Manuel Neuer

Profile Football Stars | Manuel Neuer | Neuer signed professional terms in 2005 after progressing through every age group at his hometown club. The 20-year-old eventually won the starting position when Rost was surprisingly dropped for the crunch clash against Bayern Munich. On 5 March 2008, in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League, Neuer Fantastically performed against FC Porto where 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. The 2008-09 season was somewhat disappointing as Schalke finished eighth in the league tables 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". In November, he was the only German Goalkeeper in the list of five nominated Goalkeepers for the UEFA Team of the Year. On 1 June 2011 Schalke and Bayern Munich confirmed Neuer That would move to Bayern Munich in July 2011.

After hostilities against Neuer of Bayern fans (some fans were unhappy about buying a Bayern Schalke keeper), a round-table discussion Between Bayern Munich and group of supporters' representatives took place on 2 July 2011. Right in the first weeks at Bayern, after a 0-0 draw with Hoffenheim, Bayern Munich Neuer broke the record for most competitive clean sheets in a row, having gone over 1000 minutes without conceding.  After progressing through the youth teams, Neuer made his U-21 debut on 15 August 2006 against the Netherlands.

He won the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship with the Germany national under-21 football team in Sweden and kept a clean sheet in the 4-0 win in the final against England Became Germany's Neuer then first choice ahead of Goalkeeper 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 Jovanovic in the match against Serbia. He Provided the assist for Klose's opening goal against England, winning 4-1.

Personal information
Full name Manuel Neuer
Date of birth 27 March 1986 (age 26)
Place of birth Gelsenkirchen, West Germany
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 1/2 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper

Club information
Current club Bayern Munich
Number 1

Youth career
1991-2005 Schalke 04

Senior career
years Team
2004-2008 Schalke 04 II 26 (0)
2006-2011 Schalke 04 155 (0)
2011-Bayern Munich 32 (0)

National team
2004 Germany U18 1 (0)
2004-2005 Germany U19 11 (0)
2005-2006 Germany U20 4 (0)
2006-2009 Germany U21 20 (0)
2009-Germany 25 (0)

Honours

Club
Schalke 04
     DFB-Pokal: 2010-11
     DFB-Ligapokal: 2005

Germany
     UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship 2009
     FIFA World Cup 2010: Third place - Bronze medal

Individual
     Best Bundesliga Goalkeeper: 2007
     Best UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Goalkeeper: 2009
     Fritz-Walter-2005 in Silver Medal (U19 Category)
     Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (1): 2010
     Best Bundesliga Player of the Year: 2011

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Bastian Schweinsteiger

Profile Football Stars | Bastian Schweinsteiger | Schweinsteiger has won many awards in his club and international careers, Including five Bundesliga titles, five German Cups, two League Cups and.  As of January 2011, he is the vice-captain of Bayern Munich to long-time teammate Philipp Lahm. Schweinsteiger signed with Bayern Munich as a youth team player on 1 July 1998 and rose through the club's youth sides. Having won the German youth championship in July 2002, Schweinsteiger Quickly earned a place in the reserves, producing a string of solid third division displays.  The next season he played 26 Bundesliga games. 

He scored his first Bayern goal against VfL Wolfsburg in September 2003. Surprisingly sent back to Bayern's reserve team by new coach Felix Magath at the beginning of the 2005-06 season Despite his international exploits of the summer in the Confederations Cup, Schweinsteiger swiftly returned to play a role in the double-winning campaign and scored in Bayern's Champions League quarter-final first-leg defeat at Chelsea. Over the next three seasons, up until the end of 2007-08, Schweinsteiger made appearances in all competitions 135 for Bayern Munich (UEFA Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup), scoring 10 goals in the process. On 15 August 2008, Schweinsteiger scored the first goal of the 2008-09 Bundesliga season. On 25 April 2012, Schweinsteiger scored from the last and match-clinching penalty kick against Real Madrid to send Munich to the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final.

Bastian Schweinsteiger made his international debut in 2004 in a friendly against Hungary. Bayern's number 31 earned rave reviews for his performances in Portugal, showing combative skills and even setting up the opening goal for Bayern former teammate Michael Ballack in Germany's 2-1 loss against the Czech Republic. During Euro 2008 qualifiers, he scored two goals en route to a record 13-0 win over San Marino in San Marino. He scored the third goal in Germany's 4-1 win over Slovakia in Bratislava. Once again he was instrumental in Germany's 3-2 win, scoring one goal and setting up the other two. He also scored his country's first goal in the 3-2 semifinal victory against Turkey.

Overall, Schweinsteiger recorded three assists in seven matches in South Africa, the which tied him for the most assists in the finals with Dirk Kuyt, Kaká, Thomas Müller and Mesut Özil. As of 4 April 2011, Schweinsteiger has been capped 88 times and has scored 22 goals for the Germany national football team since making his debut in 2004. He has also been to four major tournaments with the German squad: UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal, FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany, UEFA Euro 2008 in Austria-Switzerland, and the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Personal information
Full name Bastian Schweinsteiger
Date of birth 1 August 1984 (age 27)
Place of birth Kolbermoor, West Germany
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)

Playing position Midfielder

Club information
Current club Bayern Munich
Number 31

Youth career
FV 1990-1992 Oberaudorf
1992-1998 TSV 1860 Rosenheim
Bayern Munich 1998-2002

Senior career
years Team
Bayern Munich II 2002-2004 34 (2)
2002-Bayern Munich 269 (29)

National team
2004 Germany U-21 7 (2)
2004-Germany 90 (23)

Honours
Club
Bayern Munich Junior Team
     Under 17 Bundesliga (1): 2001
     Under 19 Bundesliga (1): 2002

Bayern Munich II
     Regionalliga Süd (1): 2004

Bayern Munich
     Bundesliga (5): 2002-03, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2007-08, 2009-10
     DFB-Pokal (5): 2002-03, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2007-08, 2009-10
     DFB-Ligapokal (2): 2004, 2007
     DFB-Supercup (1): 2010

Germany
     FIFA Confederations Cup Third Place: 2005
     FIFA World Cup Third Place: 2006 & 2010
     UEFA European Football Championship Runner-up: 2008

Individual
     FIFA World Cup All Star Team: 2010
     Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (2): 2006, 2010

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