00:05Manuel Neuer is a different breed of goalkeeper, and while his unique and aggressive playing
00:12style could be interpreted as dangerous or risky, it has led him to big things on football's
00:17greatest stage. While he didn't invent the role of sweeper-keeper, Neuer certainly took
00:24it to a new level. Lightning quick for such an imposing physical figure, almost daring
00:31opposition strikers to take him on as he takes risks to launch attack from defence, the German
00:38international has made goalkeeping fashionable. And in 2014, he made it the key to Germany's
00:45World Cup success.
00:49For 20 years, Neuer was entrenched at his home club Schalke, where he started at age
00:55five. He debuted in the Bundesliga in 2006, but was snatched by Bayern Munich in 2011, the
01:03team for which he really blossomed.
01:08His Schalke fanbase were not pleased when he announced he would be leaving. And surprisingly,
01:14nor were the fans of Bayern, when word reached them that a rival player was entering their
01:18midst. But they were silenced quickly by the match-winning theatrics of their new stopper.
01:25He won a string of Bundesliga titles, two of them as part of a treble, along with the DFB
01:31Pacal and Champions League in 2013 and 2020. Neuer named the world's best goalkeeper five
01:38times in that span. But as good as Neuer has been for Bayern Munich over the journey, it all
01:46seemed to lead to football's greatest stage in 2014.
01:51Germany qualified with ease for the World Cup in Brazil, and earned two wins from the
01:56group stage to progress to what would be a hard-fought knockout phase. But that's when Neuer's
02:04aggressive mid-air acrobatics came to the fore, holding off Algeria in a tense 2-1 extra-time
02:10victory in the round of 16. The Germans got through against France 1-0 in the quarter-finals,
02:17before an unprecedented 7-1 rout of host nation Brazil. Neuer's heroics continued in the decider
02:25against Argentina, making breakaway forays, forcing countless errors from the opposition,
02:33leaving the Argentinians remarkably without a shot on target, before Mario Goetze scored
02:39the winner in extra time.
02:43While Goetze got the glory for the match-winner, Neuer was hailed a colossus. He won the Golden
02:49Glove for the tournament's best goalkeeper, but finished only third in the ensuing Ballon d'Or,
02:55behind strikers Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The 2014 Ballon d'Or sparked widespread condemnation
03:04of the voting system. German legend Franz Beckenbauer, just one of many to label Neuer's lack of recognition
03:11unjust. But while Manuel Neuer didn't win football's greatest individual prize, his feats on football's
03:19greatest stage in 2014 will be cherished forever.
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