(Photo by Phil Cole/Getty Images)
The young German brigades are certainly making the headlines for all the right reasons. Recently they won the UEFA European U-21 Championship title and when you add that to the U-19 and U-17 titles they won earlier, one clearly gets the picture of a very bright future for German football.
So this is probably the best time to take a look at some these rising stars and since there are so many, it is best to divide them into four parts, starting off with the goalkeepers.
René Adler
René Adler is quite well known to most football fans around the world by now and most notably the German fans, as he has already represented his country at the highest level and has made quite a name for himself at the relatively young age of only 24. The hype surrounding him is certainly not without reason.
Born in the East German city of Leipzig, Adler made a fantastic debut for Bayer Leverkusen when he replaced the suspended first choice goalkeeper Butt, in a Bundesliga match against Schalke and immediately announced himself at the scene by pulling off a string of world class saves to help his team win the match.
He has not looked back since then, having made the Leverkusen ‘number 1 jersey’ his own and raking up 94 appearances in the process (up until the end of 2008/09 season). Adler’s performances have been very consistent throughout the last couple of seasons and it came as no surprise when he was voted the “Best Bundesliga Goalkeeper” of 2008.
Having represented Germany at the U-19 Championships, Adler was finally given his full international call-up in 2008 and was part of the Euro 2008 squad. However, he had to wait for some time before making his debut and he finally did so later that year in a World Cup qualifier against Russia. He performed admirably and pulled off some decent saves to seal a crucial victory for the Germans.
He is currently battling for the goalkeeping slot with Robert Enke and he has done his chances of representing his country in the upcoming World Cup no harm with yet another polished display in the recent friendly against South Africa.
Known for his superb reflexes, agility and aerial ability, Adler definitely has all the right attributes to become a world class goalkeeper. Only time will tell whether he can actually fulfill his undoubted potential but from what he has shown thus far, it is highly likely that he will soon be following in the footsteps of the legendary German goalkeepers.
Manuel Neuer
Manuel Neuer burst onto the football scene in the UEFA Champions League first knockout round clash between Porto and Schalke on 5th
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