Little by little, the glorious BVB team of the Klopp era is retiring. Another protagonist of the double championship is calling it quits.
It has been 15 years since Borussia Dortmund signed a young goalkeeper from Down Under. The then 21-year-old Australian Mitchell Langerak moved from Melbourne Victory to Dortmund as a promising goalkeeper. Anyone who experienced the golden years of BVB under Jürgen Klopp will of course be familiar with the name Langerak.
Now, at the age of 36, the goalkeeper has ended his career. In an emotional Instagram post, he bids farewell to professional soccer. “Thank you, soccer! To the game that has given me almost everything in my life – thank you! After 18 years as a professional, it’s time for me to say goodbye to the game I love,” said Langerak.
Looking back, the two-time German champion said he had “given absolutely everything, sacrificed so much and pushed my body to its limits to achieve what I have achieved and to get where I am today.”
Langerak stayed at BVB for five years and was always a reliable replacement for Roman Weidenfeller. However, the Australian never made the leap to first-choice keeper and therefore did not make more than 35 appearances (34 goals conceded) for the Black and Yellows. Despite everything, he has fond memories of his time at Borussia: “I had the privilege of playing in the Champions League and hearing that legendary anthem. I played in the Bundesliga for Germany’s biggest club, Borussia Dortmund, and won titles there.” BVB fans would probably agree with this description of their club. Rollercoaster ride at VfB In 2015, Langerak moved to VfB Stuttgart, where he embarked on a real rollercoaster ride of emotions. “I experienced the low point of relegation with Stuttgart and the high point of promotion a year later.” The time at VfB was also turbulent for him personally: in the 2015/16 relegation season, he had to settle for being the substitute goalkeeper, as he had been at BVB, but Langerak was allowed to play as the number one goalkeeper in the following second division season. After a brief spell in Spain with UD Levante, he moved to Nagoya Grampus in Japan in 2018, where he spent the next six and a half years and even became captain. Last January, Langerak came full circle with a return to his home club Melbourne Victory. With eight appearances for the Australian national team, he fulfilled a “childhood dream.”
Langerak ends his post with a multilingual message to his former clubs. A “thank you” goes to Dortmund and Stuttgart.