — — 39 2
2006–07 33 3 1 0 — — 34 5
Total 67 5 6 0 0 0 0 0 73 5
Schalke 04 2007–08 Bundesliga 32 4 3 1 10 0 2 1 47 6
2007–08 33 6 4 2 8 1 — 45 9
2009–10 27 2 4 1 — — 31 3
Total 92 12 11 4 18 1 2 1 123 18
Hamburger SV 2010–11 Bundesliga 34 2 2 0 — — 36 2
2011–12 33 1 3 1 — — 36 2
2012–13 34 3 1 0 — — 35 3
2013–14 30 3 3 0 2 0 — 35 3
2014–15 28 0 2 1 1 0 — 31 1
Total 159 9 11 2 0 0 3 0 173 11
Real Betis 2015–16 La Liga 20 1 0 0 — — 20 1
Ajax 2016–17 Eredivisie 4 0 1 0 3 0 — 8 0
Jong Ajax 2016–17 Eerste Divisie 4 0 — — — 4 0
Austria Wien 2017–18 Austrian Bundesliga 10 0 2 0 7 0 — 19 0
Career total 439 29 37 8 28 1 5 1 509 39
  1. ^ Includes DFB-Pokal, Copa del Rey, KNVB Cup, and Austrian Cup.
  2. ^ Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
  3. ^ Includes DFL-Ligapokal and Relegation playoff.

International

Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Westermann goal.
List of international goals scored by Heiko Westermann
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 6 September 2008 Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein  Liechtenstein 6–0 6–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 2 June 2009 Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates  United Arab Emirates 1–0 7–2 Friendly
3 7 September 2010 RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany  Azerbaijan 1–0 6–1 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
4 2 June 2013 RFK Stadium, Washington, United States  United States 1–2 3–4 Friendly

Honours

Ajax

Germany

References

  1. ^ a b "H. Westermann". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  2. ^ Arnhold, Matthias (28 August 2018). "Heiko Westermann - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". RSSSF. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  3. ^ "5 - Heiko Westermann". UEFA. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
  4. ^ "Westermann leaves Schalke to join Hamburg". ESPN Soccernet. 21 July 2010. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  5. ^ "kicker.tv: K-Frage beantwortet – Westermann HSV-Kapitän". kicker TV (in German). 13 August 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  6. ^ "Van der Vaart handed Hamburg captaincy". espnfc.com. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  7. ^ "Van der Vaart neuer HSV-Kapitän". kicker (in German). 9 April 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  8. ^ "Vielen Dank und alles Gute, Heiko!". Hamburger SV (in German). 25 June 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  9. ^ "El Real Betis firma a Westermann para las dos próximas temporadas" [Real Betis signs Westermann for the following two seasons] (in Spanish). Betis' official website. 6 August 2015. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  10. ^ "European football: Unwanted records and Suarez set in stone". BBC Sport. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  11. ^ "Ajax contracteert Heiko Westermann". Ajax (in Dutch). 14 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  12. ^ Aalbers, Dave (8 May 2019). "Heiko Westermann over autoritjes met De Ligt en bankzitten bij Ajax". vice.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Westermann verlaat Ajax en tekent bij Austria Wien". NOS (in Dutch). 3 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  14. ^ "Heiko Westermann beendet seine Karriere". mopo.de. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "Löw holt Westermann". kicker online (in German). 31 January 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  16. ^ "Löw-Elf ohne Glanz". kicker online (in German). 6 February 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  17. ^ "World Cup 2010: Germany defender Heiko Westermann ruled out with foot injury". Telegraph. 31 May 2009. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  18. ^ Arnhold, Matthias (28 August 2018). "Heiko Westermann - International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  19. ^ a b "So tickt der neue HSV-Star". Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  20. ^ "Glückwunsch: Westermann zum zweiten Mal Papa". Hamburger SV (in German). 20 October 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  21. ^ "Heiko Westermann » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 5 December 2017.

External links

Germany squad – UEFA Euro 2008 runners-up
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