Alexander Scholz

Alexander Scholz

Personal information
Full name	Alexander Scholz [1]
Date of birth	(1992-10-24) 24 October 1992 (age 31) [1]
Place of birth	Copenhagen, Denmark
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) [1]
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Urawa Red Diamonds
Number	28
Youth career
	Hedensted
	Vejle
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2012	Vejle	17	(0)
2012	Stjarnan	21	(5)
2012–2015	Lokeren	70	(1)
2015–2018	Standard Liège	75	(1)
2018	Club Brugge	6	(0)
2018–2021	Midtjylland	92	(12)
2021–	Urawa Red Diamonds	82	(13)
International career
2010–2011	Denmark U19	4	(0)
2014–2015	Denmark U21	14	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 December 2023

Alexander Scholz (born 24 October 1992) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for J1 League club Urawa Red Diamonds.

Early life

Scholz' parents are German. ^[2] He was raised in the Vejle area in Denmark. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Club career

Scholz started his career with Hedensted IF, before being scouted by Vejle Boldklub. ^[5] He later moved to Stjarnan in Iceland. In 2012, Belgian team Lokeren started scouting him following a tip from their former player Arnar Grétarsson, who had seen Scholz play in Iceland. Based on these scouting reports, Lokeren signed Scholz in December 2012, giving him a contract until 2015. ^[6] Just a few days later on 19 January 2013, he made his debut in the Belgian top league in a 2–6 won away match against OH Leuven. ^[7] He scored the winning goal in a 1–0 win for Lokeren in the final of the 2014 Belgian Cup Final. ^[8]

Scholz signed a five-year contract with FC Midtjylland in August 2018. ^[9] On 1 December 2020, Scholz scored a goal for FC Midtjylland in a UEFA Champions League group stage match against Atalanta; the final score was 1–1. ^[10]

On 31 May 2021, it was announced that Scholz had signed a contract with J1 League club Urawa Red Diamonds. ^[11] There, he would join his compatriot Kasper Junker, who had signed with the Japanese club a month prior. ^[12]

International career

In November 2020, he was called up to Kasper Hjulmand's senior squad for the friendly against Sweden due to several cancellations from, among others, the Danish national team players playing in England, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, as well as a case of COVID-19 in the squad, which had put several national team players in quarantine. ^[13]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 19 December 2023 ^[14]

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		League cup [lower-alpha 2]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Vejle	2009–10	Danish 1st Division	1	0	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
	2010–11	Danish 1st Division	16	0	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
	Total		17	0	0	0	—		—		—		17	0
Stjarnan	2012	Úrvalsdeild karla	21	5	5	2	—		—		—		26	7
Lokeren	2012–13	Belgian Pro League	11	0	0	0	—		—		—		11	0
	2013–14	Belgian Pro League	38	1	7	1	—		—		—		45	2
	2014–15	Belgian Pro League	21	0	3	0	—		8 [lower-alpha 3]	0	—		32	0
	Total		70	1	10	1	—		8	0	—		88	2
Standard Liège	2014–15	Belgian Pro League	16	0	0	0	—		—		—		16	0
	2015–16	Belgian Pro League	15	0	5	0	—		1	0	—		21	0
	2016–17	Belgian First Division A	33	1	1	0	—		6 [lower-alpha 3]	0	1 [lower-alpha 4]	0	41	1
	2017–18	Belgian First Division A	11	0	2	0	—		—		—		13	0
	Total		75	1	8	0	—		7	0	1	0	91	1
Club Brugge	2017–18	Belgian First Division A	5	0	1	0	—		—		—		6	0
	22018–19	Belgian First Division A	1	0	0	0	—		—		—		1	0
	Total		6	0	1	0	—		—		—		7	0
Midtjylland	2018–19	Danish Superliga	27	3	4	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 3]	0	—		33	3
	2019–20	Danish Superliga	34	2	0	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 3]	0	—		36	2
	2020–21	Danish Superliga	31	7	4	0	—		10 [lower-alpha 5]	3	—		45	10
	Total		92	12	8	0	—		14	3	—		114	15
Urawa Red Diamonds	2021	J1 League	15	0	4	0	4	0	—		—		23	0
	2022	J1 League	32	6	2	0	4	0	8 [lower-alpha 6]	2	1 [lower-alpha 7]	0	47	8
	2023	J1 League	34	7	2	0	6	2	4 [lower-alpha 6]	2	2 [lower-alpha 8]	0	48	11
	Total		81	13	8	0	14	2	12	4	3	0	118	19
Career total			362	32	40	3	14	2	41	7	4	0	461	44

