David Alaba

David Olatukunbo Alaba (born 24 June 1992) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays for German club Bayern Munich and the Austria national team. As a very versatile player, Alaba has played in a multitude of roles, including central midfield, central defence, right and left wing, but primarily plays as a left-back.

David Alaba
Alaba with Austria in 2018
Personal information
Full name David Olatukunbo Alaba[1]
Date of birth (1992-06-24) 24 June 1992[2]
Place of birth Vienna, Austria
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[3]
Playing position(s) Defender
Left back
Club information
Current team
 Chelsea
Number 6
Youth career
2001–2002 SV Aspern
2002–2008 Austria Wien
2008–2009 Bayern Munich
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2010 Bayern Munich II 33 (1)
2010– Bayern Munich 248 (20)
2011 → 1899 Hoffenheim (loan) 17 (2)
National team‡
2007–2009 Austria U17 20 (5)
2010 Austria U19[4] 5 (1)
2009–2010 Austria U21 5 (0)
2009– Austria 72 (14)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:24, 16 June 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:55, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

Alaba has made over 350 appearances for Bayern Munich since 2010, winning 18 honours including nine Bundesliga titles and the UEFA Champions League in 2013. He was voted Austrian Footballer of the Year six consecutive times from 2011 to 2015, and named in the UEFA Team of the Year three times.

He holds Austria's record as the second youngest player to play for their senior national team, debuting for them in 2009 as a 17-year-old.[5][6] He has earned over 70 caps and represented the country at UEFA Euro 2016.

Club career

Early career

Born in Vienna, Alaba began his career with SV Aspern, his local club in Aspern, in the 22nd district, Donaustadt, before joining the youth setup of FK Austria Wien at age 10. He rose through the ranks quickly, and in April 2008 he was named on the first-team substitutes' bench for a Bundesliga match.[7] He also played five times for Austria Wien's reserve team,[8] before leaving in summer 2008 to join German Bundesliga side Bayern Munich.[9]

Bayern Munich

Youth, reserves and Hoffenheim loan

He started out in Bayern's youth system, playing for the under 17 and under 19 teams, before being promoted to the reserve team for the 2009–10 season.[6] He made his debut in a 3. Liga match against Dynamo Dresden in August 2009[10] and scored his first professional goal for FC Bayern Munich II on 29 August 2009.[11] He was named in Bayern Munich's squad for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League,[12] where he was assigned the shirt number 27. In January 2010, it was announced that Alaba would train with the first team for the rest of the 2009–10 season,[13] along with reserve teammates Diego Contento and Mehmet Ekici.[14]

The trio were named on the first-team substitutes' bench for the first time on 10 February 2010, for a DFB-Pokal game against SpVgg Greuther Fürth, and Alaba came on in the 59th minute, replacing Christian Lell.[15] After one minute on the pitch, and with his second touch of the game, he set up Franck Ribéry to give Bayern a 3–2 lead, in a match they went on to win 6–2. He also became Bayern's youngest ever player in a competitive fixture, at 17 years, 7 months and 8 days old.[16] At age 17 years, 8 months and 13 days, he made his UEFA Champions League debut against ACF Fiorentina on 9 March 2010.[17]

In January 2011, Alaba joined TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season. Later that month he scored his first ever goal in the Bundesliga in a 2–2 draw with FC St. Pauli.

2011–13

Alaba returned to Bayern at the start of the 2011–12 season, where he became a regular member of the first team squad. On 23 October 2011, Alaba scored his first league goal for Bayern in the 1–2 away loss against Hannover 96. On 20 December 2011, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year for the first time.[18] During the second half of the 2011–12 Bundesliga season, he established himself as a starter for Bayern. On 25 April 2012, he played in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid, and scored Bayern's first kick of the shootout as they won 3–1 on penalties. However, due to being booked in the semi-final, Alaba was unable to play in the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final through suspension.[19]

On 2 April 2013, Alaba scored the seventh-fastest goal (25.02 seconds) in Champions League history to set Bayern on their way to a 2–0 win over Juventus.[20] On 25 May 2013, he played the full 90 minutes at left-back as Bayern beat Borussia Dortmund 2–1 in the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final. On 18 December 2012, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year for the second year running.[21]

2013–
Alaba playing for Bayern Munich in 2014

During the 2013–14 season, he played in the German Super Cup against Borussia Dortmund,[22] the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea,[23] and two matches in the FIFA Club World Cup; the first against Guangzhou Evergrande[24] and the second against Raja Casablanca.[25] On 2 December 2013, Alaba signed a new contract with Bayern Munich, which expires in 2018.[26] On 20 December, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year for the third year running.[27]

On 18 December 2014, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year for the fourth year running.[28] In January 2015, Alaba was voted as the left-back in the UEFA.com Team of the Year 2014 by users (354,067 votes) for the second consecutive year.[29] On 31 March 2015, Alaba suffered a medial ligament damage in his left knee during Austria's 1–1 friendly draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Alaba missed the rest of the season for Bayern because of the injury.[30]

