Valentin Stocker

Valentin Stocker (born 12 April 1989) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a left midfielder for FC Basel. He has played for the Switzerland national team.

Valentin Stocker
Stocker in 2014
Personal information
Full name Valentin Stocker[1]
Date of birth (1989-04-12) 12 April 1989
Place of birth Lucerne, Switzerland
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Left midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Basel
Number 14
Youth career
1996–2005 SC Kriens
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2008 Basel U21 37 (13)
2008–2014 Basel 176 (50)
2014–2018 Hertha BSC 65 (8)
2018– Basel 100 (19)
National team‡
2005 Switzerland U16 5 (1)
2005–2006 Switzerland U17 11 (6)
2006 Switzerland U18 1 (0)
2006–2008 Switzerland U19 13 (3)
2007–2009 Switzerland U21 7 (2)
2008– Switzerland 36 (6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 January 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 March 2018

Club career

Basel

Born in Lucerne, Stocker began his youth career with SC Kriens, playing there between 1996 and December 2005. As of January 2006 he transferred to Basel and played for their Under-21 team in the Swiss 1. Liga. He was called into the first team squad during the 2007–08 season after becoming one of the best midfielders in the reserve squad. He signed his first professional contract on his 18th birthday.[2]

Stocker made his first team debut for FC Basel in the Swiss Cup semi-final tie at home to FC Thun at St. Jakob Park on 27 February 2008 as Basel won 1–0.[3] He played his League debut on 2 March 2008 in the 3–1 away win also against Thun. In his third league game, on 16 March, he scored his first Super League goal against FC Sion, but he could not hinder the 4–2 away defeat. At the end of the 2007–08 Swiss Super League season and after the Swiss Cup Final, on 6 April, FC Basel won the national Double. In the league Stocker played eleven games, scoring three goals. In the last game of the season he and Marco Streller scored the two goals in Basel's 2–0 home win over BSC Young Boys and they won the championship by four points.[4]

During the 2008–09 Swiss Super League season Stocker played 32 games, scoring five goals, but Basel finished just third in the League table, qualifying for the Europa League. In the 2009–10 season Stocker played 31 League games, scoring 12 goals, and Basel again won the Double. In the Cup Final Stocker scored two goals as Basel won 6–0 against FC Lausanne-Sport.

In the 2010–11 season Stocker played 26 League games, marking seven goals, and he won his third championship medal with the club. But Stocker injured himself on 23 April in the game against BSC Young Boys.[5] This was his 100th Super League match. The injury was a cruciate ligament rupture and was operated two days later.[6] His recovery times was estimated at six to seven months.

In the 2011–12 season he returned into the team on 3 December 2011 during the 1-0 home victory against FC Luzern and on the same day it was announced that his contract had been extended until the end of June 2016.[3] He was substituted in during the group stage of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League 2–1 home win against Manchester United, as Basel qualified for the Knockout phase, sending United out of the competition. During the first leg match in the Round of 16 on 22 February 2012 against Bayern Munich he was substituted in and scored the winning goal.[7] At the end of the 2011–12 Swiss Super League season Stocker won his fourth League Championship title with Basel,[8] the third in a row. this was also his third Double because Basel also won the Swiss Cup[9]

During the 2012–13 season Stocker had another highlight in his football career. Due to an injury Marco Streller and due an illness Alexander Frei were both unable to play the Europa League knockout phase match against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on 21 February 2013. Therefore, Stocker was nominated as team captain for the very first time and he led the Basel team to a 1–1 away draw and they qualified for the round of 16.[10] At the end of the Swiss Super League season 2012–13 Stocker won his fifth Championship title[11] (fourth in a row) and won the Swiss Cup runner-up silver medal.[12] In the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League Basel advanced as far as the semi-finals, there being matched against the reigning UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea, but were knocked out being beaten 2–5 on aggregate.[13]

Basel's 2013–14 Super League season was very successful. Stocker won his sixth league championship title with Basel.[14] They also reached the final of the 2013–14 Swiss Cup, but were beaten 2–0 by Zürich after extra time.[15] During the 2013–14 Champions League season Basel reached the group stage and finished the group in third position. Thus they qualified for Europa League knockout phase and here they advanced as far as the quarter-finals. In their season 2013–14 Basel played a total of 68 matches (36 Swiss League fixtures, 6 Swiss Cup, 6 Champions League and 10 Europa League and 10 test matches). Stocker totaled 55 appearances, 30 League, 4 Cup, 10 Champions League and 5 Europa League as well 6 in the test games. He scored a total of 19 goals and gave 14 assists in these matches.[16]

Hertha BSC

On 18 May 2014, Hertha BSC officially announced the signing of Stocker.[17] Stocker reportedly received a four-year contract after Hertha and FC Basel agreed on a transfer fee of around €5 million.[18]

Return to Basel

On 10 January 2018, FC Basel announced that Stocker would return to the club, signing a three and a half year contact dated up until June 2021.[19]

Under trainer Marcel Koller Basel won the Swiss Cup in the 2018–19 season. In the first round Basel beat FC Montlingen 3–0, in the second round Echallens Région 7–2 and in the round of 16 Winterthur 1–0. In the quarter finals Sion were defeated 4–2 after extra time and in the semi finals Zürich were defeated 3–1. All these games were played away from home. The final was held on the 19 May 2019 in the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern against Thun. Striker Albian Ajeti scored the first goal, Fabian Frei the second for Basel, then Dejan Sorgić netted a goal for Thun, but the end result was 2–1 for Basel.[20] Stocker played in five cup games and scored the two goals, these both being during the extra time in the match against Sion.[21]

International career

Stocker has played international football at various age levels, including Swiss U19 and Swiss U21. He made his debut for the Switzerland U16 team on 25 April 2005, being substituted in, in the 2–0 away defeat against Scotland U16. In 2008 and 2009 he played 7 games for the Switzerland U21 team. His debut for the U21 was on 26 March 2008 in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification Group 5 2–1 away defeat against Macedonia Under-21.

