Biography
Who is Max Kruse?
Early life and background
Max Bennet Kruse was born in Reinbek, Germany, on March 19, 1988. He was raised in Reinbek and the Hamburg area. His football development began with his local hometown club, TSV Reinbek, before he moved to the Hamburg-based team SV Vier- und Marschlande in 1998.
He spent more than seven years with SV Vier- und Marschlande. In January 2006, the scouting department at Werder Bremen identified his talent and brought him into their youth system. This move marked the start of his path toward a professional career in the German league system.
Professional football career
Kruse played for several major German clubs, including FC St. Pauli, SC Freiburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, VfL Wolfsburg, and Union Berlin. During the 2011–12 season at FC St. Pauli, he recorded 13 goals and six assists. Following this, he joined SC Freiburg in 2012, where he debuted in a DFB-Pokal match against Victoria Hamburg. He later signed with Borussia Mönchengladbach on a four-year deal in 2013.
In 2015, VfL Wolfsburg activated a release clause to sign him. He later rejoined Werder Bremen for a second stint in 2016, where he was named team captain by manager Florian Kohfeldt for the 2018–19 season. During his time at Werder Bremen, he maintained a well-known penalty-scoring streak, having not missed a penalty in six years as of October 2018.
International play and poker
He represented Germany at the youth level, including the U-19 and U-21 teams. In 2013, he earned his first senior call-up for a friendly against Ecuador, where he provided an assist for Lukas Podolski. He scored his first international goal on June 2, 2013, against the United States. Later, he was selected as an overage player for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he started in the opening match against Brazil. In total, he earned 14 caps and scored four goals for the national team.
Outside of football, he is a dedicated poker player. In 2014, he finished third at the World Series of Poker No-Limit 2–7 Draw Lowball event. In November 2022, he won his first WSOP bracelet at an event in Rozvadov, Czechia, earning a prize of €134,152. By the start of the 2024 WSOP, he had accumulated nearly $367,000 in career tournament poker winnings.
Personal life
Max Kruse has a son with his first partner, Alina. In July 2021, he proposed to Dilara Mardine on live television following a win against Saudi Arabia during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The couple married in December of that same year. In February 2021, he was among more than 800 professional footballers who signed a petition in the magazine 11 Freunde to support gay players in the sport.
Birthday and age
Max Kruse was born on March 19, 1988, which makes Max 38 years old today. That birthday falls under the Pisces sign. Max shares the date with 49 other famous people.
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