_by_Sandro_Halank%25E2%2580%2593079.jpg) Kehl in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sebastian Walter Kehl[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1980-02-13)13 February 1980 (age 45)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Fulda, West Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defensive midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985–1994 | SV Lahrbach | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1996 | Borussia Fulda | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1998 | Hannover 96 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2000 | Hannover 96 | 32 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | SC Freiburg | 40 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2015 | Borussia Dortmund | 274 | (20) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2011 | Borussia Dortmund II (res.) | 7 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 353 | (27) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1999 | Germany U18 | 19 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998 | Germany U19 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2001 | Germany U21 | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2006 | Germany | 31 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Sebastian Walter Kehl (German pronunciation:[zeˈbasti̯a(ː)nˈkeːl];[2][3] born 13 February 1980) is a German former professionalfootballer who played as adefensive midfielder. He is currently theSporting Director ofBorussia Dortmund.
He amassedBundesliga totals of 314 games and 24 goals over the course of 15 seasons, representing in the competitionSC Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund. He won six major titles with the latter club, including three national championships.
AGermany international for five years, Kehl appeared for the nation in twoWorld Cups – finishing second in the2002 edition – andEuro 2004. Following his retirement, Kehl first worked as the "Head of First Team Football" for Borussia Dortmund before it was announced that he would be taking over as Sporting Director, following the retirement ofMichael Zorc.
Born inFulda,Hesse, Kehl joinedHannover 96's youth system in 1996 at the age of 15, going on to appear in two2. Bundesliga seasons with the first team.[4] In the 2000 summer he signed forSC Freiburg in theBundesliga, making his debut in the competition on 12 August by playing the full 90 minutes in a 4–0 home win againstVfB Stuttgart, and scoring his first goal on 12 December of that year to help to a 2–1 away success overVfL Wolfsburg.
Under managerVolker Finke, Kehl featured mostly as asweeper, helping theBlack Forest club qualify to the2001–02 UEFA Cup inhis first season, before the club suffered relegation in hissecond season. He was no longer part of the squad, however, as he had left in the 2002 Januarytransfer window toBorussia Dortmund, who went on to win the championship with 15 games and one goal from the player. Previously, in summer 2001, he controversially agreed basic terms withFC Bayern Munich, and even accepted an advanced payment of 1.5 millionDeutsche Mark, which was returned in November as Bayern threatened to take legal action.[5]
During his tenure with Dortmund, Kehl was more often than not a starter. He contributed with 12 matches in the2002–03 UEFA Champions League to help his team reach the second group phase, and amassed 61 league appearances from 2004 to 2006 in back-to-back seventh-place finishes.
On the first day of the2006–07 campaign, Kehl injured his left knee in a challenge with Bayern'sHasan Salihamidžić, sidelining him for several months and only recovering fully at the start of2008–09, when he was madecaptain by new coachJürgen Klopp.[6] He eventually relapsed on his condition,[7][8] also losing his importance in the starting XI after the emergence ofSven Bender andNuri Şahin.[9]
On 27 July 2013, Kehl played the second half of theDFL-Supercup against Bayern Munich,replacing Bender in an eventual4–2 win.[10] In September, he was put out of action for another lengthy period after injuring his ankle in training.[11]
Kehl began hinting at retirement in March 2014, shortly after having agreed to a one-year extension to his contract.[12] The 35-year-old confirmed it at the end of the2014–15 season,[13] after having taken part in 21 games to help Dortmund come from behind in the table and qualify to the2015–16 UEFA Europa League.[14]
In April 2018, Borussia Dortmund announced that Kehl would become its players licence department director starting on 1 June.[15]
In June 2021, Borussia Dortmund announced that Kehl would be the successor to sporting directorMichael Zorc following his retirement in the summer of 2022.[16]
Kehl earned the first of his 31caps for theGermany national team on 29 May 2001, in a 2–0friendly win againstSlovakia inBremen where he came on forMarko Rehmer after 45 minutes.[17] He scored his first goal on 15 August of that year, contributing to a 5–2 win overHungary in another exhibition game.[18]
Selected for both the2002 and the2006 World Cups, Kehl played twice (againstParaguay andUnited States) in the former tournament as theMannschaft finished in second place, and started in two of his four appearances to help to the third place in the latter.[19]
Kehl is married to Tina Kehl. They have three children.[20]
| Club | Season | League | DFB-Pokal | Europe | Other[a] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hannover 96 | 1998–99 | 2. Bundesliga | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 1 | ||
| 1999–2000 | 2. Bundesliga | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 1 | |||
| Total | 32 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 2 | ||
| SC Freiburg | 2000–01 | Bundesliga | 25 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 27 | 4 | ||
| 2001–02 | Bundesliga | 15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 4 | |
| Total | 40 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 8 | ||
| Borussia Dortmund | 2001–02 | Bundesliga | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 1 | ||
| 2002–03 | Bundesliga | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 0 | |
| 2003–04 | Bundesliga | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 1 | |
| 2004–05 | Bundesliga | 32 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 37 | 4 | ||
| 2005–06 | Bundesliga | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 1 | |||
| 2006–07 | Bundesliga | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2007–08 | Bundesliga | 14 | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 3 | |||
| 2008–09 | Bundesliga | 28 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 32 | 5 | ||
| 2009–10 | Bundesliga | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 1 | |||
| 2010–11 | Bundesliga | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | Bundesliga | 27 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 3 | |
| 2012–13 | Bundesliga | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | — | 34 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | Bundesliga | 17 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 2 | |
| 2014–15 | Bundesliga | 21 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 1 | |
| Total | 274 | 20 | 34 | 1 | 47 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 362 | 22 | ||
| Borussia Dortmund II | 2003–04 | Regionalliga Nord | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | |||
| 2006–07 | Regionalliga Nord | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2007–08 | Regionalliga Nord | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 2009–10 | 3. Liga | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2010–11 | Regionalliga West | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 353 | 27 | 41 | 1 | 52 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 454 | 31 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 2001 | 3 | 1 |
| 2002 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 31 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 August 2001 | Ferenc Puskás,Budapest, Hungary |  Hungary | 2–0 | 5–2 | Friendly | [18] |
| 2 | 30 April 2003 | Weserstadion,Bremen, Germany |  Serbia and Montenegro | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly | [24] |
Borussia Dortmund[25]
Germany[25]
Individual
Germany squads | |||||||||||||||||||
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