1. Includes Icelandic Men's Football Cup, Belgian Cup, Danish Cup, Emperor's Cup
2. Includes J.League Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearance in Belgian Super Cup
5. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
6. Appearances in AFC Champions League
7. Appearance in Japanese Super Cup
8. Appearances in FIFA Club World Cup

Honours

Lokeren

• Belgian Cup: 2013–14

Standard Liège

• Belgian Cup: 2015–16

Club Brugge

• Belgian First Division A: 2017–18
• Belgian Super Cup: 2018

Midtjylland

• Danish Superliga: 2019–20
• Danish Cup: 2018–19

Urawa Red Diamonds

• Emperor's Cup: 2021
• Japanese Super Cup: 2022
• AFC Champions League: 2022 ^{[15] [16]}

Individual

• Danish Superliga Player of the Year: 2020–21 ^[17]
• J.League Best XI: 2023 ^[18]

References

1. "FIFA Club World Cup Saudi Arabia 2023™: List of Players: Urawa Reds" (PDF). FIFA. 6 December 2023. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
2. Stanbury, Sebastian (13 May 2014). "Alexander Scholz og friheden". TIPSBLADET (in Danish). Tipsbladet ApS. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
3. Frederiksen, Martin Hjorth (17 July 2014). "Lad os tale lidt om fodbold" (in Danish). Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
4. Christiansen, Casper Helweg (22 June 2015). "PORTRÆT Til EM med Hemingway og Sartre under armen". DR (DR Sport) (in Danish). DR SPORT/DR. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
5. Poulsen, Tommy (3 June 2015). "Fodboldtalent fra Hedensted skal til EM". hsfo.dk (in Danish).
6. "De Deen Alexander SCHOLZ (24/10/1992) is al de eerste nieuwe aanwinst" (in Dutch). Sporting Lokeren. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
7. "Lokeren juicht na doelpuntenkermis bij OHL" (in Dutch). Sporza. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
8. "Lokeren wint de Cofidis Cup na bizarre goal" (in Dutch). Sporza. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
9. "FCM henter dansk forsvarsspiller hjem fra Belgien". DR (in Danish). 10 August 2018.
10. "Atalanta vs. FC Midtjylland". ESPN. 1 December 2020. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021.
11. Risom, Jens (31 May 2021). "Alexander Scholz drager på japansk eventyr". FC Midtjylland (in Danish).
12. "FC Midtjylland sælger Scholz til japansk klub". Berlingske.dk (in Danish). 31 May 2021.
13. "The Latest: Denmark drops 7 UK-based players for Sweden game". taiwannews.com. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
14. Alexander Scholz at Soccerway. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
15. "Urawa Reds edge Al Hilal for historic third title". AFC . 6 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
16. Orlowitz, Dan (6 May 2023). "Urawa beats Al Hilal to capture third Asian Champions League title". The Japan Times . Retrieved 6 May 2023.
17. "Alexander Scholz kåret til årets Superliga-spiller". FC Midtjylland (in Danish). 17 March 2021. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
18. "2023年Jリーグベスト11は神戸と浦和が最多タイ4名！ 大迫勇也や西川周作ら". GOAL (in Japanese). Retrieved 5 December 2023.

External links

• Alexander Scholz at FootballDatabase.eu
• Alexander Scholz at Soccerway
• Alexander Scholz at J.League ( archive ) (in Japanese)
• Alexander Scholz national team profile at the Danish Football Association (in Danish)
• Alexander Scholz at FCM at the Wayback Machine (archived 29 April 2021)(in Danish)