Porto had a team full of stars —Schalke only the slightly overrated Kuranyi. The Schalke players didn`t perform that night—Porto were dominating the match and they were atacking from start to finish.
But one Schalke player did show-up: Neuer. You could feel the disbelief of the Porto supporters when he made one unbelievable save after an other. His kung-fu style save against Sektioui was beyond believe.
Somehow, Porto managed to beat Neuer only once. The dramatic tie had to be decided in a penalty shoot-out. Neuer didn't disappoint again and his two saves put Schalke through to the next round.
As far as pure talent is concerned, Manuel Neuer is on the same level as Rene Adler, but at the moment, Adler's consistently strong performance gives him the edge. In the future, however, Neuer will be Adler`s strongest competitor for the national team.
Michael Rensing
Age: 24 Height: 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Club: Bayern Munich
Michael Rensing might be the third young keeper to challenge for the No. 1 spot in the German national team. But he had to wait longer to get a place in the starting line-up, being the back-up of Oliver Kahn at Bayern.
This season is his first season as a regular, and hence it remains to be seen how good he is. If he succeeds at Bayern he will be a strong contender for the national team—if he fails Bayern might as well sign Rene Adler as his replacement.
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