Oliver Neuville facts for kids
Neuville in 2014
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Oliver Patric Neuville | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oliver Patric Neuville is a former German footballer. He was born on May 1, 1973. Oliver played as a striker, which means he was usually at the front of the team, trying to score goals.
He had a long career of 18 years playing professional football. He started in Switzerland, but spent most of his time playing for clubs in Germany. His main teams were Bayer Leverkusen for five seasons and Borussia Mönchengladbach for six seasons. In Germany's top league, the Bundesliga, he played 334 games and scored 91 goals.
Oliver Neuville also played for the German national team almost 70 times over ten years. He represented Germany in two World Cups and at the Euro 2008 tournament.
Contents
Oliver Neuville's Club Career
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Oliver Neuville was born in Locarno, Switzerland. His father was German, and his mother was Swiss with Italian family. He began his professional football journey with a Swiss club called Servette FC. In his second season in the Swiss Super League, he scored 16 goals. This helped his team win the national championship, which was their first win in nine years.
Playing in Spain and Germany
In the 1996–97 season, Oliver played in Spain for CD Tenerife. He scored five goals for the team. Tenerife managed to stay in La Liga, which is Spain's top football league. He also helped them reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup.
After his time in Spain, Oliver moved to Germany. He joined F.C. Hansa Rostock. In his first season in the Bundesliga (1997–98), he scored eight goals in just 17 games. His team finished sixth in the league that year.
Time at Bayer Leverkusen
In the summer of 1999, Oliver Neuville joined Bayer 04 Leverkusen. He quickly became a very important player for their attack. Between 2000 and 2002, he scored 28 goals. This included scoring three goals in one game (a hat-trick) against Hamburger SV in November 2001.
He also scored five goals in 15 games in the UEFA Champions League during the 2001–02 season. Bayer Leverkusen finished second in this competition, losing to Real Madrid in the final. Oliver scored a goal in both games of the semi-final against Manchester United. His team also finished second in the German league during this time.
Moving to Borussia Mönchengladbach
After a new coach, Klaus Augenthaler, joined Leverkusen, Oliver Neuville played less. So, in 2004, when he was 31, he moved to Borussia Mönchengladbach for free. In October 2004, he scored a goal with his hand against 1. FC Kaiserslautern. This was controversial and led to him being banned for two matches.
He scored 22 goals in his first two seasons with Mönchengladbach. However, he played less in the 2006–07 season because of injuries. His team then moved down to a lower league.
Return to Form and Retirement
In the 2007–08 season, Oliver played very well again. He scored 15 goals, helping Borussia Mönchengladbach return to the top league right away. This was the sixth-highest number of goals in that league.
He played his last game in the Bundesliga in the 2009–10 season. It was against his old team, Bayer Leverkusen. Oliver had planned to become a youth coach for Borussia Mönchengladbach. But he decided to play one more year and joined Arminia Bielefeld in the second division. However, he left the club after only a few months and retired from playing football at age 37.
Oliver Neuville's International Career
Oliver Neuville chose to play for the German national team. His first game was on September 2, 1998, in a friendly match against Malta. He came on as a substitute in Germany's 2–1 win. When he first started training with the national team, he needed someone to translate for him to understand the coach, Erich Ribbeck.
Oliver played 69 games for Germany and scored ten goals. He was part of the team that finished second at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He started his first game of that tournament in the round of 16 against Paraguay. He scored the only goal of the game late on, which helped Germany win 1–0. In the final against Brazil, Oliver hit the goalpost with a free kick. Germany eventually lost the match 2–0.
Oliver was not chosen for the UEFA Euro 2004 tournament. But in the 2006 World Cup, he scored a very important goal against Poland. He came on as a substitute and scored in injury time, helping Germany win 1–0.
He didn't score for the national team again until May 31, 2008. This was in a warm-up game for UEFA Euro 2008 against Serbia. He also played as a late substitute in a Euro 2008 group match against Austria. After this tournament, Oliver retired from international football at 35 years old.
Oliver Neuville's Personal Life
Oliver Neuville was known as one of the two players in the German national team who smoked, along with Bernd Schneider. His last name, Neuville, comes from his Belgian grandfather and is pronounced in a French way.
In 1997, Oliver became a father to his son, Lars-Oliver.
Career Statistics
Club Appearances and Goals
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FC Locarno | 1991–92 | Swiss Challenge League | 14 | 8 | – | 14 | 8 | |||
| Servette | 1992–93 | Nationalliga A | 28 | 4 | – | 28 | 4 | |||
| 1993–94 | 31 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 16 | ||||
| 1994–95 | 21 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 8 | ||||
| 1995–96 | 34 | 15 | – | 34 | 15 | |||||
| Total | 114 | 43 | 5 | 0 | 119 | 43 | ||||
| Tenerife | 1996–97 | La Liga | 33 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 43 | 5 |
| Hansa Rostock | 1997–98 | Bundesliga | 17 | 8 | 0 | 0 | – | 17 | 8 | |
| 1998–99 | 33 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 14 | ||
| Total | 50 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 54 | 22 | ||
| Bayer Leverkusen | 1999–2000 | Bundesliga | 33 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 41 | 6 |
| 2000–01 | 34 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 44 | 16 | ||
| 2001–02 | 33 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 55 | 21 | ||
| 2002–03 | 33 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 48 | 4 | ||
| 2003–04 | 32 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 8 | ||
| Total | 165 | 42 | 16 | 3 | 42 | 10 | 223 | 55 | ||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 2004–05 | Bundesliga | 32 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 12 |
| 2005–06 | 34 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 10 | ||
| 2006–07 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | 17 | 4 | |||
| 2007–08 | 2. Bundesliga | 34 | 15 | 2 | 0 | – | 36 | 15 | ||
| 2008–09 | Bundesliga | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
| 2009–10 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | ||
| Total | 153 | 42 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 161 | 42 | ||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach II | 2008–09 | Regionalliga West | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Arminia Bielefeld | 2010–11 | 2. Bundesliga | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 |
| Career total | 543 | 164 | 29 | 3 | 57 | 10 | 629 | 177 | ||
International Goals
- 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 and Achievements
Oliver Neuville won several awards and championships during his football career:
With Servette
- Swiss League: 1993–94
With Bayer Leverkusen
- UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2001–02 (finished second)
- DFB-Pokal runner-up: 2001–02 (finished second in the German Cup)
With Borussia Mönchengladbach
- 2. Bundesliga: 2007–08 (won the second division league)
With Germany National Team
- FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2002 (finished second)
- FIFA World Cup Third place: 2006
- UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2008 (finished second)
- FIFA Confederations Cup third place: 2005
See also
In Spanish: Oliver Neuville para niños
