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Sami Khedira
20180602 FIFA Friendly Match Austria vs. Germany Sami Khedira 850 0707.jpg
Khedira lining up for Germany in 2018
Personal information
Full name Sami Khedira
Date of birth (1987-04-04) 4 April 1987 (age 38)
Place of birth Stuttgart, West Germany
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Central midfielder
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)
2015–2021 Juventus 99 (21)
2021 Hertha BSC 9 (0)
Total 329 (42)
International career
2003–2004 Germany U17 10 (2)
2007–2009 Germany U21 15 (5)
2009–2018 Germany 77 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Sami Khedira (born on April 4, 1987) is a German former professional footballer. He played as a central midfielder, which is a player who helps both in defense and attack.

Sami started his career at VfB Stuttgart in Germany. He helped them win the Bundesliga (Germany's top football league) in 2007. Later, in 2010, he moved to Real Madrid in Spain.

During his five years in Spain, he won many important trophies. These included the UEFA Champions League in 2014, which is a huge European club competition. In 2015, he joined the Italian team Juventus. There, he won the Serie A title (Italy's top league) five times and the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) three times.

Khedira also played for the German national team from 2009 to 2018. He played in three FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Championships. He was a key player when Germany won the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He retired from football in 2021.

Club Career Highlights

Playing for VfB Stuttgart

Sami Khedira joined the youth team of VfB Stuttgart in 1995. Before that, he played at TV Oeffingen. He was called up to Stuttgart's main team in the 2006–07 season.

He made his first team debut on October 1, 2006, against Hertha BSC. He scored his first two goals on October 29 in a 3–0 win against Schalke 04. On May 19, 2007, Khedira scored the winning goal in the last game of the season. This win helped Stuttgart become champions of the Bundesliga for the first time in 15 years. He extended his contract with Stuttgart until 2011.

Time at Real Madrid

Arda Turan - Sami Khedira
Khedira running past Atlético Madrid's Arda Turan in a match in September 2013

On July 30, 2010, Khedira moved to Real Madrid. He signed a contract to play for them until 2015. He played his first game for Real Madrid in a friendly match against Bayern Munich.

His first league game was on August 29, 2010, against Mallorca. In his first season, he played 40 games. He won his first trophy with Real Madrid on April 20, 2011, when they won the Copa del Rey final against their rivals FC Barcelona.

Khedira scored his first goal for Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on October 18, 2011. This was against Olympique Lyonnais. On April 21, 2012, he scored his second league goal, also against Barcelona. This goal helped Real Madrid break a league record for most goals in a season. On May 24, 2014, Khedira started in the Champions League final against Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid won the match 4-1.

Success with Juventus

Khedira-juventus-2019
Khedira (left) playing against Lokomotiv Moscow during the 2019–20 season

On June 9, 2015, the Italian club Juventus announced that Khedira would join them. He signed a four-year deal. He officially joined on July 1, 2015.

He had a muscle injury in August 2015, which kept him out for about two months. He returned to play on September 30 in a Champions League match against Sevilla. On October 4, Khedira made his Serie A debut and scored a goal in a 3–1 win against Bologna.

On March 20, 2016, Khedira scored his fourth league goal of the season in a 4–1 win against Torino. He scored his first career hat-trick (three goals in one game) on October 22, 2017, in a 6–2 win over Udinese.

On March 7, 2018, Khedira played his 100th game for Juventus. In September 2018, he signed a new contract with Juventus until 2021. He had some health issues in February 2019 but returned to play in April.

Final Club: Hertha BSC

On February 1, 2021, Khedira returned to Germany to play for Hertha BSC. He made his debut on February 5, 2021, against Bayern Munich. On May 19, 2021, Sami Khedira announced that he would retire from football at the end of the 2020–21 season.

International Career

Sami Khedira, Germany national football team (07)
Khedira playing for the Germany national football team in 2011

Youth Teams and Senior Debut

Khedira played 30 times for different German youth national teams. He was the captain of the under-21 team that won the 2009 European Under-21 Championship. They beat England 4–0 in the final.

He played his first game for the senior German national team on September 5, 2009. This was a friendly match against South Africa.

2010 FIFA World Cup

Khedira was chosen for the German team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He played in all seven matches, helping Germany reach the semi-finals. On July 10, 2010, he scored his first goal for the national team. This goal was in the third-place match against Uruguay. His goal helped Germany win 3–2 and secure the bronze medal.

UEFA Euro 2012

Khedira was a regular starter in the qualification matches for UEFA Euro 2012. Germany won all ten of their qualifying games. In the main tournament, he played in every minute until the semi-finals. He scored a goal in the 4–2 quarter-final win against Greece. He was also chosen for the Team of the Tournament.

