Heiko Westermann

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Westermann's wife is named Irina, they married in June 2007.

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.

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.

Germany won the match 3–0 and Westermann was in the starting eleven and played 90 minutes.

Westermann was part of the German team that finished in second place at Euro 2008.

He has been capped 27 times by Germany and has scored four goals for them since 2008.

In May 2008, the couple had their first daughter, Lana.

On 2 June 2009, Westermann scored the first international goal in Germany's 7–2 rout against United Arab Emirates national football team.

In July 2010, Westermann agreed to a transfer to Hamburger SV, reportedly in the region of €7.5 million.

Despite being a new signing, he was named new captain by then HSV coach Armin Veh.

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.

In October 2010, Nikita, their second daughter was born.

Ajax

Germany

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.

On 25 June 2015, Hamburg confirmed Westermann's contract would not be renewed for the 2015–16 campaign.

On 6 August 2015 Westermann signed a two-year deal with Real Betis, newly promoted to La Liga.

He received his first ever career red card on 28 November 2015 after his second bookable offence against Levante.

On 14 July 2016, it was announced that Westermann had signed a two-year deal with Eredivisie side Ajax.

However, he was used sparingly, so he worked as a youth coach during his time there.

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

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