| Alexander Esswein | |
| Birth Date: | 25 March 1990 |
| Birth Place: | Worms, West Germany |
| Height: | 1.83 m |
| Position: | Winger, forward |
| Currentclub: | VfR Mannheim |
| Youthyears1: | 1996–1998 |
| Youthclubs1: | TSV Neuleiningen |
| Youthyears2: | 1998–1999 |
| Youthclubs2: | VfR Frankenthal |
| Youthyears3: | 1999–2002 |
| Youthclubs3: | Waldhof Mannheim |
| Youthyears4: | 2002–2008 |
| Youthclubs4: | 1. FC Kaiserslautern |
| Years1: | 2007–2008 |
| Clubs1: | 1. FC Kaiserslautern |
| Caps1: | 1 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2008–2010 |
| Clubs2: | VfL Wolfsburg |
| Caps2: | 8 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2008–2010 |
| Clubs3: | VfL Wolfsburg II |
| Caps3: | 41 |
| Goals3: | 4 |
| Years4: | 2010–2011 |
| Clubs4: | Dynamo Dresden |
| Caps4: | 31 |
| Goals4: | 17 |
| Years5: | 2011–2014 |
| Clubs5: | 1. FC Nürnberg |
| Caps5: | 58 |
| Goals5: | 6 |
| Years6: | 2011–2014 |
| Clubs6: | 1. FC Nürnberg II |
| Caps6: | 1 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Years7: | 2014–2016 |
| Clubs7: | FC Augsburg |
| Caps7: | 61 |
| Goals7: | 4 |
| Years8: | 2016–2020 |
| Clubs8: | Hertha BSC |
| Caps8: | 52 |
| Goals8: | 4 |
| Years9: | 2018–2019 |
| Clubs9: | Hertha BSC II |
| Caps9: | 8 |
| Goals9: | 2 |
| Years10: | 2019 |
| Clubs10: | → VfB Stuttgart (loan) |
| Caps10: | 17 |
| Goals10: | 0 |
| Years11: | 2020–2023 |
| Clubs11: | SV Sandhausen |
| Caps11: | 80 |
| Goals11: | 8 |
| Years12: | 2023–2024 |
| Clubs12: | MSV Duisburg |
| Caps12: | 31 |
| Goals12: | 5 |
| Years13: | 2024– |
| Clubs13: | VfR Mannheim |
| Caps13: | 0 |
| Goals13: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2006–2007 |
| Nationalteam1: | Germany U17 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 12 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 3 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2007–2009 |
| Nationalteam2: | Germany U18 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 7 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 3 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2008–2009 |
| Nationalteam3: | Germany U19 |
| Nationalcaps3: | 7 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 2 |
| Nationalyears4: | 2009–2011 |
| Nationalteam4: | Germany U20 |
| Nationalcaps4: | 3 |
| Nationalgoals4: | 3 |
| Nationalyears5: | 2011–2013 |
| Nationalteam5: | Germany U21 |
| Nationalcaps5: | 13 |
| Nationalgoals5: | 5 |
| Club-Update: | 15:10, 19 May 2024 (UTC) |
Alexander Esswein (born 25 March 1990; pronounced as /de/) is a German professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for VfR Mannheim.
Esswein made his debut in the 2007–08 season. He appeared in a league match during the season.[1] He came on in the 63rd minute in a 2–1 loss to 1. FC Köln on 17 December 2007.[2]
He then transferred to VfL Wolfsburg and split time between the first and second teams. He made four league appearances during the 2008–09 season[3] and four league appearances and a German Cup appearance in the 2009–10 season.[4] He substantially made more appearances for the reserve team. During the 2008–09 season, he made 21 appearances,[3] and during the 2009–10 season, he scored four goals in 20 appearances.[4] Esswein moved to Dynamo Dresden for the 2010–11 season.[5] During the season, he scored 17 goals in 31 league appearances.[6] This includes two goals against Bayern's reserve team, in a 3–1 win on 11 November 2010;[7] Wehen Wiesbaden, in a 3–0 win, on 5 March 2011;[8] and against SpVgg Unterhaching, in a 4–0 win, on 23 April 2011.[9] He also made two appearances in the promotion playoff.[6] This proved to be Esswein's only season at the club.
