Michael Lang (footballer, born 1991)
Michael Rico Lang (born 8 February 1991) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defender for Swiss Super League club Basel and the Switzerland national team. Additionally, he has represented Switzerland internationally at youth level.
| Lang with Switzerland at the 2018 FIFA World Cup | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Rico Lang[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 8 February 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | Egnach, Switzerland | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Basel | ||
| Number | 5 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2006 | FC St. Gallen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2011 | FC St. Gallen | 66 | (4) |
| 2011–2015 | Grasshopper Club Zürich | 127 | (12) |
| 2015–2018 | Basel | 87 | (16) |
| 2018–2021 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 17 | (1) |
| 2019–2020 | → Werder Bremen (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2021– | Basel | 61 | (5) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2005–2007 | Switzerland U-16 | 11 | (1) |
| 2007–2008 | Switzerland U-17 | 19 | (2) |
| 2008–2009 | Switzerland U-18 | 7 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Switzerland U-19 | 16 | (3) |
| 2010–2012 | Switzerland U-20 | 11 | (3) |
| 2013– | Switzerland | 31 | (3) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 December 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2019 (UTC) | |||
Club career edit
St. Gallen edit
In the year 2000 Lang joined the youth department of FC St. Gallen and in 2006 he advanced to play in their I-21 team, who played in the 1. Liga, at that time the third tier in the Swiss football league system. On the last matchday of the 2006–07 Swiss Super League season, on 24 May 2007, he played his domestic league debut for the first team in the away game as FCSG played a 1–1 draw against Aarau. He played his first league match at age 16, making him one of the youngest debut players in the Swiss Super League to that date. Lang remained with the U-21 team, but came to three appearances in their first team in the 2007–08 Swiss Super League, however FCSG suffered relegation. The following season FCSG won the 2008–09 Swiss Challenge League and as division champions won immediate promotion. Lang had nine appearances and scored one goal that season.[3]
Lang remained with the club for two further seasons. During his time with them he played 66 first team matches and scored four goals for them.
Grasshopper Club edit
In the summer 2011 he signed a four-year contract with Grasshopper Club Zürich, the Swiss record football champion. The Swiss Cup one of the semi-finals was the derby between Zürich and Grasshopper Club. FCZ went ahead in the first half, but GC were able to draw level before half time. No further goals fell and so the game went into extra time. Izet Hajrović scored the winning goal in the 94th minute and GC advanced to the final. This was played in the Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Bern on 20 May 2013 and FCB played against GC. In the 71st minute Markus Steinhöfer put Basel a goal up, but Izet Hajrović was able to equalise just four minutes later. No further goals fell, not during extra time either. It came to a penalty shootout and despite the fact that Lang himself didn't net his spot kick, GC won the shootout 4–3 and lifted the trophy.[4]
The Grasshopper Club played two years in a row the qualification for the UEFA Champions League. But they lost their games, in 2013–14 first leg 1–0 away from home and second leg also 1–0 at home against Lyon and 2014–15, first leg 2–0 at home and second leg with a 1–1 draw away against Lille OSC.
In his four seasons with GC, Lang played 127 domestic league matches and he scored 12 goals.
Basel edit
On 1 June 2015, Lang joined Basel on a free transfer.[5] He joined Basel's first team for their 2015–16 season under new head coach Urs Fischer. After playing in three test games, Lang made his first team league debut on 19 July 2015 in the 2–0 home win against Vaduz.[6] He scored his first goal for his new team just one week later on 25 July during the away game against his old club Grasshopper Club. It was the last goal of the game and Basel won 3–2.[7] Under trainer Urs Fischer Lang won the Swiss Super League championship at the end of the 2015–16 Super League season[8] During that season Lang had 22 league appearances, one in the Swiss Cup, four in that season's Champions League qualifying phase and ten appearances in the Europa League. He scored seven goals in these games.
