Christian Günter

Christian Günter (born 28 February 1993) is a German professional footballer who plays as a left-back for and captains Bundesliga club SC Freiburg, where he has spent his entire career. He also plays for the Germany national team.

On 19 May 2021, Günter was selected for the German squad for UEFA Euro 2020.

Personal life
Günter originally comes from Tennenbronn, a district of the city of Schramberg. He was born in Villingen-Schwenningen, a neighbouring city. As a youth player for SC Freiburg, he commuted between Tennenbronn and Freiburg. He currently lives in Littenweiler, a district of Freiburg. Günter is married and has a daughter. After graduating from secondary school, he completed instruction and schooling as an industrial mechanic in St. Georgen.

Youth career
At the age of four, Günter joined the football club FV Tennenbronn. As a 13-year-old, he was invited to trial training by SC Freiburg. From then on he went through the club's youth teams. In 2012, he won an important title as captain of the A-Juniors team, the DFB-Pokal der Junioren (youth DFB-Pokal).

Beginnings in professional football
Günter's professional career began in the 2012–13 season, when he was included in the SC Freiburg's professional squad; he became the new replacement for left-back Oliver Sorg. Günter was included in the professional team's squad for the first time on 17 November 2012. A few weeks later on 8 December, he finally made his debut for the first team in a 1–0 win against Greuther Fürth. As a substitute, he replaced Vegar Eggen Hedenstad in the 77th minute of the game. Günter played his second game again as a substitute in the DFB-Pokal on 18 December against Karlsruher SC. In total, he played eight competitive games in his first season. The following season, SC Freiburg played in the Europa League. Günter made his first appearance of the new campaign in the DFB-Pokal against TSG Neustrelitz. In the following months, he was used more often by coach Christian Streich, as the two full-backs Hedenstad and Mensur Mujdža were temporarily unavailable. On 19 September 2013, Günter made his debut in European competition against Slovan Liberec. However, his team was eliminated after the group stage of the Europa League. In March 2014, Günter extended his contract at SC Freiburg early.

Regular player at SC Freiburg
On 8 November 2014, the 11th matchday of the 2014–15 league season, Günter scored his first goal in the Bundesliga, coming in the 22nd minute of a 2–0 win against Schalke 04. At the end of the season, in which Günter played in every Bundesliga match for the club, Freiburg were relegated to the second division. However, in the following season, The side would become 2. Bundesliga champions, earning immediate promotion back to the first league. Günter continued to be a regular player in the left-back position for Freiburg in the following season.

After only missing two matches in the following three Bundesliga seasons, Günter was elected team captain of the club in 2020. In addition, Günter also decided to wear a captain's armband in rainbow colours in order to set an example for more tolerance and against exclusion. In March 2021, he made a further contract extension at the club for an unknown term.

Günter became Freiburg's Bundesliga record player on matchday 2 of the 2021–22 season with his 237th appearance, breaking Andreas Zeyer's previous club record.

International career
Günter made his debut for the Germany under-20 national team on 12 October 2013, in a 4–0 win against the Netherlands. Günter was in the starting line-up before eventually being replaced by Tim Leibold of VfB Stuttgart.

In September 2014, Günter was nominated for the first time for two European Championship qualifiers by under-21 national coach Horst Hrubesch. He made his full 90-minute debut for the German U21 team on 5 September 2014, in a 2–0 win against Ireland. Günter was involved in three overall appearances as his team progressed to the main round.

Günter made his debut with the senior German national team on 13 May 2014 in a friendly against Poland, coming on as a substitute in the 81st minute for Oliver Sorg.

In July 2016, Günter was nominated for the German squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In May 2021, Günter was named to the squad for UEFA Euro 2020 by national coach Joachim Löw. He then made his second senior international appearance in a pre-tournament friendly against Denmark on 2 June 2021. Günter's side would go on to reach the round of 16 at Euro 2020, in which Germany lost against England. Despite expressing disappointment with the team's performance, he declared himself ready and willing to play for the national team again in the future.

In November 2022, Günter was named to the Germany squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup by coach Hansi Flick.

Honours
Individual
 * Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2019–20
 * kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2021–22