Clubs: TSV 1860 München, Borussia Dortmund

UEFA honours
UEFA European Under-19 Championship: winner 2008

• Born in the Alpine foothills of southern Bavaria, Bender started his career alongside his twin brother, Lars, at 1860 München.

• Played 65 times in the 2. Bundesliga for 1860, scoring one goal, before leaving to join Dortmund in 2009 (as his brother moved to Bayer 04 Leverkusen).

• Represented Germany at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in 2006 and won the European title at U19 level − together with his brother − at the 2008 finals in the Czech Republic.

• Impressed as an effervescent defensive midfielder in Jürgen Klopp's progressive Dortmund side, replacing the injury-prone German international Sebastian Kehl; scored his first goal for the Schwarzgelben in a 1-1 draw at 1. FC Kaiserslautern on 12 February 2011.

• Made his senior debut for Germany in a surprise 2-1 home defeat by Australia on 29 March 2011.