Sami Khedira (German pronunciation: [ˈsami kəˈdiːʁa]; Arabic: سامي خضيرة‎; born 4 April 1987) is a German footballer currently playing for Real Madrid. He is considered a dynamic midfielder with 'flawless aerial ability' who can cover a lot of ground and quickly join in the team attacks with his powerful mid-range shooting.[1]

Club career

VfB Stuttgart

Khedira was born in Stuttgart, to a Tunisian father and a German mother. Before joining the youth team of VfB Stuttgart in 1995, he played at TV Oeffingen. In the first months of the 2006–07 season, he was called up into VfB's Bundesliga squad by manager Armin Veh. His debut followed on 1 October 2006 against Hertha BSC. He scored his first two goals on 29 October in a game against Schalke 04. On 29 January 2007 he signed his first professional contract at VfB, valid until June 2009.[2]

On 9 July 2008 he extended his contract until the summer of 2011.[3]

Real Madrid

On 30 July 2010 Khedira moved to Real Madrid for an undisclosed fee.[4][5] Khedira will play in the number "24" jersey. Khedira made his debut for Real Madrid on 13 August 2010 in a friendly match against Bayern Munich, which Real Madrid won 4–2 in penalties. This resulted in Real Madrid winning the Franz-Beckenbauer-Cup.

International career

Khedira, who usually plays in midfield, has appeared 30 times in several German youth national teams, he captained the side during the 2009 European Under-21 Championship, which Germany won.

Khedira made his debut for the senior national squad on 5 September 2009 in a friendly match against South Africa. He was substituted on in the 73rd minute for Simon Rolfes.

He was called up to the Germany squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and started in their opening game against Australia. On 10 July 2010, he scored the game-winning header in a 3-2 win against Uruguay in the 3rd place play-off match.[8]