Christoph Metzelder is a central defender who plays for German side Schalke 04 and Germany. Metzelder was for a short while in Schalke’s youth academy as a teenager. He came through to his senior career with SC Preußen Münster in the lower divisions. He then signed for Borussia Dortmund in 2000, at the age of 19. He went straight into their first team and impressed enough to get his first call-up for Germany in 2001. In the 2001-02 season Metzelder won the Bundesliga with his club and they were runners-up in the UEFA Cup. He was also a regular with Germany and went to represent them in the 2002 FIFA World Championship, where they were runners-up to Brazil. Metzelder also played with the German team winning bronze at the 2006 World Cup and runners-up at Euro 2008. Metzelder was a regular starter despite having missed the entire 2003-04 season due to an Achilles tendon injury. His injury struggles was also the reason he left Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer in 2007. His new destination was Real Madrid. He still kept struggling with injuries but delivered some stellar performances in the few matches he played while in Spain. In 2010 he left Real Madrid, again on a free transfer, now going back to Schalke 04 – the team of his youth. Metzelder was back full circle and signed a three year contract with the club.