Daniel Schwaab

SC Freiburg

Born in Waldkirch, West Germany, Schwaab began his career at hometown club SV Waldkirch from the age of four. He went on trial at SC Freiburg in 2000 and quickly impressed the club's management who signed him. While progressing through the club's youth teams, he initially played as a midfielder before converting to a centre-back. In the summer of 2006, Schwaab signed his first professional contract (Freiburg were in the 2. Bundesliga at the time) and was also promoted to the first team squad. On 17 September 2006, Schwaab made his Freiburg debut, starting in the right-back position and playing for 79 minutes in a 1–1 draw against 1860 Munich. After making his debut, he established himself in the starting eleven, playing in the right–back position. Schwaab also began playing in different positions, including once in midfield. He helped Freiburg keep clean sheets in three consecutive matches between 4 February and 19 February 2007 and again between 1 April and 15 April 2007. At the end of the 2006-07 season, which saw Freiburg finish in fourth place, missing out on promotion to the Bundesliga, he made thirty–two appearances in all competitions. At the start of the 2007–08 season, Schwaab continued to play regularly at right–back; at times, he also featured either at centre–back or left–back. Between 7 March and 13 April 2008, Schwaab helped Freiburg keep four clean sheets in six matches. Since the start of the season, he started every match until missing a…

On 30 January 2006, Schwaab made his Germany U18 debut, starting and playing 76 minutes before being substituted in a 5–1 win over Finland U18. He later made three more appearances for the U18s. On 5 September 2006, Schwaab made his Germany U19 debut in a 1–0 win against Austria U19. He scored his first goal for the U19s in a 7–2 win against Estonia U19 on 30 October 2006. In July 2007, Schwaab was called up to the squad for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Austria. He played three times in the tournament, as the team were eliminated in the semi–finals. Schwaab was called up to the U21 for the first time on 21 August 2007. He made his debut in a 2–2 draw against Republic of Ireland U21. He played in both legs of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification against France U21, as Germany won 2–1 on aggregate. Schwaab was selected for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship; he was an unused substitute throughout the tournament, before coming on as a substitute during the final against England Y21 on 29 June – Germany won 4–0 to win the tournament. Schwaab thereafter became first choice defender for Germany U21 in the next qualifying campaign. He scored his first U21 goal in an 11–0 win over San Marino U21 on 17 November 2009. Schwaab made two more appearances for Germany U21s, playing in both matches against Iceland in 2010, claiming a total of 24 caps.

Schwaab announced his retirement from playing in October 2020, and began a work placement at former SC Freiburg. PSV Eindhoven previously offered the player a job as a trainer but he turned it down. In August 2022, Freiburg's website revealed that Schwaab was working as a youth coach at the club.

Schwaab grew up supporting SC Freiburg, later revealing he had slept in club-branded bedclothes as a child, eventually playing for them as he reached his adulthood. He said his favorite subject in school were Sports, Maths and Physics. He later graduated in economics at Fernuni Hagen. In December 2011, Schwaab married his long–term girlfriend, Lisa, a teacher, and together. They have two children.