Roman Neustadter

Roman Petrovich Neustädter (Russian: Рома́н Петро́вич Нойште́дтер; born 18 February 1988) is a professional footballer who plays for Belgian First Division A club Westerlo.

Of German heritage, Neustädter played for Germany at various youth levels, then being capped twice by the Germany national team in 2012 and 2013. He switched allegiance to Russia in 2016. Apart from Germany and Russia, Neustädter could have also represented Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine at international level.

Neustädter has often played as a defensive midfielder and centre back. While the former is his preferred position, he mostly played as the latter during his stint at Schalke.

Neustädter's mother is ethnic Russian. Neustädter's ancestors in the paternal line were ethnic Germans who lived on territories of Russian Empire and later, USSR. Following World War II, ethnic Germans were forcibly relocated by the Soviet government. Neustädter's family was relocated into Central Asia. He is the son of Peter Neustädter, a former Kyrgyz-born Kazakhstani footballer for Mainz 05 and former manager of Mainz 05 II. He was born in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, while his father was playing for Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. He was raised by his mother and grandparents in Kyrgyzstan, while his father was still an active football player. Due to his heritage and birth, he was eligible to represent Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in international competitions.

On 30 May 2016, Neustädter was granted Russian citizenship, having received his new Russian passport at the Russian Consulate in Bonn.