Again at the end of the 2016–17 Super League season Lang won the championship with the team. This was the club's eighth title in a row and their 20th championship title in total.[9] They also won the Swiss Cup beating Sion 3–0 in the final on 25 May, which meant they had won the double.[10] Lang had played 31 games in the league, five in the domestic Cup and five in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League. He scored six league goals and three in the cup.
In the 2017–18 FC Basel season Raphaël Wicky was hired as new head coach, but the team ended that season as runners-up. Lang scored his first Champions League goal in the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage home game on 27 September against Benfica. It was the first goal of the game that Basel went on to win 5–0.[11] Following this, on 22 November, in the home game against Manchester United he scored the winning goal in the 89th minute as Basel won 1–0 to end the group in second position and advance to the next round.[12] In the knockout phase, when playing Manchester City, Lang again scored the winning goal in the 71st minute as Basel won 2–1 and ended their opponent's 15-month unbeaten home run.[13] Lang had 34 league appearances, two in the cup and eight in the Champions League. He scored a total of ten goals in these three competitions.
In the 122 games that he had played for RotBlau, across all competitions, Lang had scored 26 goals and had prepared another 18.
Borussia Mönchengladbach edit
In June 2018, Lang joined Borussia Mönchengladbach for their 2018–19 season having agreed a four-year contract. The transfer fee paid to Basel was reported as €2.8 million.[14] During the season Lang had 17 league appearances, scoring one goal in the 4–1 win over Hannover 96 on 25 November.[15] He also had one appearance in the 2018–19 DFB-Pokal, a 5–0 home defeat against Bayer Leverkusen on 31 October.[16]
- Werder Bremen (loan)
On 29 August 2019, Lang joined SV Werder Bremen on a season-long loan deal for the 2019–20 Bundesliga season with an option to buy included.[17] Initially Lang arrived as replacement for the injured Theodor Gebre Selassie and played four games in a row for over 90 minutes from the third to the sixth matchday, but after that he was hardly used anymore. That season Lang played nine times for Werder in the Bundesliga and once in the DFB Cup. After the loan ended, the option that he could he permanently signed was not exercised.[18][19]
After his loan period Lang went back returned to Gladbach for another season, however, it was a season to forget. He played only in two DFB Cup matches, both times coming on a substitute and once in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League also as substitute in the away match against Shakhtar Donetsk.[20]
Return to Basel edit
On 19 July 2021 FC Basel announced, that Lang had moved back to them, with immediate effect. The 30-year-old right-back signed a contract until the summer of 2023, with an option for a further year.[21] He joined Basel's first team for their 2021–22 season under head coach Patrick Rahmen. The team started well into the league season with seven victories and five draws before their first defeat. They ended the campaign as runners-up, they had achieved 15 victories and were defeated only four times. However, they had given away too many points, because they could only achieve a draw on 17 occasions.[22] In the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League they won their group, but were knocked out in the round of 16 losing twice against Marseille.[23] Lang totaled 39 appearances, 26 League, one Cup and 12 Conference League. He scored six goals in these matches.[24]
For their Basel's 2022–23 season Alexander Frei was hired as new head coach. However, the season didn't start well for the team, two defeats and three draws in the first six matches and things continued in that manor. In February Frei was replaced through Heiko Vogel, but at the end of the season Basel were in fifth position.[25] Lang had 27 appearances, mainly in the starting eleven, scoring one goal. In the 2022–23 Swiss Cup the team advancedas far as the semi-finals. Lang had four appearances, also scoring once. In the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League the team were runners-up in their group, but advanced via the play-offs to the knockout phase, and then advanced as far as the semi-finals. Here they were matched against Fiorentina, winning the first leg 2–1 away, they lost the second leg at home in the St. Jakob-Park by the same score, thus they went into extra time. In the tenth minute of the added over-time in the second half of the extra time Basel conceded the decisive goal and were knocked out in the most bitter of ways.[26] Lang had 15 apperances, scoring one goal here as well.
