Antonio Rudiger is a German professional footballer who plays as a center-back. He plays for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Germany national team. His ‘no nonsense’ style of play, strength on air, tackling capabilities and being splendid with the ball at his feet makes him one of the best defenders in world today.
Tony is a versatile central-defender who can play in any position in a back-three defense or on either side of a back-two defense. His ability to read the game plus his athletic prowess makes him excellent in both zonal making and one-on-one situations. He oftentimes drives forward with the ball to assist in attack and is extremely good with headers.
Antonio is as well an excellent leader on and off the pitch. He has frequently been praised for mentoring young players.
Age and Birthday
Born in 3 March 1993 in Berlin, Germany, Antonio is 31 years old as of 2024.
Height
The ruthless German defender is 1.91 meters (6 feet 3 inches) tall.
Preferred foot
Tony prefers to play with the right foot.
Antonio Rudiger Family and Religion
Parents and sibling
Antonio’s parents are Matthias and Lily Rudiger. They are both natives of Sierra Leone and immigrated to Germany to seek refuge from the 1991civil war in their motherland. While settling in Berlin, the couple was blessed with a son, Antonio. Tony’s parents played a huge role in ensuring that he has the best life could offer while he was growing up.
Rudiger has a older step-brother named Sahr Senesie who is a former German professional footballer. Sahr also doubles up as Rudiger’s agent.
Wife and children
Antonio is happily married to the love of his life Laura Rudiger. The two love birds solemnized their marriage in 2009 after dating for sometime. Together they have sired two adorable kids; Djamal Sahr Rudiger, a son born in February 2020 and Aliyah Trophy Rudiger, a daughter born in June 2021.
Religion
Rudiger is a staunch Muslim faithful.
Antonio Rudiger Club Career
VfB Stuttgart: 2011-2015
Tony started his football career at VfB Stuttgart II playing in 3.liga, the third division in Germany. He made is debut for the side on 23 July 2011 against Arminia Bielefeld.
On 29 January 2021, Antonio made his Bundesliga debut for VfB Stuttgart first team in a 3-0 home defeat against Borussia Monchengladbach. This turned out to be his only first team appearance for the 2011-12 season.
In 2012-13 season, Tony got more first-team game time as he continued to play for reserves as well. He played 24 first team matches plus four appearances and two goals for the reserves team. The following season Rudiger played 35 matches and scored twice for the first team. In the 2014-15 season which was his last with the Germany side, Antonio made only 20 first team appearances. This was due to a series of injuries.
He played a total of eighty matches and scored two goals for the first team as well as twenty two games and thirteen goals for the reserve team.
AS Roma: 2015-2017
On 19 August 2015, Rudiger joined Roma on a season-long loan from Stuttgart. He debuted for the Italians in a 2-0 away win over Frosinone on 12 September. Tony scored his maiden goal for the Romans on 9 January in the fourth minute of a 1-1 home draw against AC Milan. He ended the season with thirty seven appearances and two goals.
Antonio made his move to Roma permanent on 30 May 2016 after signing a four-year deal.
He played in thirty five matches and provided four assists in the 2016-17 season.
Chelsea: 2017-2022
On 9 July 2017, Antonio switched Rome for London when he signed a five-year deal with Premier League club Chelsea. He made his debut for the Blues on 6 August in the 2017 FA Community shield against Arsenal coming in as a substitute to replace Marcos Alonso in the 79th minute. Chelsea lost the game 4-1 on penalties.
His Premier League debut was six days later in a 3-2 home defeat against Burnley. Rudiger’s first Chelsea goal was in a EFL Cup win over Everton while his maiden EPL goal come on 29th September 2017 in a 1-0 home victory against Swansea. He won his first trophy with Chelsea when they beat Manchester United to lift the 2017-18 FA Cup.
The 2018-19 season ended with Chelsea winning the UEFA Europa League after beating Arsenal 4-1 in the finals at the Olympic Stadium in Baku.
Antonio marked his 100th Chelsea appearance by scoring two goals (which were coincidentally both headers and assisted by Mason Mount) in a 2-2 draw against Leicester on 1 February 2020.
On 29 May 2021, he won his first Champions League when Chelsea beat Manchester City 1-0 in the finals at the Estadio do Dragao. Subsequently, he was a major part of the Chelsea team that lifted the 2021 UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup trophies.
He scored his first Champions League goal in a 3-2 away victory against Real Madrid in the 2021-22 quarter finals. The Blues were nonetheless eliminated on a 5-4 aggregate.
On 20 May 2022, Rudiger made an official announcement that he would be leaving Chelsea after five years.
Real Madrid: 2022-Present
Antonio signed for Real Madrid as a free agent on 2 June 2022 on a four-year deal. On August, he made his debut from the bench in a 2-0 UEFA Super Cup win over Eintracht Frankfurt. He scored his first goal for the Spanish giants on 11 September 2022 in a 4-1 win against Mallorca. On 11 October, he scored a header in the 95th minute of a Champions League group stage 1-1 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk. This late equalizer was crucial for Real as they consequently qualified for the knockout stage.
In his first season in Real Madrid, Rudiger lifted the 2022 UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, winning the prestigious trophies in two consecutive years, with two different clubs.
However Rudiger’s start at Real wasn’t rosy. He only had limited game time, being just used as a back-up to Militao and Alaba.
Through hard work and determination, he became a regular starter in his second season with the Spanish giants, playing close to 4000 minutes in all competitions. Moreover, he established himself as one of the world’s best center-backs and an excellent leader on and off the pitch. Antonio now one of the first big names on the team sheet lifted his first ever career league title when Real won the 2023-24 La Liga title. Additionally, he won the Champions League a second time in his career as well as the Spanish Super Cup.
Antonio Rudiger International Career
Rudiger was eligible to play for Germany and Sierra Leone so he preferred Germany. He won his first cap on 13 May 2014 in a goalless draw against Poland. He initially got a call up for the UEFA Euro 2016 but was later dropped after sustaining an injury.
Antonio was part of the German team that won the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. His first goal for the national side was in a 5-1 home World Cup qualifier win against Azerbaijan. Rudiger was in the 23-man German team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He played every minute of the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament held in May 2021.
In November 2022, Antonio was in the German team for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar but unfortunately they did not make it beyond the tournament’s group stage.
He was part of the Germany team for 2024 UEFA Euro tournament held in Germany.
Antonio Rudiger Honours
Real Madrid
- UEFA Champions League: 2023-24
- La Liga title: 2023-24
- Supercopa de Espana: 2024
- Copa del Rey: 2022-23
- UEFA Super Cup: 2022
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2022
Chelsea
- UEFA Champions League: 2020-21
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2021
- UEFA Super Cup: 2021
- UEFA Europa League: 2018-19
- FA Cup: 2017-18, runner-up (3): 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22
- EFL Cup runner-up (2): 2018-19, 2021-22
Germany
- FIFA Confederations Cup: 2017
Individual
- Fritz Walter Medal U-19 Gold: 2012
- UEFA Champions League Team of the Season: 2020-231, 2021-22
- PFA Premier League Team of the Year: 2021-22
- ESM Team of the Year: 2021-22