Manuel Neuer

Manuel Neuer
Neuer in a German national team jersey
Neuer lining up for Germany in 2018
Personal information
Full name Manuel Peter Neuer[1]
Date of birth (1986-03-27) 27 March 1986 (age 38)[1]
Place of birth Gelsenkirchen, West Germany
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Bayern Munich
Number 1
Youth career
1991–2005 Schalke 04
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2006 Schalke 04 II 26 (0)
2005–2011 Schalke 04 156 (0)
2011– Bayern Munich 354 (0)
International career
2004 Germany U18 1 (0)
2004–2005 Germany U19 11 (0)
2005–2006 Germany U20 4 (0)
2006–2009 Germany U21 20 (0)
2009–2024 Germany 124 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Germany
FIFA World Cup
Winner 2014 Brazil
Third place 2010 South Africa
UEFA European Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Poland–Ukraine
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Winner 2009 Sweden
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:26, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Manuel Peter Neuer (German pronunciation: [ˈmaːnu̯eːl ˈnɔʏ.ɐ, -ɛl -]; born 27 March 1986) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for and captains Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential goalkeepers in the history of the sport,[nb 1] Neuer has been described as a "sweeper-keeper" because of his playing style and speed when rushing off his line to anticipate opponents, going out of the penalty area.[3][4][28] He was named the best goalkeeper of the decade from 2011 to 2020 by IFFHS.[29]

Neuer started his career at Schalke 04 where he won the DFB-Pokal and DFL-Ligapokal, and was appointed club captain in 2010. In 2011, he signed for Bayern Munich and has since won 28 trophies, including eleven Bundesliga titles and two UEFA Champions League titles in 2013 and 2020, both as part of trebles, being the only goalkeeper in history to achieve the European treble twice, additionally winning the second as club captain.[30][31] In 2014, Neuer finished third in the voting for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He was awarded the Best European Goalkeeper a record five times, and the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper a joint-record five times, alongside Gianluigi Buffon and Iker Casillas. He was also named the Best FIFA Goalkeeper in 2020.

Neuer has set numerous records in the Bundesliga. He has the most clean sheets recorded in the competition, with 224. He also holds the most clean sheets in a single season, with 21 in the 2015–16 campaign. Furthermore, he was the fastest player to reach 100 Bundesliga clean sheets, doing so after only 183 appearances.[32] Neuer is the only goalkeeper in Bundesliga history with more than 100 appearances to have conceded fewer goals than matches played.[31]

A former Germany youth international, Neuer made his debut for the senior team in 2009, and was first-choice goalkeeper for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[33] Four years later, Neuer won the 2014 tournament with Germany as well as the Golden Glove award for being the best goalkeeper in the tournament, and was named in its All-Star Team and Dream Team.[34] Serving as captain from 2017 to 2023, he also represented his country at the World Cups in 2018 and 2022, as well as at the UEFA European Championships in 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024, after which he retired from international football. Neuer is the fifth-most capped German international of all time, and holds the team's record for most appearances at European Championships and at international tournaments.

  1. ^ a b c "Squad List: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: Germany (GER)" (PDF). FIFA. 18 December 2022. p. 13. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  2. ^ Teng, Elaine (10 July 2014). "Tim Howard Is Great, But I'll Take Manuel Neuer Any Day". New Republic. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Manuel Neuer and the evolution of the goalkeeper". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Why Manuel Neuer should not win the Ballon d'Or". The Score. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Manuel Neuer". ESPN FC. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  6. ^ Early, Ken (8 July 2014). "Manuel Neuer cleans up by being more than a sweeper". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  7. ^ Dawson, Alan (9 July 2014). "Michael Owen: Manuel Neuer is best in his position". HITC Sport. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  8. ^ Mattia Losi (13 January 2014). "Ronaldo Pallone d'Oro, ma io avrei premiato Neuer" (in Italian). Il Sole 24 Ore. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  9. ^ (www.dw.com) (8 January 2016). "Germany's Manuel Neuer voted world's best goalkeeper third year straight". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  10. ^ "Benzema: "Neuer is the best goalkeeper in the world"". Marca. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  11. ^ "Cillessen: Neuer is best in the world by far". FIFA. 11 January 2015. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  12. ^ Kevin Baxter (10 October 2015). "Germany's Manuel Neuer takes goalkeeping to spectacular levels". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  13. ^ Robert Ley (25 December 2016). "THE WORLD'S BEST GOALKEEPER 2016: Manuel Neuer". IFFHS. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  14. ^ "Is Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer the best goalkeeper ever?". Sky Sports. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  15. ^ "Anatomy of a goalkeeper: What makes Buffon the best". La Gazzetta dello Sport. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Awards was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Staunton, Peter (1 December 2014). "Ballon d'Or contender Neuer is the best goalkeeper since Yashin". goal.com. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  18. ^ Luca Barbon (19 November 2015). "Juventus, Buffon analizza i colleghi: "Cech il migliore, come tecnico stimo Luis Enrique"" (in Italian). Goal.com. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  19. ^ Gianluca Nesci (24 July 2017). "Perfect player series: Building a flawless goalkeeper". The Score. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  20. ^ "Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer: the goalkeeper-revolutionary who has changed the way we see football". www.bundesliga.com. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  21. ^ Vishnuprasad S (20 May 2012). "Champions League 2012 Final: Munich's Manuel Neuer and Five Other Goal Scoring Goalkeepers". www.ibtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  22. ^ Ben Lyttleton (13 July 2014). "How a Manuel Neuer penalty could win the World Cup for Germany". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  23. ^ Gallardo, Juan Ignacio; Rojo, Luis F. (17 October 2019). "Messi: The body rules and I have to take more care of myself than before". Marca. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  24. ^ Warrington, Declan (7 March 2018). "Ranked! The 10 best goalkeepers of the 21st century". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  25. ^ "The 25 Greatest Goalkeepers of All Time - Ranked". 90min.com. 9 April 2020. Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  26. ^ "'Greatest of all time': Bayern ace hailed after Champions League masterclass". au.sports.yahoo.com. 23 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  27. ^ "How Neuer finally found love at Bayern Munich". fourfourtwo.com. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  28. ^ Teng, Elaine (10 July 2014). "Tim Howard Is Great, But I'll Take Manuel Neuer Any Day". New Republic. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  29. ^ "IFFHS WORLD'S BEST MAN GOALKEEPER OF THE DECADE 2011-2020 : MANUEL NEUER". IFFHS. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  30. ^ Bhat, Sachin (18 September 2021). "Ranking the 5 greatest players to have won a European treble". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  31. ^ a b "500 up: Neuer's record-breaking Bayern career in numbers". Bundesliga. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  32. ^ "Fastest time to achieve 100 clean sheets in the Bundesliga by a goalkeeper". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  33. ^ "Manuel Neuer". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  34. ^ "Awards". FIFA. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2014.


Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).