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Sven Bender
Bender with Bayer Leverkusen in 2018
Personal information
Full name Sven Bender[1]
Date of birth (1989-04-27) 27 April 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Rosenheim, West Germany
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back, defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
SpVgg Unterhaching (interim manager)
Youth career
1993–1999 TSV Brannenburg
1999–2002 SpVgg Unterhaching
2002–2006 1860 Munich
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2007 1860 Munich II 16 (2)
2006–2009 1860 Munich 65 (1)
2009–2012 Borussia Dortmund II 4 (0)
2009–2017 Borussia Dortmund 158 (4)
2017–2021 Bayer Leverkusen 107 (4)
Total 350 (11)
International career
2005–2006 Germany U17 10 (0)
2007–2008 Germany U19 11 (1)
2009 Germany U20 3 (2)
2010–2013 Germany 7 (0)
2016 Germany Olympic 6 (0)
Managerial career
2024– SpVgg Unterhaching (interim)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Sven Bender (German pronunciation: [ˈsvɛn ˈbɛndɐ];[3][4] born 27 April 1989) is a German former professional footballer who played as a central defender and defensive midfielder and current interim manager of SpVgg Unterhaching. He was raised in Brannenburg and started his football career playing for TSV Brannenburg. Sven is the twin brother of Lars Bender.[5][6]

Club career

Early career

Bender played from 1993 to 1999 in the youth of the TSV Brannenburg. From 1999 to 2002, he was part of SpVgg Unterhaching youth teams. In summer 2002, Bender moved to the 1860 München youth team.[7]

1860 Munich

He started his football career on the U-14 team and played for all of 1860 München's youth teams in three years. In November 2007, Bender extended his contract with the club until 2011. In 2009, Munich had to sell both Lars and Sven Bender, due to club's financial problem. Sven moved to Borussia Dortmund and Lars to Bayer Leverkusen. Sven played 65 games and scored 1 goal for 1860 Munich.[7] In 2009, he joined Borussia Dortmund, where he signed a contract that tied him to the club until 2013.[8]

Borussia Dortmund

Bender made his Bundesliga debut on 19 September 2009 in a game against Hannover 96. His biggest rival for the spot in the defensive midfield suffered several injuries and Bender established himself in the starting eleven very quickly. He scored his first Bundesliga goal on 12 February 2011 against 1. FC Kaiserslautern and extended his contract until 2017. The years 2011 and 2012 were very successful for Bender, as he was an important player in Borussia Dortmund's midfield and helped the team win the national championship in both years as well as the DFB-Pokal in 2012.[8] On 6 January 2013, Bender extended his contract with Dortmund, keeping him at the club until 2017.[9] During the 2012–13 season, he was struggling with several injuries which made Dortmund sign Nuri Şahin in January 2013. After treatment of his injury, Bender got another opponent for his position. He was on his way to becoming the number one player on his position and shared a place with team's captain Sebastian Kehl and helped the team to reach 2013 UEFA Champions League Final, although they were defeated by their domestic rivals Bayern Munich. On 27 July 2013, Bender won the 2013 DFL-Supercup with Dortmund 4–2 against Bayern Munich.[10] In February 2014, he suffered injury after a loss against Hamburger SV,[11] which eventually ruled him out for the rest season. On 21 February 2016, Bender signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2021.[12]

Bayer Leverkusen

On 13 July 2017, Bender ended his eight-year tenure at Borussia Dortmund with 158 Bundesliga matches,[13] signing a four-year contract with Bayer Leverkusen until 2021 and reuniting with his brother Lars.[14] Both Benders announced retirement from football after the end of the 2020–21 season.[15]

International career

Bender with the Germany national team in 2016 against Brazil

At the under-19 level, Bender was a part of the team that won the 2008 European Under-19 Championship. He and his twin brother Lars were named jointly as players of the tournament.[16] Bender made his debut for the senior team in a friendly match against Australia in March 2011.[17] He appeared in several more friendly games and nominated for the Euro 2012 but did not make the squad's final. In February 2014, Bender suffered an Osteitis pubis injury that ruled him out for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. His last internationals therefore were two friendlies in late 2013.[18] In mid-July on 2016, despite not being called up for the senior team since 2013, he made the spot for Germany Olympic football team for the 2016 Summer Olympics as one of three over 23 years old players along with his brother and Nils Petersen,[19] where Germany won the silver medal.[20]

Coaching career

In June 2022, the German Football Association appointed him as the new assistant coach of the Germany U-16 national team.[21] During the summer of 2023, he became assistant coach of the German U-17s.[22]

On 29 December 2023 left his job at the German Football Association[23] and, along with his past teammate Nuri Şahin, was appointed as assistant manager to Edin Terzić at their former club Borussia Dortmund, signing a contract from 1 January 2024 to 30 June 2025.[24]