He made his 2015–16 season debut in the German Super Cup on 1 August, a penalty shootout defeat to VfL Wolfsburg.[31] Three weeks later against his former club 1899 Hoffenheim, Alaba's misplaced pass resulted in Kevin Volland scoring in nine seconds, the quickest Bundesliga goal of all time.[32] On 17 December 2015, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year for the fifth consecutive year.[33] On 8 January 2016, Alaba was voted as the left-back in the UEFA.com Team of the Year 2015 for the third consecutive year.[34] On 18 March 2016, Alaba extended his contract until 2021.[35]

On 21 December 2016, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year for the sixth year running.[36]

On 10 February 2018, Alaba made his 200th Bundesliga appearance in a 2–1 win over Schalke.[37]

International career
Alaba playing for Austria in 2014

Alaba played for Austria at under-17, under-19 and under-21 level. In October 2009, he was called up to the senior Austria national team for a match against France.[38] He made his debut in this game, making him the youngest player in the history of the Austrian national team.[39] He scored his first goal for Austria on 16 October 2012 in a World Cup Qualifying game at home to Kazakhstan where Austria were 4–0 winners.

At the age of just 19, Alaba won the prestigious vote for Austrian Footballer of the Year in 2011. In the poll organised by APA (Austrian press agency) among the coaches of the ten Austrian Bundesliga clubs, Alaba finished top on 21 points, just ahead of Austria Wien's Dutch star Nacer Barazite (20 points) and VfB Stuttgart's Martin Harnik. In December 2012, he received the award for the second consecutive year.[40] On 10 September 2013, Alaba scored the only goal of the game against Ireland in the 84 minute to give Austria a 1–0. He scored the final goal in Austria's 3–0 win in the final qualification match against Faroe Islands.

Alaba ended the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign as Austria's top scorer with six goals.[41]

He scored a ninth-minute Panenka-style penalty kick on 8 September 2015 to open a 4–1 away win over Sweden at the Friends Arena in Solna. The result qualified Austria for UEFA Euro 2016, their first successful qualification campaign for the continental championship.[42] Alaba played in all three group matches as Austria finished last in their group with one point.[43]

On 24 March 2017, he captained Austria for the first time in a World Cup 2018 Qualification game against Moldova in a 2–0 victory, deputizing in the absence of suspended captain Julian Baumgartlinger.[44] Alaba played in eight matches as Austria failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[45]

Personal life

Alaba was born in Vienna to Gina and George Alaba and has one sister,[3] a professional recording artist, named Rose May Alaba.[46] His Visayan[46] mother emigrated from the Philippines to work as a nurse. His Yoruba Nigerian father[47] is a prince from Ogere[48] who is also a rapper and works as a DJ.[49] He is a Christian and a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.[50]

Career statistics

Club
As of matches played on 16 June 2020.
Club Season League Cup Continenta! Other Total Ref.
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bayern Munich2009–10 Bundesliga30102[lower-alpha 1]0—60[51]
2010–11 Bundesliga2010000030[52]
2011–12 Bundesliga3026111[lower-alpha 1]0—473[53]
2012–13 Bundesliga2334011[lower-alpha 1]200385[54]
2013–14 Bundesliga2825012[lower-alpha 1]24[lower-alpha 2]0494[55][56]
2014–15 Bundesliga192336[lower-alpha 1]01[lower-alpha 3]0295[56][57]
2015–16 Bundesliga3015010[lower-alpha 1]11[lower-alpha 3]0462[56][58]
2016–17 Bundesliga324519[lower-alpha 1]01[lower-alpha 3]0475[59][60]
2017–18 Bundesliga232607[lower-alpha 1]000362[61]
2018–19 Bundesliga313407[lower-alpha 1]01[lower-alpha 3]0433[62]
2019–20 Bundesliga271404[lower-alpha 1]01[lower-alpha 3]0361[63][64]
Totals248204457959038030—
Bayern Munich II2009–10 3. Liga231———231[51]
2010–11 3. Liga100———100[52]
Totals331———331—
1899 Hoffenheim (loan)2010–11 Bundesliga17210——182[52]
Career totals298234657959043133—
  1. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League.
  2. Appearances in the DFL-Supercup, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup.
  3. Appearances in the DFL-Supercup.

International goals
Scores and results list Austria's goal tally first.[65]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.16 October 2012Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria Kazakhstan
3–0
4–0
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.22 March 2013 Faroe Islands
5–0
6–0
3.26 March 2013Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland
2–2
2–2
4.7 June 2013Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria Sweden
1–0
2–1
5.10 September 2013 Republic of Ireland
1–0
1–0
6.15 October 2013Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands Faroe Islands
3–0
3–0
7.8 September 2014Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria Sweden
1–0
1–1
UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
8.9 October 2014Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău, Moldova Moldova
1–0
2–1
9.27 March 2015Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein Liechtenstein
3–0
5–0
10.8 September 2015Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden Sweden
1–0
4–1
11.17 November 2015Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria  Switzerland
1–1
1–2
Friendly
12.23 March 2018Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt, Austria Slovenia
1–0
3–0
13.6 September 2018Generali Arena, Vienna, Austria Sweden
2–0
2–0
14.16 November 2019Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria North Macedonia
1–0
2–1
UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Honours
Alaba with the Austrian Sports Personality of the Year award in 2014

Club

Bayern Munich[1]

Individual

Outside football

Alaba was chosen to be on the cover of FIFA 15 and FIFA 16 in Austria next to Lionel Messi.[82][83]

References
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