 Neuville in 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Oliver Patric Neuville[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1973-05-01)1 May 1973 (age 51) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oliver Patric Neuville (German pronunciation:[ˈɔlivɐˈnøːvɪl]; born 1 May 1973) is a German formerfootballer who played as astriker.
During an 18-year professional career which began in Switzerland, he played mainly for German clubsBayer Leverkusen (five seasons) andBorussia Mönchengladbach (six), amassingBundesliga totals of 334 games and 91 goals.
Neuville appeared nearly 70 times for theGermany national team during one full decade, representing Germany in twoWorld Cups and atEuro 2008.
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Born inLocarno, Switzerland, to a German father fromAachen and Swiss mother of Italian descent, Neuville started his professional career withServette FC. In onlyhis second season in theSwiss Super League, he scored a career-best 16 goals[2] to help the club win the national championship after a nine-year wait.
In1996–97, Neuville played in Spain withCD Tenerife, where he was part of a well-balanced attacking line that also featuredJuanele (eight goals),Meho Kodro (six),Antonio Pinilla (seven) andAurelio Vidmar (one),[3] netting five goals in 1,885 minutes as theCanary Islands team easily retained theirLa Liga status, and also playing a relatively important part in theirsemi-final run in theUEFA Cup.[4] Subsequently, he moved to Germany and signed forF.C. Hansa Rostock, scoring eight times in only 17 contests inhis debut campaign in theBundesliga, as the side from the formerEast Germany finished sixth.
Neuville signed forBayer 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 ahat-trick againstHamburger SV on 24 November 2001),[5] while also adding five in 15UEFA Champions League appearances in2001–02, as Bayer finished second toReal Madrid (he scored one apiece in both legs of the semifinal clash againstManchester United); the club also finished second in the league during this timeframe.
AfterKlaus Augenthaler's became Leverkusen coach, Neuville's playing time was limited and he was not offered a contract extension. In summer 2004, aged 31, Neuville joinedBorussia Mönchengladbach on afree transfer.[6][7] On 17 October 2004 he scored an infamous goal with his hand against1. FC Kaiserslautern in a 2–0 home win, which was widely reviled and landed him a two-match ban.[8] He netted 22 goals in his first two seasons combined, but appeared scarcely as theFoalsdropped down a level in 2007, mainly due to injury.[9][10]
Neuville returned to form in2007–08, 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 the2009–10 season, against former team Bayer Leverkusen.[11]
It was planned that Neuville would start to work as a youth coach for Borussia Mönchengladbach.[11] Instead, he decided to play one more year and signed forArminia Bielefeld in the2. Bundesliga.[12] However, after only a couple of months, he left by mutual consent, retiring at the age of 37.[13]
After electing to representGermany at international level, Neuville made his international debut on 2 September 1998 againstMalta, in afriendly, replacingMario 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 coachErich Ribbeck's message, while getting his across as well.[14]
Subsequently, Neuville went on to collect 69caps with ten goals.[15] He was picked for the squad that finished second at the2002 FIFA World Cup. Neuville made his first start of the tournament in theround-of-16 win againstParaguay, and scored his first World Cup goal late on, the only goal of the game.[16] In thefinal againstBrazil, Neuville hit the post with a free kick from 30 yards out with the scores at 0-0, before Germany eventually lost the match 2-0.[17]
After missing selection forUEFA Euro 2004, in the second group stage match of the2006 World Cup againstPoland, Neuville, who had replacedLukas Podolski, buried a desperate injury-timecross from fellow substituteDavid Odonkor, beatinggoalkeeperArtur Boruc on the way to a 1–0 victory.[18] He did not score again for the national team until 31 May 2008, when he slid in aMarcell Jansen cross in aEuro 2008 warm-up againstSerbia,[19] appearing in the tournament's final stages in the Group B match againstAustria as a late substitute, and retiring from international play at the age of 35.
Along withBernd Schneider, Neuville was one of the two known smokers in the Germany national team.[20] His name (properly pronounced in French – not German – fashion) stemmed from his Belgian grandfather.
In 1997, Neuville fathered son Lars-Oliver.
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FC Locarno | 1991–92[21] | Swiss Challenge League | 14 | 8 | – | 14 | 8 | |||
| Servette | 1992–93[21] | Nationalliga A | 28 | 4 | – | 28 | 4 | |||
| 1993–94[21] | 31 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 16 | ||||
| 1994–95[21] | 21 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 8 | ||||
| 1995–96[21] | 34 | 15 | – | 34 | 15 | |||||
| Total | 114 | 43 | 5 | 0 | 119 | 43 | ||||
| Tenerife | 1996–97[22] | La Liga | 33 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 43 | 5 |
| Hansa Rostock | 1997–98[21] | Bundesliga | 17 | 8 | 0 | 0 | – | 17 | 8 | |
| 1998–99[21] | 33 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 14 | ||
| Total | 50 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 54 | 22 | ||
| Bayer Leverkusen | 1999–2000[21] | Bundesliga | 33 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 41 | 6 |
| 2000–01[21] | 34 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 44 | 16 | ||
| 2001–02[21] | 33 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 55 | 21 | ||
| 2002–03[21] | 33 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 48 | 4 | ||
| 2003–04[21] | 32 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 8 | ||
| Total | 165 | 42 | 16 | 3 | 42 | 10 | 223 | 55 | ||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 2004–05[21] | Bundesliga | 32 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 12 |
| 2005–06[21] | 34 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 10 | ||
| 2006–07[21] | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | 17 | 4 | |||
| 2007–08[21] | 2. Bundesliga | 34 | 15 | 2 | 0 | – | 36 | 15 | ||
| 2008–09[21] | Bundesliga | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
| 2009–10[21] | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | ||
| Total | 153 | 42 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 161 | 42 | ||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach II | 2008–09[21] | Regionalliga West | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10[21] | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Arminia Bielefeld | 2010–11[21] | 2. Bundesliga | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 |
| Career total | 543 | 164 | 29 | 3 | 57 | 10 | 629 | 177 | ||
| 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 |
Servette[23]
Bayer Leverkusen[24]
Borussia Mönchengladbach[24]
Germany[24]
Germany squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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