He transferred to 1. FC Nürnberg for the 2011–12 season.[10] During the 2011–12 season, he scored four goals in 26 league appearances and a goal in three German Cup appearances.[11] His four league goals came against FC Augsburg, in a 1–0 win, on 27 August 2011;[12] Hertha BSC, in a 2–0 win, on 21 January 2012;[13] Köln, in a 2–1 win, on 18 February 2012;[14] and Werder Bremen, in a 1–0 win, on 25 February 2012.[15] His German Cup goal came in the second round[11] against Erzgebirge Aue in a 2–1 win on 26 October 2011.[16] His goal scoring rate would drop in the subsequent seasons with Nürnberg. He dropped down to three goals in 28 appearances in the 2012–13 season[17] and no goals in five appearances during the 2013–14 season.[18] He also made an appearance in the Regionalliga Bayern for the reserve team during the 2013–14 season.[18]
He moved to Augsburg during the January transfer window[19] and made 13 appearances for Augsburg during the 2013–14 season.[18] He scored a goal in 19 appearances during the 2014–15 season.[20] The goal came against Köln on 6 December 2014 in a 2–1 win.[21] Esswein played in the opening match of the 2015–16 season, in a German Cup match against SV Elversberg, a 3–1 extra time win.[22] He then opened his Bundesliga campaign by playing in the first three matchdays,[23] including the 1–0 loss to Hertha BSC in the league opener on 15 August 2015.[24]
On 26 August 2016, Esswein signed for Hertha BSC on a four-year deal.[25] On 24 September, he scored his first goal for Hertha in a 3–3 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt.[26]
In January 2019 VfB Stuttgart signed Esswein on loan with a contract option for a permanent deal.[27]
On 9 October 2020, Esswein joined SV Sandhausen on a free transfer.[28]
On 15 August 2023, Esswein signed a two-year contract with MSV Duisburg.[29] After the 2023–24 season, he moved to VfR Mannheim.[30]
Esswein played for the German U-21 national team.[31] Previously he had already played for the U-17, U-18, U-18, U-19 and U-20 national team. He was part of the German U-17 team that finished in third place in the 2007 U-17 World Cup in South Korea. In this tournament, Esswein scored two goals against Trinidad and Tobago in the group-stage and scored the winning goal in the third place playoff against Ghana two minutes into stoppage time.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 2007–08 | 2. Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| VfL Wolfsburg | 2008–09 | Bundesliga | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | Bundesliga | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| Total | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | ||||
| VfL Wolfsburg II | 2008–09 | Regionalliga Nord | 21 | 0 | — | — | — | 21 | 0 | ||||
| 2009–10 | Regionalliga Nord | 20 | 4 | — | — | — | 20 | 4 | |||||
| Total | 41 | 4 | — | — | — | 41 | 4 | ||||||
| Dynamo Dresden | 2010–11 | 3. Liga | 31 | 17 | — | — | 2[32] | 0 | 33 | 17 | |||
| 1. FC Nürnberg | 2011–12 | Bundesliga | 26 | 4 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 29 | 5 | |||
| 2012–13 | Bundesliga | 27 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 28 | 3 | ||||
| 2013–14 | Bundesliga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 58 | 6 | 4 | 2 | — | — | 62 | 8 | |||||
| 1. FC Nürnberg II | 2013–14 | Regionalliga Bayern | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| FC Augsburg | 2013–14 | Bundesliga | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | |||
| 2014–15 | Bundesliga | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 1 | ||||
| 2015–16 | Bundesliga | 29 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6[33] | 0 | — | 38 | 4 | |||
| Total | 61 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | 70 | 5 | ||||
| Hertha BSC | 2016–17 | Bundesliga | 29 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 2 | |||
| 2017–18 | Bundesliga | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 22 | 2 | |||
| 2018–19 | Bundesliga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 8 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 52 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | 60 | 5 | ||||
| Hertha BSC II | 2018–19 | Regionalliga Nordost | 6 | 2 | — | — | — | 6 | 2 | ||||
| 2019–20 | Regionalliga Nordost | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 8 | 2 | — | — | — | 8 | 2 | ||||||
| VfB Stuttgart (loan) | 2018–19 | Bundesliga | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[34] | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||
| SV Sandhausen | 2020–21 | 2. Bundesliga | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 2 | |||
| 2021–22 | 2. Bundesliga | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 2 | ||||
| 2022–23 | 2. Bundesliga | 29 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 80 | 8 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 85 | 8 | |||||
| MSV Duisburg | 2023–24 | 3. Liga | 31 | 5 | — | — | — | 31 | 5 | ||||
| Career total | 383 | 49 | 16 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 392 | 47 | |||
VfL Wolfsburg