Manuel New Fortune

Short introduction

Manuel Neuer, born in Gelsenkirchen, is a goalkeeper in football. With his way of acting as a kind of libero at the same time, he revolutionized the goalkeeping game, especially during the 2014 World Cup. At this tournament, Manuel Neuer also won the world title with the German national team. In club football he switched from his youth club FC Schalke 04 2011 to FC Bayern Munich, where he has been the No. 1 goal since then, as well as the national team goal since 2010.

Early life

Manuel Neuer, who grew up in the Buer district of Gelsenkirchen, was born the son of a policeman who was a Schalke fan himself. No wonder that Manuel Neuer also started a sporting career very early on. Already at the age of four he was registered in the youth of FC Schalke 04, where he developed into an outstanding goalkeeper until 2005. He also played tennis on the side, up to the age of 14 at club level. In 2000 Neuer moved from the junior high school in Gelsenkirchen-Buer to the Berger Feld soccer boarding school, which he left in 2006 with a technical college entrance qualification. From then on he concentrated entirely on football, having joined the second team of FC Schalke 04 for the 2004 season before joining the club’s professional squad in 2006.

Career

Manuel Neuer quickly became the regular goalkeeper at the club where he used to be a fan in the curve. Already on the second day of his first season with the professionals, he had to replace the injured goalkeeper Frank Rost, who was sorted out a short time later by the then coach Mirko Slomka. At the age of 20, Manuel Neuer was the number 1 goal in the Bundesliga club’s goal. The Schalke should not regret this decision for a minute. Even if Manuel Neuer was not able to bring the immense consistency into his performance at the beginning of his career, which later made him the world’s best goalkeeper, he impressed with his quality in his early years. He also proved to be extremely ball-safe with his foot, which brought him many advantages in his goalie game.

The second leg in 2008 at FC Porto in the round of 16 of the Champions League was outstanding. Here he secured Schalke with a number of outstanding saves to achieve the penalty shoot-out, which in turn helped him decide for his colors with two fended penalties.

But the joy about the talented home-grown came to an end in 2011 when Manuel Neuer switched to league competitor FC Bayern Munich. Here he made another leap in performance and showed even better performances at the 2014 World Cup in the goal of the national team than was the case at the 2010 World Cup. The crowning glory was winning the world title with the German national team this year. Several German championships (currently 7) and victories in the DFB Cup (currently 5) were added, as was the 2013 Champions League win. At the 2014 World Cup, he was also awarded the Golden Glove as the best goalkeeper of the tournament. How he received a number of individual awards anyway, including the Fritz Walter Medal in 2005, multiple elections for the goalkeeper of the IFFHS or elections for the world athlete of the year from various professional associations.

At the 2018 World Cup, an unusual kink in his public perception followed, not least due to a long injury break previously suffered. Many observers accused national coach Jogi Löw of placing a goalkeeper without practice at the 2018 World Cup, which was one of the reasons for the early retirement. In fact, with the exception of the last goal against 0-2 against South Korea, Manuel Neuer was guiltless of all the goals conceded. His less sovereign role as captain of the team in dealing with the crisis around Mesut Özil also brought further criticism. However, this has faded again and as of 2019, Manuel Neuer is still the undisputed No. 1 in the goal of the national team and FC Bayern Munich.

Career highlights

The absolute highlight was winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He is only the fourth (regular) goalkeeper from Germany to achieve this success. Added to this is the 2013 Champions League win in Wembley’s domestic German final, which they won 2-1 against long-time rival Borussia Dortmund. The many national titles are added in the case of Manuel Neuer.

Famous quotes

“We score so few goals, maybe that’s why we are called ‘the squires’.”

“Wrong ambition is wrong advice.”

“I’m glad that the crap is finally over.” About the past season.

Amazing facts

Manuel Neuer’s brother is active as a referee in the Oberliga. Neuer himself was the voice of a character in the movie “The Monster Uni”. He was also active as a testimonial for a lemonade for a while. The well-known saying comes from this period. “Maybe I’m not person xy at all, I’m Manuel Neuer.”