International career edit
Lang made his first senior international appearance for Switzerland on 14 August 2013 in the friendly against Brazil.[27] He came on as a second-half substitute for Stephan Lichtsteiner as the team won 1–0 at St. Jakob-Park.[27] He scored his first goal in his second appearance later on 11 October in the 2–1 win against Albania in match 9 of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification Group E; this win clinched Switzerland's place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[28]
Lang was called by manager Ottmar Hitzfeld in the squad of 23 players for the final tournament.[29] He played his first and only match of the campaign in the final Group E game against Honduras, entering in the final 13 minutes.[30] Switzerland was eventually knocked out of the tournament by Argentina in the round of 16.[31]
He was part of the squad for the 2016 European Championships where the team achieved the best result reaching round of 16.[32]
He was included in Switzerland's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[33] He was sent off in Switzerland's 1–0 defeat to Sweden in the round of 16 for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity in the 90+4th minute, becoming the only player in to tournament to be sent off in the knockout stage
In May 2019, he played in 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, where his team finished 4th.[34]
Career statistics edit
Club edit
- As of match played 29 May 2023[35]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| St. Gallen | 2009–10 | Swiss Super League | 22 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | 24 | 2 | |
| 2010–11 | 31 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 32 | 2 | |||
| Total | 53 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — | 56 | 4 | |||
| Grasshopper | 2011–12 | Swiss Super League | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 28 | 1 | |
| 2012–13 | 33 | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | 38 | 3 | |||
| 2013–14 | 34 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4[b] | 0 | 41 | 4 | ||
| 2014–15 | 35 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4[b] | 1 | 42 | 6 | ||
| Total | 128 | 12 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 149 | 14 | ||
| Basel | 2015–16 | Swiss Super League | 22 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14[c] | 2 | 37 | 7 |
| 2016–17 | 31 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5[d] | 0 | 40 | 9 | ||
| 2017–18 | 34 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 8[d] | 3 | 44 | 10 | ||
| Total | 87 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 27 | 5 | 121 | 26 | ||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 2018–19 | Bundesliga | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 18 | 1 | |
| 2020–21 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 17 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 1 | ||
| Werder Bremen (loan) | 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | |
| Basel | 2021–22 | Swiss Super League | 26 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12[e] | 2 | 39 | 6 |
| 2022–23 | 27 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 15[e] | 1 | 46 | 3 | ||
| Total | 53 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 28 | 3 | 85 | 9 | ||
| Career total | 347 | 37 | 32 | 7 | 57 | 9 | 437 | 54 | ||
- ^ Includes Swiss Cup, DFB-Pokal
- ^ a b Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
- ^ Four appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, ten appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
- ^ a b c Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
- ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
International edit
- As of 18 November 2019[36]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 2013 | 4 | 1 |
| 2014 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 9 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 31 | 3 | |
- As of 15 October 2018. Switzerland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Lang goal.[36]
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 October 2013 | Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania | 2 | Albania | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 9 October 2015 | AFG Arena, St. Gallen, Switzerland | 10 | San Marino | 1–0 | 7–0 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying |
| 3 | 15 October 2018 | Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland | 29 | Iceland | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2018–19 UEFA Nations League A |
Honours edit
St. Gallen
Grasshopper
Basel
Individual edit
References edit
- ^ (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2014. p. 30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
