Oliver Patric Neuville (German pronunciation: [ˈɔlivɐ nøːvil], born 1 May 1973) is a German former footballer who played as a striker.
![]() Neuville in 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Oliver Patric Neuville[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | 1 May 1973 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Locarno, Switzerland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Striker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1979–1990 | US Gambarogno | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
1991–1992 | FC Locarno | 14 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
1992–1996 | Servette | 114 | (43) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
1996–1997 | Tenerife | 33 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
1997–1999 | Hansa Rostock | 50 | (22) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
1999–2004 | Bayer Leverkusen | 165 | (42) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2004–2010 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 153 | (42) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2008–2009 | Borussia Mönchengladbach II | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2010 | Arminia Bielefeld | 12 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Total | 543 | (164) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1998–2008 | Germany | 69 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
During an 18-year professional career he played mainly for Bayer Leverkusen (five seasons) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (six), amassing Bundesliga totals of 334 games and 91 goals.
Neuville appeared nearly 70 times for the Germany national team during one full decade, representing Germany in two World Cups and at Euro 2008.
Club career
editBorn in Locarno, Switzerland, to a German father from Aachen and Swiss mother of Italian descent, Neuville started his professional career with Servette FC. In only his second season in the Swiss Super League, he scored a career-best 16 goals[2] to help the club win the national championship after a nine-year wait.
In 1996–97, Neuville played in Spain with CD Tenerife, where he was part of a well-balanced attacking line that also featured Juanele (eight goals), Meho Kodro (six), Antonio Pinilla (seven) and Aurelio Vidmar (one),[3] netting five goals in 1,885 minutes as the Canary Islands team easily retained their La Liga status, and also playing a relatively important part in their semi-final run in the UEFA Cup.[4] Subsequently, he moved to Germany and signed for F.C. Hansa Rostock, scoring eight times in only 17 contests in his debut campaign in the Bundesliga, as the side from the former East Germany finished sixth.
Neuville signed for Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the 1999 summer, quickly becoming an essential offensive figure for his new club. He scored 28 goals combined from 2000 to 2002 (including a hat-trick against Hamburger SV on 24 November 2001),[5] while also adding five in 15 UEFA Champions League appearances in 2001–02, as Bayer finished second to Real Madrid (he scored one apiece in both legs of the semifinal clash against Manchester United); the club also finished second in the league during this timeframe.
Aged 31, Neuville joined Borussia Mönchengladbach for 2004–05, on a free transfer.[6] On 17 October 2004 he scored an infamous goal with his hand against 1. FC Kaiserslautern in a 2–0 home win, which was widely reviled and landed him a two-match ban.[7] He netted 22 goals in his first two seasons combined, but appeared scarcely as the Foals dropped down a level in 2007, mainly due to injury.[8][9]
Neuville returned to form in 2007–08, scoring 15 goals to help Borussia return to the top flight the immediate campaign after, the competition's sixth-best. He made his last Bundesliga appearance on the final matchday of the 2009–10 season, against former team Bayer Leverkusen.[10]
It was planned that Neuville would start to work as a youth coach for Borussia Mönchengladbach.[10] Instead, he decided to play one more year and signed for Arminia Bielefeld in the 2. Bundesliga.[11] However, after only a couple of months, he left by mutual consent, retiring at the age of 37.[12]
International career
editAfter electing to represent Germany at international level, Neuville made his international debut on 2 September 1998 against Malta, in a friendly, replacing Mario Basler for the last fifteen minutes of the 2–1 away win. In his first months training with the national team he needed an interpreter to understand coach Erich Ribbeck's message, while getting his across as well.[13]
Subsequently, Neuville went on to collect 69 caps with ten goals.[14] He was picked for the squad that finished second at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, scoring the game's only goal in the round-of-16 win against Paraguay.[15]
After missing selection for UEFA Euro 2004, in the second group stage match of the 2006 World Cup against Poland, Neuville, who had replaced Lukas Podolski, buried a desperate injury-time cross from fellow substitute David Odonkor, beating goalkeeper Artur Boruc on the way to a 1–0 victory.[16] He did not score again for the national team until 31 May 2008, when he slid in a Marcell Jansen cross in a Euro 2008 warm-up against Serbia,[17] appearing in the tournament's final stages in the Group B match against Austria as a late substitute, and retiring from international play at the age of 35.
Personal life
editAlong with Bernd Schneider, Neuville was one of the two known smokers in the Germany national team.[18] His name (properly pronounced in French – not German – fashion) stemmed from his Belgian grandfather.
In 1997, Neuville fathered son Lars-Oliver.
