Manuel Neuer (German pronunciation: [ˈmaːnu̯ɛl ˈnɔʏ.ɐ]) (born 27 March 1986) is a German footballer who plays as a goalkeeper forBayern Munich and the German national football team. He is known for his reflexes, excellent shot stopping abilities and distribution of the ball.[1] Neuer signed professional terms in 2005 after progressing through every age group at his hometown club. He made his Bundesligadebut 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.[2]
On 5 March 2008, in the first knockout round of the
UEFA Champions League, Neuer performed fantastically against
FC Portowhere he almost single-handedly kept Schalke in the game with some brilliant saves and 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 of which he was the youngest as well as the only Bundesliga goalkeeper on the list.
[3] He was one of only three Bundesliga players to play every minute in the
2007–08 season.
The 2008–09 season was somewhat disappointing as 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".
[4] In November, he was the only German goalkeeper in the list of five nominated goalkeepers for the
UEFA Team of the Year.
[5] On 20 April 2011, he announced that he will not be extending his contract with Schalke which was set to expire at the end of the 2011–12 season.
[6] He earned criticism by Schalke-fans, who were disappointed with him leaving for a rival club.
[edit]Bayern Munich
On 1 June 2011, Schalke and
Bayern Munich confirmed that Neuer would move to Bayern Munich in July 2011.
[7] 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. After hostilities of Bayern fans against Neuer (some fans were unhappy about Bayern buying a Schalke keeper), 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".
[8] 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.
[9]
During an away
Bundesliga game at
Borussia Dortmund on April 2012, Neuer was pelted with a steady stream of bananas by the home fans. The incident was apparently a call back to when Dortmund fans used to give the same treatment to former Bayern keeper
Oliver Kahn.
[10] 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."[11]
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.
