Nils Petersen

Nils Petersen (born 6 December 1988 in Wernigerode) is a German footballer who plays for Bayern Munich.^[1]

Youth

Petersen spent his early youth developing at hometown club FC Einheit in Wernigerode and afterward continued his development at VfB Germania in Halberstadt. Later he attended the Sport School Jena, playing in their youth team, eventually leaving during the Summer of 2007.

Club career

FC Carl Zeiss Jena

In February 2005, FC Carl Zeiss Jena signed Petersen to a youth contract, before promoting him to the First Team in January 2007. Before promotion to the First Team, Petersen had already gained experience playing with the Oberliga reserves. Petersen made his professional debut on 4 February 2007 (20th matchday), in a 0–1 loss in an away match against 1. FC Köln. He entered the match in the 89th minute as a substitute for Mohammed El Berkani.

In future matches, he would serve as a "Super-Sub" coming off the bench to score decisive goals against Alemannia Aachen, FC Erzgebirge Aue and 1. FC Kaiserslautern

FC Energie Cottbus

During the 2008–09 winter transfer period, Petersen switched to Bundesliga side FC Energie Cottbus. He premiered for Cottbus on the final match-day of the season in a 3–0 home victory over Bayer Leverkusen, on 23 May 2009. Cottbus, finishing 16th in their Bundesliga campaign, would go on to lose in the relegation/promotion playoff against 2nd division 1. FC Nuremberg, resulting in Cottbus' relegation to 2. Bundesliga. During the first half of the 2009–10 season, Petersen rarely saw playing time for Cottbus. After the winter break, his playing time increased as he was able to score nine goals in 14 appearances, securing his place in the starting line-up.

During the 2010–11 campaign, Petersen would go on to secure the 2. Bundesliga scoring title, notching 25 goals in 33 appearances, helping Cottbus to a mid-table finish. In February 2011, despite interest from various Bundesliga clubs, he elected to extend his existing contract by two years until June 2014.

FC Bayern Munich

On 19 May 2011, FC Bayern Munich reported the signing of Petersen to a three year contract until 30 June 2014.^[2] Bayern Munich handed him with the famous number nine shirt previously worn by legend Gerd Müller, Giovane Elber and most recently, Luca Toni.^[2] Nils Petersen scored his first hat-trick (three goals) in the first ever game he played for FC Bayern Munich against a Trentino Selection. On 10 September 2011, on for just 17 minutes, Petersen came close twice, and finally scored his first Bundesliga goal against Freiburg.

International career

Petersen was a member of the Germany U-19 team, scoring a goal against Russia during the UEFA U-19 European Championship and the Germany U-20 team, before being called up on 6 August 2009 for the German U-21 team.^[3]

Career statistics

As of 21 April 2012 (2012 -04-21)^[update]

References

External links

• Nils Petersen at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Nils Petersen at transfermarkt.de (German)

v t e Germany squad – 2007 UEFA Under-19 Championship 1 Männel 2 Schwaab 3 Feick 4 Höwedes 5 Eberlein 6 Evljuskin 7 Boateng 8 Sam 9 Schmidt 10 Ben-Hatira 11 Kruse 12 Fährmann 13 Konrad 14 Tyrala 15 Sauter 16 Petersen 17 Özil 18 Falkenberg Coach: Engel