Bayer Leverkusen will always be associated with one man. That man isn't Michael Ballack. Neither is he Rudi Voller. He is the man who spent 10 years of his career and never turned his back on Bayer.
He is Bernd Schneider.
Schneider was born in East Germany in the Nov. 17, 1973.
Schneider started off his career with Carl Zeiss Jena. The then 18-year-old midfielder stayed on with the East German club till 1998. He helped the club stay in the second division for five consecuive seasons. He played 124 matches for Jena, with his debut coming in 1991. He scored 14 goals in the process.
"Schnix" then moved on to Eintracht Frankfurt where he spent the 1998-99 season. He scored four goals in 33 matches. Schneider finally got a call from Bayer. He was part of the 2002 "Neverkusen" side. Schneider, as a result of the move, earned himself a spot in the German National Team.
In the 2003-04 season, Schneider scored 10 goals. This was the highest tally by a midfielder during that season alongside Johan Micoud of Werder. He played 263 matches for Bayer, scoring 35 goals.
His debut for Germany came against New Zealand in the 1999 Confederations Cup. Germany went on to win the match 2-0. Schneider was an integral part of both the 2002 and 2006 World Cup sides as well as the 2004 Euro side.
He scored his first international goal against Saudi Arabia in the 2002 World Cup in an 8-0 thrashing of the Asian side. He was also the vice-captain of Germany. He captained Germany in the opening match of the 2006 World Cup due to Ballack's absence.
All in all, in an international career which spanned almost a decade, Schneider earned 81 caps and scored four goals.
A lot of players would love to have a career like that of the former Bayer captain's. Unfortunately for Schneider, he went extremely close to silverware, but never managed to get his hands on some.
He finished runners-up twice in the Bundesliga, thrice in the DFB Pokal and once in the Champions League. He was a runner up in the 2002 World Cup. In the 2006 World Cup, he and his teammates finished third, as well as in the 2003-04 season in the Bundesliga.
Schneider finally called it a day in June 2009 after failing to recover from a slipped disc. The injury came prior in April 2008. As a result, he missed the tournament. He now works as a scout for Bayer. He and his wife Carina have two children, daughter Emely and son Geovanni.
This is what Schneider had to say about his forced retirement;
"This decision was very difficult for me, but I have had problems since the accident and I am following my doctors' advice."
Schnider will be sorely missed. Joachim Low, Rudi Voller and his team mates had only good things to say about him.
I will end with a quote from Rudi Voller:
"Bernd was a great footballer, who produced magic for Germany and Leverkusen. He is also a very nice and humble person. I wish him all the best."
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