Daniel Schwaab

Three days later on 24 September, he scored his second goal for Freiburg in a 3–1 win over 1899 Hoffenheim in the second round of the DFB-Pokal.

He scored twice more that season against FSV Frankfurt and VfL Osnabrück.

Daniel Schwaab (born 23 August 1988) is a German former professional footballer who played for SC Freiburg, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, VfB Stuttgart and PSV Eindhoven, mainly as a centre-back.

He went on trial at SC Freiburg in 2000 and quickly impressed the club's management who signed him.

While progressing through the club's youth teams, he initially played as a midfielder before converting to a centre-back.

In the summer of 2006, Schwaab signed his first professional contract (Freiburg were in the 2. Bundesliga at the time) and was also promoted to the first team squad.

On 17 September 2006, Schwaab made his Freiburg debut, starting in the right-back position and playing for 79 minutes in a 1–1 draw against 1860 Munich.

After making his debut, he established himself in the starting eleven, playing in the right–back position.

Schwaab also began playing in different positions, including once in midfield.

At the end of the 2006-07 season, which saw Freiburg finish in fourth place, missing out on promotion to the Bundesliga, he made thirty–two appearances in all competitions.

He helped Freiburg keep clean sheets in three consecutive matches between 4 February and 19 February 2007 and again between 1 April and 15 April 2007.

At the start of the 2007–08 season, Schwaab continued to play regularly at right–back; at times, he also featured either at centre–back or left–back.

Between 7 March and 13 April 2008, Schwaab helped Freiburg keep four clean sheets in six matches.

Since the start of the season, he started every match until missing a match against TuS Koblenz on 16 April 2008, due to an undisclosed absence.

He returned to the starting line–up against Greuther Fürth on 28 April 2008 and played the whole game, as Freiburg won 3–2.

However, he soon suffered an injury and was sidelined for the remainder of the season.

He made thirty–three appearances in all competitions.

At the start of the 2008–09 season, Schwaab helped SC Freiburg make a near-perfect start, earning thirteen points in the first five league matches.

He then scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win over Augsburg on 14 September 2008.

This was followed by setting up two goals for Mohammadou Idrissou (who went on to score a hat–trick) in a 5–0 win over Wehen Wiesbaden on 21 September.

By the end of the 2008–09 season, he made thirty–five appearances and scored six times in all competitions.

During the 2008–09 season, with his Freiburg contract running out it was announced that Schwaab was to join top flight side Bayer Leverkusen.

He had already been linked with a move to the club a year earlier.

The outcome saw Leverkusen paying Freiburg €250,000 to sign him before the end of his contract.

He represented Germany at U18, U19, and U21 levels, winning the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Born in Waldkirch, West Germany, Schwaab began his career at hometown club SV Waldkirch from the age of four.

He was ever-present, starting in every league match, until he was suspended for the fixture against Wehen Wiesbaden on 27 February 2009 after picking up five yellow cards.

Schwaab returned to the starting line–up against Alemannia Aachen on 8 March 2009 and helped the club win 2–1.

He then scored his fifth goal of the season, as well as setting up a goal for Tommy Bechmann, in a 4–1 win against FSV Frankfurt.

Freiburg won 5–2 against TuS Koblenz in the following match to secure promotion to the Bundesliga.

In the last game of the season, Schwaab scored his sixth goal of the campaign in a 4–3 win against 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

Schwaab made his debut (starting the whole game in the right–back position and keeping a clean sheet) in a 1–0 win against SV Babelsberg 03 in the first round of the 2009–10 DFB-Pokal.

He made his Bundesliga debut in a 2–2 draw against Mainz 05 in the opening game of the 2009–10 season on 8 August 2009.

After appearing in the next three matches, coming from the substitute bench, Schwaab suffered an injury that saw him miss two matches.

He returned to the starting line–up against 1. FC Köln on 26 September 2009 and helped Leverkusen keep a clean sheet in a 1–0 win.

During a 3–2 loss against Eintracht Frankfurt on 1 April 2010, Schwaab was sent–off in the 49th minute for a foul on Ümit Korkmaz.

After the match, the club unsuccessfully appealed against his three match suspension.

He returned to the starting line–up against Borussia Mönchengladbach and helped Leverkusen draw 1–1, resulting in the club qualifying for the UEFA Europa League next season.

At the start of the 2010–11 season, Schwaab set up two goals in an 11–1 win over Pirmasens in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.

He played in both legs of the UEFA Europa League Play–off rounds against Tavriya Simferopol.