- ^ (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ Stokkermans, Karel (2013). "Switzerland 2008/2009". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ Swiss Football Verband (SFV) (20 May 2013). "FC Basel - Grasshopper Club 3:4 n.P. (1:1, 1:1, 0:0)" (in German). Swiss Football Verband (SFV) website. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ "FCB verpflichtet Nationalspieler Michael Lang". FC Basel. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ Marti, Caspar (2015). "Auftakt geglückt – 2:0 Sieg gegen den FC Vaduz". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- ^ Marti, Caspar (2015). "Der FCB gewinnt bei GC ein unterhaltsames Spiel mit 3:2". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- ^ Marti, Casper (2016). "Es ist vollbracht ! Der FCB ist zum 19. Mal Meister". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
- ^ Marti, Casper (2017). "Der Saisonabschluss im Zeitraffer". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ a b . allaboutgeneva.com. 25 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
- ^ FC Basel 1893 (2017). "5:0 – ein entfesselter FCB landet gegen Benfica einen Kantersieg". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Grandios! Lang schiesst den FCB in letzter Minute zum Sieg". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ UEFA (2018). "City ease through but Basel loss mutes celebrations". UEFA. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
- ^ ""Schnäppchen" Lang unterschreibt bis 2022 in Gladbach". kicker Online (in German). 29 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ red. DFB (25 November 2018). "Mönchengladbach 4-1 Hannover" (in German). dfb.de. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ red. DFB (31 October 2018). "Mönchengladbach 5-0 Bayer Leverkuse" (in German). dfb.de. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
- ^ Wegmann, Michael (16 March 2020). "Bundesliga: Michael Lang bei Werder Bremen aussortiert" [Bundesliga: Michael Lang sorted out by Werder Bremen] (in Swiss High German). blick.ch. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ Sander, Carsten (15 June 2020). "Werder-aus für Michael Lang: keine verlängerung nach der Leihe" [Werder out for Michael Lang: no extension after the loan] (in German). deichstube.de. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ uefa.com (3 November 2020). "Shakhtar Donetsk 0–6 Mönchengladbach". uefa.com. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ FC Basel 1893 (19 July 2021). "Michael Lang kehrt zum FCB zurück" [Michael Lang returns to FCB] (in Swiss High German). FC Basel 1893 AG. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Stokkermans, Karel; Rohrer, Niklaus (2022). "Switzerland 2021/2022". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ uefa.com (17 March 2022). "FC Basel - Olympique de Marseille 1:2 (0:0)". uefa.com. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (2022). "Michael Lang - statistics 2021/22". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ Stokkermans, Karel (2023). "Switzerland 2022/23". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ uefa.com (18 May 2023). "FC Basel - ACF Fiorentina 1:3 n.V. (1:2, 0:1)". uefa.com. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ a b "Switzerland 1-0 Brazil: Alves own goal hands Hitzfeld's men famous win". Goal.com. 14 August 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ "World Cup qualifier: Switzerland book World Cup spot with 2-1 win over Albania". Sky Sports. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ "World Cup 2014: Pajtim Kasami on standby for Switzerland". BBC Sport. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ Alan Smith (25 June 2014). "Switzerland ease past Honduras courtesy of Xherdan Shaqiri hat-trick". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ Ian Herbert (1 July 2014). "Argentina vs Switzerland match report World Cup 2014: Angel di Maria leaves it late to breach the Swiss red wall". Independent. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ "Switzerland include three teenagers in final squad for Euro 2016". ESPN FC. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
- ^ "Switzerland opts for experience in World Cup squad". Washington Post. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.[dead link]
- ^ "Pickford the hero in England shootout win". BBC Sport.
- ^ Michael Lang at Soccerway. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ a b "Michael Lang – National Football Team Player". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ "SAFP GOLDEN 11 2017 - Die Gewinner". Golden11. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ "Super League - Salah zum SL-"Spieler des Jahres" gewählt". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) (in German). 27 January 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
- ^ "Gashi footballeur de l'année 2014". Len (in French). 2 February 2015. ISSN 1018-3736. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
- ^ "Das ist der neue Meisterpokal der Super League – Embolo und GC räumen bei SFL Award Night ab". watson.ch (in German). Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ "SAFP Golden 11 2016". Golden11. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ "SAFP GOLDEN 11 2017 - Die Gewinner". Golden11. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ "Das SFL-Team der Saison 2022/23" (in German). Swiss Football League. 29 June 2023.
External links edit
- Profile on FC Basel Archiv
- Profile on the Swiss Football League homepage