International Career
In September 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann, then-manager of Germany, called Mertesacker up to the 9 October 2004 game against Iran. He made his debut less than two weeks after his twentieth birthday when he came on as a second-half substitute for Christian Wörns.
With his quiet but effective game, he established himself as Germany's first choice centre-back, pairing up with Robert Huth, Christoph Metzelder, and later, Heiko Westermann. At the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup hosted at home, he played the full 90 minutes in all five games and scored a goal in the group stages as Germany won third place.
At the 2006 FIFA World Cup on home soil, Mertesacker paired with Metzelder in central defence. After Germany won the quarter-final penalty shoot-out against Argentina, Mertesacker was attacked by Argentine Leandro Cufré, an unused substitute. He suffered minor injuries to his thigh and a kick to the groin. After Germany's loss to Italy in the semifinals, Mertesacker had surgery on one of his legs and left testicle (not related to the attack above, but an injury he had been dealing with during previous matches) and missed the third place play-off. Nevertheless, his good showing did earn him a transfer to Bundesliga giants Werder Bremen after the tournament.
He was first choice when fit during Euro 2008 and was ever present in the final tournament. Due to injury problems at the beginning of the 2009–10 season, he missed several 2010 World Cup qualifiers but has retained his place as first choice since then. Mertesacker regularly wears the number 17 jersey. As of September 2012, he has won 82 international caps for Germany.
Mertesacker scored his second international goal for Germany on 17 October 2012.
Read more about this topic: Per Mertesacker
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“In time your relatives will come to accept the idea that a career is as important to you as your family. Of course, in time the polar ice cap will melt.”
—Barbara Dale (b. 1940)