He made his debut for Switzerland in Ottmar Hitzfeld's first match as manager, on 20 August 2008 against Cyprus at Stade de Genève. He scored the opening goal of the 4–1 friendly win.

Stocker was included in Switzerland's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, making one appearance, starting in the opening match against Ecuador before being substituted out at halftime.

Career statistics

Club
As of match played on 18 December 2020.[22][23]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Basel2007–08Swiss Super League 1130000113
2008–09Swiss Super League 325009[lower-alpha 1]1416
2009–10Swiss Super League 3112129[lower-alpha 2]04114
2010–11Swiss Super League 2670010[lower-alpha 3]33610
2011–12Swiss Super League 154203[lower-alpha 1]1205
2012–13Swiss Super League 3162117[lower-alpha 3]35010
2013–14Swiss Super League 30132015[lower-alpha 3]34716
Total1765073631124664
Hertha BSC II2014–15Regionalliga Nordost 21——21
Hertha BSC2014–15Bundesliga 26320—283
2015–16Bundesliga 22120—241
2016–17Bundesliga 174211[lower-alpha 2]0205
2017–18Bundesliga 30002[lower-alpha 2]050
Total6886130779
Basel2017–18Swiss Super League 142102[lower-alpha 1]0172
2018–19Swiss Super League 172524[lower-alpha 3]0264
2019–20Swiss Super League 2985314[lower-alpha 3]24813
2020–21Swiss Super League 83003[lower-alpha 2]1114
Total681511523310223
Career total31474249891442797
  1. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League.
  2. Appearances in the UEFA Europa League.
  3. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

International goals
Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Stocker goal.
List of international goals scored by Valentin Stocker
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
120 August 2008Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland Cyprus1–04–1Friendly[24]
212 October 2010St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland Wales1–04–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying[25]
34–1
431 March 2015Letzigrund, Zürich, Switzerland United States1–11–1Friendly[26]
55 September 2015St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland Slovenia2–23–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
67 October 2016Groupama Arena, Budapest, Hungary Hungary3–23–22018 World Cup qualification

Honours and titles

Club

Basel

Individual
  • Swiss Youngster of the Year: 2008–09

References
  1. "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2014. p. 30. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  2. FC Basel 1893 (2007). "Profivertrag für FCB-Nachwuchsspieler Valentin Stocker" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 12 April 2007.
  3. Meister, Remo (2011). "Vertragsverlängerung mit Valentin Stocker bis 2016" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  4. "Der FC Basel ist Schweizer Meister" (in German). Tagesanzeiger. 2008. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  5. Meister, Remo (2011). "Der FCB setzt ein starkes Zeichen" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  6. FC Basel 1893 (2011). "Valentin Stocker nach Kreuzbandriss erfolgreich operiert" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  7. James, Andy (2012). "Stocker secures Basel narrow lead over Bayern". uefa.com. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  8. "Jetzt hat Basel den Titel auf sicher" (in German). football.ch. 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  9. "Matchtelegram FC Basel 1893 5:3 FC Luzern" (in German). football.ch. 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  10. Marty, Caspar (2013). "Fantastisch! Der FCB spielt 1:1 und steht im Achtelfinal der Europa League" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  11. Schifferle, Michael (2013). "Season review: Switzerland". UEFA. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  12. SFV (2013). "Telegramm Schweizer Cup Final" (in German). Schweizerischer Fussballverband. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  13. Haylett, Trevor (2013). "Basel take heart after Chelsea defeat". UEFA. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  14. Grossenbacher, Sacha (2014). "Fotos vom Spiel gegen Lausanne sowie den anschliessenden Feierlichkeiten" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  15. Wanner, Rudi (2014). "Season review: Switzerland". UEFA. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  16. Zindel, Josef (2014). Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2014/2015. FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2027-6.
  17. "Sali Vali" (in German). Hertha BSC. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  18. "Königstransfer vor dem Abschluss: Stocker in Berlin" (in German). Kicker. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  19. FC Basel 1893 (2018). "Valentin Stocker kehrt zum FCB zurueck". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  20. Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. "FC Basel - FC Thun 2:1 (1:0)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  21. Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. "FC Sion - FC Basel 2:4 n.V. (2:2, 0:0)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  22. "Valentin Stocker » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  23. "V. STOCKER". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  24. https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/12704/Switzerland_Cyprus.html
  25. https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2010/10/12/europe/european-championship-qualification/switzerland/wales/922662/
  26. https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2015/03/31/world/friendlies/switzerland/united-states-of-america/1968679/
  27. "Zwei weitere Titel für FCB-Nachwuchs" (in German). FC Basel 1893. 2006. Retrieved 18 June 2006.
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