Career statistics
editClub
editClub | Season | League | National Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
FC Locarno | 1991–92[19] | Swiss Challenge League | 14 | 8 | – | 14 | 8 | |||
Servette | 1992–93[19] | Nationalliga A | 28 | 4 | – | 28 | 4 | |||
1993–94[19] | 31 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 16 | ||||
1994–95[19] | 21 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 8 | ||||
1995–96[19] | 34 | 15 | – | 34 | 15 | |||||
Total | 114 | 43 | 5 | 0 | 119 | 43 | ||||
Tenerife | 1996–97[20] | La Liga | 33 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 43 | 5 |
Hansa Rostock | 1997–98[19] | Bundesliga | 17 | 8 | 0 | 0 | – | 17 | 8 | |
1998–99[19] | 33 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 14 | ||
Total | 50 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 54 | 22 | ||
Bayer Leverkusen | 1999–2000[19] | Bundesliga | 33 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 41 | 6 |
2000–01[19] | 34 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 44 | 16 | ||
2001–02[19] | 33 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 55 | 21 | ||
2002–03[19] | 33 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 48 | 4 | ||
2003–04[19] | 32 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 8 | ||
Total | 165 | 42 | 16 | 3 | 42 | 10 | 223 | 55 | ||
Borussia Mönchengladbach | 2004–05[19] | Bundesliga | 32 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 12 |
2005–06[19] | 34 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 10 | ||
2006–07[19] | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | 17 | 4 | |||
2007–08[19] | 2. Bundesliga | 34 | 15 | 2 | 0 | – | 36 | 15 | ||
2008–09[19] | Bundesliga | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
2009–10[19] | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | ||
Total | 153 | 42 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 161 | 42 | ||
Borussia Mönchengladbach II | 2008–09[19] | Regionalliga West | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||
2009–10[19] | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
Arminia Bielefeld | 2010–11[19] | 2. Bundesliga | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 |
Career total | 543 | 164 | 29 | 3 | 57 | 10 | 629 | 177 |
International
edit- Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Neuville goal.
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 31 March 1999 | Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany | Finland | 2–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
2 | 14 November 2001 | Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany | Ukraine | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
3 | 27 March 2002 | Ostseestadion, Rostock, Germany | United States | 2–1 | 4–2 | Friendly |
4 | 15 June 2002 | Jeju World Cup Stadium, Seogwipo, South Korea | Paraguay | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup |
5 | 8 October 2005 | Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey | Turkey | 1–2 | 1–2 | Friendly |
6 | 22 March 2006 | Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany | United States | 2–0 | 4–1 | Friendly |
7 | 27 May 2006 | Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany | Luxembourg | 4–0 | 7–0 | Friendly |
8 | 4–0 | |||||
9 | 14 June 2006 | Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany | Poland | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup |
10 | 31 May 2008 | Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany | Serbia | 1–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
Honours
editServette[21]
Bayer Leverkusen[22]
- UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2001–02
- DFB-Pokal runner-up: 2001–02
Borussia Mönchengladbach[22]
Germany[22]
- FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2002; Third place 2006
- UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2008
- FIFA Confederations Cup third place: 2005
References
edit- ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Germany" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
- ^ Matthias Arnhold (24 July 2014). "Oliver Neuville – Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- ^ "El día que el 'EuroTete' goleó a la Lazio" [The day 'EuroTete' routed Lazio]. Marca (in Spanish). 18 February 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ "¿Qué fue del CD Tenerife semifinalista de la UEFA?" [What happened to UEFA semi-finalists CD Tenerife?] (in Spanish). Sphera Sports. 18 January 2017. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
- ^ "Germany: Bayer extend lead". UEFA. 24 November 2001. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ "New start for Neuville". UEFA. 24 May 2004. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ "Neuvilles Handtor sorgt für Diskussionen" [Neuville's handball generates discussion] (in German). kicker. 15 October 2004. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ "Neuville out for two months". UEFA. 8 January 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ "Leistenbruch bei Neuville" [Inguinal hernia for Neuville]. UEFA. 28 April 2007. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ a b "Neuville bleibt Borusse" [Neuville remains Borusse] (in German). Bundesliga. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
- ^ "Neuville geht nach Bielefeld" [Neuville goes to Bielefeld] (in German). Focus. 18 June 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
- ^ "Neuville beendet Kapitel Arminia – und die Karriere!" [Neuville ends Arminia chapter – and career!] (in German). kicker. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ "Oliver Neuville". World Soccer News. 2004. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ Matthias Arnhold (25 March 2010). "Oliver Neuville – International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- ^ "Germany edge out Paraguay". BBC Sport. 15 June 2002. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ "Germany 1–0 Poland". BBC Sport. 14 June 2006. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ "Germany beat Serbia in last Euro test". German Football Association. 31 May 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
- ^ "Wie im Rausch" [Feeling high] (in German). Stern. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Oliver Neuville » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
- ^ Oliver Neuville at BDFutbol
- ^ "Oliver Neuville Biography". History Of Soccer. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ a b c "O. Neuville". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
External links
edit- Oliver Neuville at fussballdaten.de (in German)
- Leverkusen who's who
- Oliver Neuville at BDFutbol
- Oliver Neuville at National-Football-Teams.com
- Oliver Neuville – FIFA competition record (archived)