Rudiger: 10 facts you need to know

1. Antonio was born in Berlin on March 3, 1993. His father is German, while his mother is from Sierra Leone and came to Germany in 1991 to flee civil war.

2. He is only the sixth German player in Roma’s history, succeeding Jürgen Schutz, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, Thomas Berthold, Rudi Voeller and Thomas Häßler.

3. Rüdiger came up through the youth ranks at Borussia Dortmund before joining Stuttgart in 2010 and earning himself a spot in the first-team squad during the 2012-13 season.

4. His older brother, Sahr Senesie, also played professional football. He made 24 appearances for Borussia Dortmund during the 2007-08 season before retiring in June 2015.

5. In 2012, Antonio was named Germany’s best U19 player as he won the Fritz-Walter-Medaille, a prize given out by the German Football Association every year to players from the U19, U18, U17 and women’s teams.

6. Germany boss Joachim Löw has compared him to Jerome Boateng in the past, but in an interview with Bild, Rüdiger stated that his role model is Brazilian defender Thiago Silva.

7. According to his brother, Rüdiger inherited his mother’s obsession with cleaning – he can’t stand mess!

8. As a youngster he was an Arsenal fan, with a particular admiration for Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry.

9. Whilst he wore the No. 24 shirt at Stuttgart, for the two matches he has played in Germany’s Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, Rüdiger has chosen the No. 16 jersey. Sound familiar? Well, it’s the same number worn by former Germany captain Philippe Lahm when he lifted the World Cup in 2014.

10. Antonio is active on social media. Check out his official Facebook page or follow him on Twitter at @ToniRuediger and Instagram at @toniruediger.