Mark Schwarzer

His parents, Hans-Joachim and Doris, emigrated to Australia from Stuttgart, West Germany in 1968.

He speaks fluent German.

Mark Schwarzer ( born 6 October 1972) is an Australian former professional football player who played as a goalkeeper.

Having progressed through the youth ranks of Colo Cougars, Penrith, Blacktown Association and Marconi Stallions, Schwarzer turned professional for National Soccer League side Marconi Stallions in 1990.

He represented Australia at international level from 1993 to 2013, and was selected for both the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups.

Having played for Australia at under-17 and under-20 level, Schwarzer made his full international debut in a World Cup qualifying match against Canada in 1993 as a substitute after Robert Zabica was sent off in the 17th minute.

During the course of his international career, he won a total of 109 caps for his country.

After making 58 appearances for the club, he moved to German Bundesliga side Dynamo Dresden in 1994, appearing twice, and then to Bundesliga side 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 1995, appearing four times.

He left the Sydney-based club to play in Germany in 1994 with Dynamo Dresden and 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

Schwarzer joined then-second-tier side Bradford City in 1996 and made 16 appearances before joining Premier League club Middlesbrough in February 1997.

He then travelled to England to play for Bradford City in 1996, where he eventually joined Middlesbrough in February 1997.

Schwarzer made his debut for Middlesbrough against Stockport County in the League Cup semi-finals on 26 February 1997.

He featured in the final against Leicester City, which ended as a 1–1 draw, but was injured for the replay.

He also played in the 1998 League Cup final against Chelsea, but was unable to prevent Middlesbrough from slipping to a 2–0 defeat.

He was part of the side, however, who beat Bolton Wanderers 2–1 to win the final six years later, despite making an error described by BBC Sport as a "howler" which allowed Kevin Davies a consolation goal for Bolton.

In the last match of the 2004–05 season against Manchester City, he saved a Robbie Fowler penalty in stoppage time to preserve a 1–1 draw.

The draw was sufficient to put Middlesbrough in seventh in the final league table and ensure qualification for the UEFA Cup; had Fowler converted the penalty, Manchester City would have qualified for the UEFA Cup at Middlesbrough's expense.

Schwarzer was granted a transfer request by Middlesbrough on 6 January 2006 and sought to join a new club, but he withdrew his request on 20 January 2006, and rejoined the team.

A fractured cheekbone sustained against West Ham United, however, looked like it had ruled Schwarzer out for the rest of the season, but he returned for the UEFA Cup final against Sevilla, albeit playing with a protective mask.

In June 2007, Schwarzer branched out from his football career and co-wrote "Megs and the Vootball Kids" with Neil Montagnana-Wallace.

The short children's novel focused on the titular 'Megs', aka Edward Morison, during his move from his home country of England to Australia.

While finding his feet, Megs befriends a quirky Hungarian cleaner who works at the primary school.

The novel saw success and was followed by four sequels: "Megs, Scarves and Sombreros," "Megs and the Complete Left Foot," "Megs and the Crazy Legs," and "Megs and the Wonder Strike."

When he played in Middlesbrough's 1–0 victory over Portsmouth on 29 December 2007, he became the Premier League's longest-serving foreigner at one club, surpassing Dennis Bergkamp's record of 315 matches.

Schwarzer's final Middlesbrough appearance came in an 8–1 victory over Manchester City on the final day of the 2007–08 Premier League season, after he had made 446 appearances in all competitions.

He made 445 appearances for Middlesbrough, but decided to leave the club in May 2008.

In 2009, Schwarzer was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.

He became Australia's most capped male player when he surpassed Alex Tobin's appearance record in January 2011.

Schwarzer was born in North Richmond, a semi-rural suburb in north-western Sydney, and attended Richmond North Public School and Colo High School.

He played for the local soccer club the Colo Cougars.

He then switched to Premier League side Fulham, and made 218 appearances for the club until he moved to Chelsea in 2013.

He was the first – and, to date, only – non-Briton to have made more than 500 Premier League appearances (making him the highest-appearing non-Briton in the Premier League's history), and also the oldest player to have played in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League.

He joined Leicester City on a free transfer in January 2015 and left the club at the end of their 2015–16 Premier League-winning season.

After rejecting offers from A-League clubs Sydney FC and Perth Glory in 2016, Schwarzer retired at age 43, joining Optus Sport as a panellist via video link on the now defunct Countdown to Kickoff program.

Schwarzer was later involved in the network's coverage of UEFA Euro 2020, and regularly appears as a guest on the station's GegenPod podcast.

He also published non-football article on The Sydney Morning Herald on behalf with other author.

Schwarzer's son, Julian, is a goalkeeper for the Indonesian club Arema FC.

As Schwarzer's wife (Julian's mother) has Filipino nationality, the younger Schwarzer is eligible to play for the Philippines national football team.

Schwarzer's first club was Colo Cougars in Richmond, New South Wales.

He started his professional career at age 19 with Marconi Stallions in the National Soccer League.