Manuel Neuer

Manuel Peter Neuer ( born 27 March 1986) is a German footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bayern Munich and the German national team. He has been described as a "sweeper-keeper" because of his unique playing style and is known for his quick reflexes, excellent shot-stopping abilities, command of his area and accurate distribution of the ball.

Neuer won the 2014 FIFA World Cup with Germany as well as the Golden Glove award for being the best goalkeeper in the tournament and is considered to be the best goalkeeper in the world.

Club career
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 (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". 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 he couldn't save the rest of the penalties 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 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 9 February, Bayern faced Arsenal in the Champions League knockout phase and Neuer saved the penalty from Mesut Özil in the first half. Bayern went on to win the game 2–0 away. On 2 May 2014, Neuer extended his current contract until the summer of 2019.

2014–15 season


Neuer won the German footballer of the year, was voted into the UEFA Team of the Year, and finished third in the FIFA Ballon d'Or.

On 30 January 2015, Neuer started on matchday 18 where Bayern lost to VfL Wolfsburg 4–1. This is the first league match since joining Bayern in 2011 where he has given up four goals in a match. The last time Bayern had given four goals in a match was against Wolfsburg on 4 April 2009.

On 28 April 2015, Neuer was one of four Bayern players to miss in a 2–0 penalty shootout defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal semi-final.

Barcelona on verge of eighth European Cup final with first-leg win over Bayern Manuel Neuer makes first-half saves from Luis Suárez and Daniel Alves. Lionel Messi finally cracks Bayern's resolve and adds quick second (77, 80). Argentinian sets up Neymar for stoppage-time third (90+4).Second leg at Fußball Arena München next Tuesday.

FC Barcelona are on the brink of reaching their eighth European Cup showpiece after finally breaking FC Bayern München's resistance in the last 13 minutes of this UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg, Lionel Messi scoring two goals before creating a late third for Neymar.

International career
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 underRené 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 againstSerbia. 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 kick to Mario Götze deep in the opponent's half, and found Thomas Müller on the edge of the opponent's 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.

2014 FIFA World Cup


Neuer's "sweeper-keeper" playing style distinguished him from other starting goalkeepers in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This was credited with allowing his teammates to press deep in their opponents' half, plus Neuer's willingness to come out and challenge opposing attackers caused them to miss shots on net. Neuer's outfield roaming which had made him the team's "11th man" has been attributed to the coaching he received from Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola.

After keeping clean sheets in group matches against Portugal and the United States, Neuer recorded his third clean sheet of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in the 1–0 quarter-final defeat of France. This was his 22nd clean sheet overall in his 50th appearance for die Nationalmannschaft. In the semi-finals, Neuer conceded a late goal as his team routed hosts Brazil 7–1.

On 13 July, in the FIFA World Cup Final against Argentina, Neuer was not heavily tested but he commanded his penalty area well, challenging attacking runs by Gonzalo Higuaín and Rodrigo Palacio that caused them to shoot wide of the net (ending up Argentina finished without a shot on goal despite several good chances). Early in the second half, Neuer punched the ball clear before colliding with Higuaín at the edge of the box. Germany defeated Argentina 1–0 thanks to a Mario Götze goal in extra time. Neuer personally won the Golden Glove award for the tournament's best goalkeeper.

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 is a Catholic, and lends his support to a Gelsenkirchen-based Catholic social action group which campaigns against child poverty as well as a Gelsenkirchen-based youth club run by the Amigonians.

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.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org