Oliver Patric Neuville (; born 1 May 1973) is a former footballer who played as a striker. Born in Switzerland, he represented the Germany national team.

During an 18-year professional career which began in Switzerland, he played mainly for German clubs Bayer Leverkusen (five seasons) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (six), amassing Bundesliga totals of 334 games and 91 goals.

Neuville appeared nearly 70 times for Germany during one full decade, representing them at two World Cups and at Euro 2008.

Club career

Born 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 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), 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. 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), 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.

After Klaus 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 joined Borussia Mönchengladbach on a free transfer. 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. 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.

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.

It was planned that Neuville would start to work as a youth coach for Borussia Mönchengladbach. Instead, he decided to play one more year and signed for Arminia Bielefeld in the 2. Bundesliga. However, after only a couple of months, he left by mutual consent, retiring at the age of 37.

International career

After 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.

Subsequently, Neuville went on to collect 69 caps with ten goals. He was picked for the squad that finished second at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Neuville made his first start of the tournament in the round-of-16 win against Paraguay, and scored his first World Cup goal late on, the only goal of the game. In the final against Brazil, 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.

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. 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, 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 Along with Bernd Schneider, Neuville was one of the two known smokers in the Germany national team. His name (properly pronounced in French – not German – fashion) stemmed from his Belgian grandfather.

In 1997, Neuville fathered a son named Lars-Oliver.

Career statistics

Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupEuropeTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsFC Locarno1991–92Swiss Challenge League148–148Servette1992–93Nationalliga A284–2841993–9431163034161994–95218202381995–963415–3415Total114435011943Tenerife1996–97La Liga3352080435Hansa Rostock1997–98Bundesliga17800–1781998–99331420203714Total502220205422Bayer Leverkusen1999–2000Bundesliga33410724162000–013415208144162001–0233135117755212002–03334501004842003–043263200358Total16542163421022355Borussia Mönchengladbach2004–05Bundesliga3212100033122005–063410100035102006–0716410–1742007–082. Bundesliga341520–36152008–09Bundesliga25110002612009–101202000140Total15342800016142Borussia Mönchengladbach II2008–09Regionalliga West10––102009–1010––10Total20000020Arminia Bielefeld2010–112. Bundesliga12210–132Career total5431642935710629177

International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsGermany1998301999121200040200110120021022003702004202005312006144200710200831Total6910

Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Neuville goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Oliver NeuvilleNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 31 March 1999 Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany 2–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying2 14 November 2001 Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany 2–0 4–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification3 27 March 2002 Ostseestadion, Rostock, Germany 2–1 4–2 Friendly4 15 June 2002 Jeju World Cup Stadium, Seogwipo, South Korea 1–0 1–0 2002 FIFA World Cup5 8 October 2005 Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey 1–2 1–2 Friendly6 22 March 2006 Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany 2–0 4–1 Friendly7 27 May 2006 Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany 6–0 7–0 Friendly8 7–09 14 June 2006 Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany 1–0 1–0 2006 FIFA World Cup10 31 May 2008 Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany 1–1 2–1 Friendly

Honours Servette Swiss League: 1993–94

Bayer Leverkusen UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2001–02 DFB-Pokal runner-up: 2001–02

Borussia Mönchengladbach 2. Bundesliga: 2007–08

Germany FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2002; third place: 2006 UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2008 FIFA Confederations Cup third place: 2005

References

External links

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