Manuel Neuer

Manuel Peter Neuer (German pronunciation: ; 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, 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. He was named the best goalkeeper of the decade from 2011 to 2020 by IFFHS. 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. 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. Neuer is the only goalkeeper in Bundesliga history with more than 100 appearances to have conceded fewer goals than matches played. Neuer was selected as Germany's number one goalkeeper for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. During the group stages, he only conceded a single goal. He provided the assist for Miroslav Klose's opening goal against England as Germany won 4–1. Four years later, Neuer won the 2014 FIFA World Cup with Germany as well as the Golden Glove award for being the best goalkeeper in the tournament. He was also named in its All-Star Team and Dream Team. He retired from international football in August 2024.