David Alaba

At 32 years old, David Alaba has this physical status:

Club career

Alaba began his career with SV Aspern, his hometown club in Aspern, in the 22nd district, Donaustadt, before joining the youth team of FK Austria Wien at age 10. He climbed through the ranks quickly, and in April 2008, he was named on the first-team replacements' bench for an Austrian Bundesliga match. He spent five times with Austria Wien's reserve team before moving to Bayern Munich, Germany.

He began playing for the under-17 and under 19 teams in Bayern's youth system before being promoted to the reserve team for the 2009-10 season. He made his 3rd appearance in a 3. Boris Robert Munster played his first professional goal for FC Bayern Munich II on August 29, 2009, after a ties against Dynamo Dresden in August 2009. He was selected in Bayern Munich's squad for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, where he was ranked No. 27. Alaba, as well as reserve teammates Diego Contento and Mehmet Ekici, were among the first squads to train for the remainder of the 2009–10 season in January 2010.

For the first time since being on the first-team substitutes' bench for the first time on February 10, 2010, the trio were brought to a DFB-Pokal match against Spvgg Greuther Forth, and Alaba came on in the 59th minute, replacing Christian Lell. In a match that went on to win 6–2, he set up Franck Ribéry with his second touch of the game. At 17 years, 7 months, and 8 days old, he became Bayern's youngest ever player in a competitive match.

Alaba joined TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on loan until the 2010-2011 season. In a 2–2 draw with FC St. Pauli later this month, he scored his first goal in the Bundesliga for the first time in his career.

Alaba was a regular member of Bayern's first-team squad in the 2011–12 season. Alaba's first league goal for Bayern came in against Hannover 96 on October 23, 2011. For the first time, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year on December 20th. He began as a starter for Bayern in the second half of the 2011–12 Bundesliga season. He played in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid on April 25, 2012, scoring Bayern's first kick of the shootout as they defeated 3–1 on penalties. However, Alaba was unable to participate in the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final due to being booked in the semi-finals.

Alaba defeated BATE Borisov in the 2012–13 season on December 5th, scoring his first Champions League goal. For the second year in a row, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year on December 18th. Alaba scored the seventh fastest goal (25.02 seconds) in Champions League history on April 2nd, putting Bayern over the league's 2-0 victory over Juventus. Bayern defeated Borussia Dortmund 2–1 in the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final on May 25, with he playing the full 90 minutes at left-back.

He appeared in the 2013 DFL-Supercup against Borussia Dortmund, the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea, and two matches in the FIFA Club World Cup; the first against Guangzhou Evergrande and the second against Raja Casablanca. Alaba announced on December 2nd, 2013 that it would have a new deal with Bayern Munich, which would come to an end in 2018. For the third year in a row, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year on December 20. For the first time since being named as the left-back in the UEFA Team of the Year 2013 in January 2014, Alaba was voted as the top-back.

For the fourth year in a row, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year on December 18, 2014. For the second year in a row, he was voted as the left-back in the UEFA.com Team of the Year 2014 (342,070 votes) in January 2015. During Austria's 1–1 friendly draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 31, Alaba sustained a medial ligament injury in his left knee. Alaba's season was marred by the accident, so the team didn't recover the rest of the season.

Kevin Volland scored in nine seconds against his former club, 1899 Hoffenheim, in August 2015, the fastest Bundesliga goal of all time. For the fifth year in a row, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year on December 17th. For the third year in a row, Alaba was named as the Left-back in the UEFA.com Team of the Year 2015 for the third year in a row. He started his employment on March 18th and didn't extend his deal until 2021. Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year for the sixth year in a row on December 21. Alaba won by 2–1 over Schalke on February 10, his 200th appearance in the Bundesliga.

Alaba was often partnering with Jérôme Boateng due to a injuries crisis during the 2019-20 season. He adapted to the role well and became the defense chief quickly. Bayern defeated Paris Saint-Germain 1–0 in the 2020 Champions League Final on August 23, 2020, he played the full 90 minutes at center-back. Bayern Munich's second treble-winning season since 2012–13, with Alaba winning his second continental treble of his career.

After several attempts to extend his contract, Alaba revealed that Bayern Munich had asked him earlier if he was involved in a transfer with Leroy Sané, which he described as a "slap in the face" earlier. After thirteen years with Bayern Munich, Alaba revealed on February 2021 that he would leave the club after the 2020-21 season.

Real Madrid, the Spanish side, had announced the signing of Alaba on a five-year deal, beginning on May 28th. He inherited the number 4 jersey, which had been worn by former captain Sergio Ramos over the past 16 seasons. He made his debut on August 14th, beginning in a 4–1 victory over Alavés. After Hans Krankl (1979), he scored his first goal in El Clasico's first El Clásico victory on October 24. Alaba won by 3–1 away victory over Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the tournament on April 6, 2022.

With Real Madrid winning 2–0 on August 10, he scored the first goal in the 2022 UEFA Super Cup against Eintracht Frankfurt. In a 2–1 away victory over UD Almera, he scored the winning goal for Real Madrid from a free kick on August 14th.

International career

At the age of 17, 19, under-19, and under-21, Alaba competed for Austria at the under-17, under-19, and under-21 levels. In October 2009, he was called up to the senior Austria national team for a match against France. He made his debut in this game, making him the youngest player in the Austrian national team's history. On October 16, 2012, he scored his first goal for Austria in a World Cup Qualifying game against Kazakhstan, where Austria defeated Austria 4–0 winners.

Alaba received the prestigious award for Austrian Footballer of the Year in 2011 at the age of 19 years old. Alaba finished first on 21 points in a survey conducted by APA (Austrian press corporation), just ahead of Austria Wien's Dutch star Nacer Barazite (20 points) and VfB Stuttgart's Martin Harnik. He received the award in December 2012 for the second year in a row. Alaba scored the only goal of the game against Ireland in the 84-minute on September 10, 2013 to beat Austria 1-1. In Austria's 3–0 victory over Faroe Islands in the final qualification match against Faroe Islands, he scored the final goal.

With six goals, Alaba ended the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign as Austria's top scorer.

He kicked a ninth-minute Panenka-style penalty kick on September 8, 2015, opening a 4–1 away victory over Sweden at the Friends Arena in Solna. The outcome qualified Austria for the UEFA Euro 2016, their first fruitful qualification effort for the continental championship. Alaba participated in all three group matches as Austria finished last in their group by one point.

For the first time in a World Cup 2018 qualifier against Moldova, he captained Austria for the first time, deputizing in the absence of suspended captain Julian Baumgartlinger. As Austria failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Alaba played in eight matches.

For the first time in history, Alaba captained Austria during the UEFA Euro 2020 championship, where they reached the knockout stages in that competition for the first time in history.

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