Manuel Peter Neuer is a German footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bayern Munich
and the Germany national football team.
He is known for his reflexes, excellent shot stopping abilities, and distribution of the
ball.
Club career Schalke 04
Neuer signed professional terms in 2005 after progressing through every age group at his
hometown club.
He made his Bundesliga debut when he came on to substitute the injured Frank Rost on
match day two of the 2006–07 season.
The 20-year-old eventually won the starting position when Rost was surprisingly dropped
for the crunch clash against Bayern Munich.
He did not disappoint and managed to secure a 2–2 draw against the defending champions.
Despite his young age, he was widely tipped to be a potential successor to his former
idol Jens Lehmann in the future for the German national team.
On 5 March 2008, in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League against FC Porto,
he almost single-handedly kept Schalke in the game with several saves and he forced
the game into penalties.
He then saved penalties from Bruno Alves and Lisandro Lopez to help Schalke advance to
the quarter finals.
For his heroics, he was shortlisted for the 2007–08 UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year
award; he was the youngest as well as the only Bundesliga goalkeeper on the list.
He was one of only three Bundesliga players to play every minute in the 2007–08 season.
In the 2008–09 season, Schalke finished eighth in the league table and missed out
on a Europa League spot.
However, his good showing at the 2009 U-21 European Championships sparked interest from
Bayern Munich, with Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge declaring interest in signing the
young goalkeeper.
Schalke's new manager Felix Magath, however, insisted that Neuer "will play for Schalke
next season".
In November, he was the only German goalkeeper in the list of five nominated goalkeepers
for the UEFA Team of the Year.
On 20 April 2011, he announced that he would not be extending his contract with Schalke,
which was set to expire at the end of the 2011–12 season.
He earned criticism by Schalke-fans, who were disappointed with him leaving for a rival
club.
Bayern Munich 2011–12
On 1 June 2011, Schalke and Bayern Munich confirmed that Neuer would move to Bayern
Munich in July 2011.
Neuer signed a five-year contract that will last until June 2016.
The move was worth €22million, making Neuer the second most expensive goalkeeper of all
time, only behind Gianluigi Buffon.
After hostilities of Bayern fans against Neuer, a round-table discussion between Bayern Munich
and group of supporters’ representatives took place on 2 July 2011.
Among other things, it was decided that Manuel Neuer will be "regarded as a full member of
the FC Bayern Munich team, who should be treated with due respect.
Furthermore, hostility towards him should cease".
Right in the first weeks at Bayern, after a 0–0 draw with Hoffenheim, Neuer broke
the Bayern Munich record for most competitive clean sheets in a row, having gone over 1000
minutes without conceding.
He improved the record formerly held by Oliver Kahn.
On 25 April 2012, Neuer saved penalty kicks from both Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká and
helped Bayern through the UEFA Champions League semifinals against Real Madrid.
Following the match, Neuer has revealed that he studied the way Ronaldo took his penalties.
Neuer told Bild, "I always prepare myself for such situations.
Our goalkeeping coach, Toni Tapalovic, showed me on his laptop before the match how Ronaldo
usually takes his penalties.
I learned that Ronaldo prefers to send the ball low to his left.
In the penalty shoot-out, I was convinced that he would aim for his favourite spot."
He went on to the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final against Chelsea and it also went to
a penalty shoot-out.
He took and scored the third penalty for Bayern and also saved the first penalty taken by
Juan Mata, but all the rest were scored and Munich lost the trophy 4–3 on penalties
in their home stadium, the Allianz Arena. 2012–13 season
In the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League knockout phase, Neuer posted four clean sheets in a
row versus both Juventus F.C. and FC Barcelona.
In the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final, Neuer posted eight saves en route to Bayern's fifth
UEFA Champions League title.
The game featured great play from both keepers, and Neuer would end up winning the duel against
Roman Weidenfeller having only conceded once to İlkay Gündoğan on a penalty shot.
2013–14 season For the 2013 UEFA Super Cup, on 30 August
2013, he saved the last and decisive penalty which saw FC Bayern Munich win the match against
Chelsea, taking some revenge for the lost 2012 UEFA Champions League Final.
Neuer was announced as the 2013 World Goalkeeper of the year on 7 January 2014.
On 2 May 2014, Neuer extended his current contract until the summer of 2019.
