Hanno Balitsch

Hanno Balitsch was born on January 2, 1981 in Alsbach-Hähnlein, Germany. At the age of five he started his football career in FC Alsbach. Since his very boyhood he has been a very gifted sportsman and once even became the champion of Hessen in high jumping.

Having begun playing football with FC Alsbach in 1998 Balitsch joined the youth team of SV Waldhof Mannheim and in 1999 was selected for the first squad. Hanno´s senior debut occurred on April 22, 2000, when the midfielder came on in the 62nd minute. Three games later he netted his first goal whereupon played his first full 90 minutes. During his next season he appeared in 25 matches.

In 2001, the budding midfielder was signed for FC Köln, where he got 24 appearances but scored none. Next year Hanno moved to Bayer 04 Leverkusen and despite the high status of the club he played for the first squad and appeared in 64 games during three top-flight seasons, which is a rather outstanding figure for a young player. In 2005, Balitsch transferred to FSV Mainz 05 and thereafter to Hannover 96, where he spent next five seasons. Hanno scored 12 goals in 150 games for Hannover 96. In 2010, the midfielder returned to Bayer 04 Leverkusen and scored 3 goals in 32 appearances. In 2012, Hanno Balitsch signed the agreement with FC Nürnberg.

As an international Hanno was a part of the German national U-21 football team and appeared for them 20 times scoring twice. In 2003, he debuted for the senior German national football squad in the match against the team of Spain.