He became the interim head coach of SpVgg Unterhaching in December 2024.[25]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[26]
Club Season League DFB-Pokal Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1860 Munich II 2006–07 Regionalliga Süd 15 2 15 2
2007–08 1 0 1 0
Total 16 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 2
1860 Munich 2006–07 2. Bundesliga 13 0 0 0 13 0
2007–08 27 1 3 0 30 1
2008–09 25 0 1 0 26 0
Total 65 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 69 1
Borussia Dortmund II 2009–10 3. Liga 3 0 3 0
2012–13 1 0 1 0
Total 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Borussia Dortmund 2009–10 Bundesliga 19 0 0 0 19 0
2010–11 31 1 1 0 7[a] 0 39 1
2011–12 24 1 3 0 4[b] 0 1[c] 0 32 1
2012–13 20 1 1 0 11[b] 0 0 0 32 1
2013–14 19 1 2 0 5[b] 0 1[c] 0 27 1
2014–15 20 0 5 0 6[b] 0 1[c] 0 32 0
2015–16 19 0 5 0 11[a] 0 35 0
2016–17 6 0 1 0 1[b] 0 0 0 8 0
Total 158 4 18 0 45 0 3 0 224 4
Bayer Leverkusen 2017–18 Bundesliga 29 2 5 0 34 2
2018–19 27 0 2 0 3[a] 0 32 0
2019–20 33 2 5 1 9[a] 1 47 4
2020–21 18 0 1 0 1[a] 0 20 0
Total 107 4 13 1 13 1 0 0 133 6
Career total 350 11 35 1 58 1 3 0 446 13
  1. ^ a b c d e Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ a b c d e Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ a b c Appearance in DFL-Supercup

Personal life

On 20 June 2015, Bender married Simone Dettendorfer, his long time girlfriend since 2008.[27]

Honours

Borussia Dortmund
Germany

Individual

References

  1. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009™: List of Players: Germany" (PDF). FIFA. 6 October 2009. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2009.
  2. ^ "S. Bender". Soccerway. Global Sports Media. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  3. ^ Krech, Eva-Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz Christian (2009). Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch [German Pronunciation Dictionary] (in German). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 363, 967. ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6.
  4. ^ Dudenredaktion; Kleiner, Stefan; Knöbl, Ralf (2015) [First published 1962]. Das Aussprachewörterbuch [The Pronunciation Dictionary] (in German) (7th ed.). Berlin: Dudenverlag. p. 227. ISBN 978-3-411-04067-4.
  5. ^ Uersfeld, Stephan (13 July 2017). "Bender twins reunited at Leverkusen". ESPN. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  6. ^ Uersfeld, Stephan (1 February 2013). "Bender twins ready for showdown". ESPN FC. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Sven Bender". kicker.de. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Sven Bender Biography/". history of soccer. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  9. ^ "Borussia Dortmund extend contracts of Neven Subotic, Sven Bender". bvb.de/. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  10. ^ "Dortmund prevail over Bayern in Supercup thriller". Archived from the original on 6 November 2013.
  11. ^ "Dortmund midfielder Sven Bender sidelined for 10 weeks". 24 February 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  12. ^ "Sven Bender verlängert bei Borussia Dortmund bis 2021". 23 February 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  13. ^ Arnhold, Matthias (23 June 2021). "Sven Bender - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  14. ^ "Sven Bender swaps Borussia Dortmund for Bayer Leverkusen". Bundesliga. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  15. ^ "Sven and Lars Bender retire from football". 21 December 2020.
  16. ^ "2008: Lars & Sven Bender". uefa.com. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  17. ^ "Germany 1-2 Australia Socceroos come from behind to defeat experimental German side". goal.com. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  18. ^ Arnhold, Matthias (23 June 2021). "Sven Bender - International Appearances". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Die Olympia-Kader stehen fest". dfb.de. 15 July 2016.
  20. ^ "Neymar's golden penalty sees Brazil to victory". fifa.com. 20 August 2016. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016.
  21. ^ "U 16-JUNIOREN". dfb.de (in German). Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  22. ^ ""Der beste Tag": Ahrtal-Jugendmannschaft zu Gast am Campus" [“The best day”: Ahrtal youth team visiting Vampus] (in German). DFB. 11 August 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  23. ^ "Sven Bender wechselt zum BVB" [Sven Bender is moving to BVB] (in German). DFB. 29 December 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  24. ^ "Sahin and Bender join BVB coaching staff". Borussia Dortmund. 29 December 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  25. ^ "SpVgg Unterhaching stellt Cheftrainer Marc Unterberger mit sofortiger Wirkung frei". spvggunterhaching.de (in German). 1 December 2024. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  26. ^ "Sven Bender » Club matches". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  27. ^ "Olympiafußballer Sven Bender: Das ist seine Frau". Retrieved 13 August 2016.