Marcel Schmelzer to give up captaincy
Marcel Schmelzer is giving up the Borussia Dortmund captaincy after two years in the role. "They were two strenuous and intense years that consumed a lot of energy. It was my decision. I believe this is what's best," said the model professional, who rose through the youth ranks at BVB and is now one of the top ten appearance-makers for the Black & Yellows.
"The match against Los Angeles will be my last as the captain of Borussia Dortmund," announced the 30-year-old in the run-up to the friendly, which will be broadcast via live stream at live.bvbtotal.de from 4:00 CET.
Marcel Schmelzer took over the captaincy two years ago, in summer 2016, from Mats Hummels, becoming only the 17th player to wear the armband for the club since the inception of the Bundesliga in 1963. The first player on that list was BVB legend Alfred "Aki" Schmidt. Borussia Dortmund lifted the 2017 DFB Cup with Schmelzer as skipper.
"I'm proud to have served as captain for two years – and that I managed to win many titles with the club, one of which came as captain. But I also think that we have many players in the squad who are capable of taking on this role. Plus there's the fact that the club wishes to make a fresh start in the summer. With that in mind, it's only right that this role should be reallocated," said Schmelzer, who has made 346 appearances for the Black & Yellows to date and occupies eighth position on the all-time ranking list for most appearances.
Boris Rupert
Appearances | Goals | ||
1 | Michael Zorc | 571 | 159 |
2 | Roman Weidenfeller | 453 | 0 |
3 | Stefan Reuter | 420 | 14 |
4 | Lars Ricken | 407 | 69 |
5 | Dedê | 398 | 13 |
6 | Lothar Huber | 365 | 50 |
7 | Sebastian Kehl | 362 | 22 |
8 | Marcel Schmelzer | 346 | 6 |
9 | Günter Kutowski | 345 | 5 |
10 | Hoppy Kurrat | 342 | 17 |
11 | Stefan Klos | 339 | 0 |