International career Youth
After progressing through the youth teams, Neuer made his U-21 debut on 15 August 2006
against the Netherlands.
He won the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship with the Germany national under-21
football team in Sweden and kept a clean sheet in the 4–0 win in the final against England.
2010 World Cup Neuer was called up on 19 May 2009 to the
senior German squad for a tour of Asia.
He made his debut on this tour in a match against United Arab Emirates on 2 June.
He played in the November friendly against Côte d'Ivoire that ended 2–2.
Although he took responsibility for the first goal conceded, manager Joachim Löw refused
to blame him and instead commended him for doing his best.
The death of keeper Robert Enke in November 2009 saw him elevated as the second choice
goalkeeper under René Adler.
However, Adler suffered a serious rib injury which ruled him out of the World Cup.
Neuer became Germany's first choice goalkeeper ahead of Tim Wiese and Hans-Jörg Butt for
the upcoming tournament.
Neuer was selected as Germany's number one goalkeeper for the World Cup in South Africa.
During the group stages, he only conceded a single goal, a close range shot by Milan
Jovanović in the match against Serbia.
He provided the assist for Miroslav Klose's opening goal against England, winning 4–1.
He played in all of Germany's World Cup matches apart from the third-place game against Uruguay,
when Hans-Jörg Butt was rewarded with a spot in the starting lineup.
Euro 2012 He played every minute of every match in the
qualification campaign for Euro 2012, helping Germany to secure ten wins out of ten games
and top their group.
After Germany's 3–1 away win against Turkey he was especially praised for his "sensational"
performance.
He retained a close range volley shot by Hamit Altıntop, and then he quickly threw the ball
to the halfway line into the feet of Thomas Müller, who immediately provided the assist
for Mario Gómez's opening goal.
Neuer then set up the second goal; under pressure by Turkish attackers, he fired a precise long
range shot to Mario Götze deep in the opponents half, who found Thomas Müller on the edge
of the opponents penalty box to score.
He started all three of Germany's matches in the oft-dubbed, "Group of Death".
He kept a clean sheet against Portugal while also conceding one goal each to the Netherlands
and Denmark.
Germany went on to win Group B, being the only team in the tournament to win all of
their group stage games.
He finished group play posting two saves against Portugal, three against the Netherlands, and
three again against Denmark.
International appearances As of 8 July 2014
Personal life Neuer was born in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia.
He attended Gesamtschule Berger Feld, like many other notable footballers, such as Mesut
Özil.
His brother Marcel is currently a football referee in the Verbandsliga.
He got his first football when he was two.
He had his first game on 3 March 1991, 24 days before his fifth birthday.
Neuer's hero and idol as a child was fellow German and former Schalke goalkeeper Jens
Lehmann.
Neuer started a charity foundation for children, named the Manuel Neuer Kids Foundation.
In November 2011, he won €500,000 for charity in a celebrity edition of Wer wird Millionär?,
the German version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Neuer did the voiceover for character Frank McCay in the German version of the 2013 Disney
animation Monsters University.
Career statistics Club
As of 17 May 2014 International
As of 8 July 2014 Honours
Club Schalke 04
DFB-Pokal: 2010–11 DFB-Ligapokal: 2005
Bayern Munich Bundesliga: 2012–13, 2013–14
DFB-Pokal: 2012–13, 2013–14 DFL-Supercup: 2012
UEFA Champions League: 2012–13 UEFA Super Cup: 2013
FIFA Club World Cup: 2013 International
Germany UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship:
2009 Individual
Best Bundesliga Goalkeeper: 2007 Best UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship
Goalkeeper: 2009 Fritz Walter Medal U19 Silver Medal 2005
Silbernes Lorbeerblatt: 2010 Footballer of the Year in Germany: 2011
UEFA Best Player in Europe Award 2011 UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament: 2012
ESM Team of the Year: 2011–12, 2012–13 FIFA Ballon d'Or: 19th place 2012, 23rd place
2013 IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper: 2013
FIFA/FIFPro World XI: 2013 UEFA Team of the Year: 2013
References
External links Official website
Manuel Neuer at fcbayern.de Manuel Neuer at fussballdaten.de
Manuel Neuer – FIFA competition record Manuel Neuer – UEFA competition record
Manuel Neuer at ESPN FC Manuel Neuer at National-Football-Teams.com