2014 FIFA World Cup Victory

Brazil vs Germany, in Belo Horizonte 07
Khedira playing against Bernard at the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Khedira had a knee injury in November 2013, which made his participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup uncertain. However, he recovered in time and was part of Germany's squad. He started in their first match, a 4–0 win against Portugal.

On July 8, he scored Germany's fifth goal in their amazing 7–1 semi-final win against the host country, Brazil. He was injured during the warm-up for the Final against Argentina. Germany went on to win the World Cup 1–0 after extra time.

UEFA Euro 2016

Khedira was also part of Germany's squad for UEFA Euro 2016. He got injured in the quarter-finals against Italy and could not play for the rest of the tournament. Germany won that match on penalties. Germany was later knocked out in the semi-finals by France.

2018 FIFA World Cup

Khedira was included in Germany's squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Germany was eliminated in the group stage, which was a big surprise. After this tournament, he was no longer called up for the national team.

Playing Style

Sami Khedira was known as a strong and versatile midfielder. He was good at covering a lot of ground on the field. He could win the ball back from opponents and quickly join in attacks. He was also a threat to score goals, especially with his powerful shots and headers.

He was physically strong, energetic, and smart about where to be on the field. He was good at winning the ball, working hard, and passing accurately. He could play in different midfield roles, including as a defensive midfielder or a box-to-box midfielder. He was good at making runs into the penalty area to score. Even though he was a great player, he was also known to get injured often.

Broadcasting Career

In May 2021, after retiring from playing, Khedira became a studio analyst for ESPN. He helped cover the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.

Personal Life

Sami Khedira Champions for Charity 2022 (cropped)
Khedira in 2022

Sami Khedira was born in Stuttgart, Germany. His father is from Tunisia, and his mother is German. Sami has a younger brother named Rani, who also plays professional football for Union Berlin. Rani has also played for German youth national teams.

Career Statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total Ref.
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
VfB Stuttgart II 2004–05 Regionalliga Süd 5 0 5 0
2005–06 Regionalliga Süd 7 0 7 0
2006–07 Regionalliga Süd 9 1 9 1
Total 21 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 1
VfB Stuttgart 2006–07 Bundesliga 22 4 4 0 26 4
2007–08 Bundesliga 24 1 4 0 5 0 1 0 34 1
2008–09 Bundesliga 27 7 2 0 8 1 37 8
2009–10 Bundesliga 25 2 2 1 8 0 35 3
Total 98 14 12 1 21 1 1 0 132 16
Real Madrid 2010–11 La Liga 25 0 7 0 8 0 40 0
2011–12 La Liga 28 2 4 1 8 1 2 0 42 4
2012–13 La Liga 25 3 6 1 11 0 2 0 44 4
2013–14 La Liga 13 1 0 0 5 0 18 1
2014–15 La Liga 11 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 17 0
Total 102 6 20 2 34 1 5 0 161 9
Juventus 2015–16 Serie A 20 5 1 0 4 0 0 0 25 5
2016–17 Serie A 31 5 3 0 11 0 1 0 46 5
2017–18 Serie A 26 9 4 0 8 0 1 0 39 9
2018–19 Serie A 10 2 2 0 4 0 1 0 17 2
2019–20 Serie A 12 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 18 0
2020–21 Serie A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 99 21 11 0 32 0 3 0 145 21
Hertha BSC 2020–21 Bundesliga 9 0 9 0
Career total 329 42 43 3 87 2 9 0 468 47

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Germany
2009 1 0
2010 16 1
2011 7 0
2012 12 1
2013 8 2
2014 9 1
2015 4 0
2016 12 2
2017 3 0
2018 5 0
Total 77 7
Germany score listed first, score column indicates score after each Khedira goal
List of international goals scored by Sami Khedira
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 10 July 2010 Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa  Uruguay 3–2 3–2 2010 FIFA World Cup
2 22 June 2012 Stadion Energa Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland  Greece 2–1 4–2 UEFA Euro 2012
3 6 February 2013 Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France  France 2–1 2–1 Friendly
4 11 October 2013 RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany  Republic of Ireland 1–0 3–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
5 26 June 2014 Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil  Brazil 5–0 7–1 2014 FIFA World Cup
6 11 October 2016 HDI Arena, Hanover, Germany  Northern Ireland 2–0 2–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
7 11 November 2016 San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino  San Marino 1–0 8–0

Honours and Awards

Sami Khedira
Khedira celebrates winning the Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart in 2007.

Sami Khedira won many important titles throughout his career:

VfB Stuttgart

Real Madrid

Juventus

Germany U21

Germany

Individual Awards

  • UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2012

Orders

  • Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg: 2016

See also

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