Rene Adler
Age: 23 Height: 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Club: Bayer Leverkusen Personal Honours: Voted Best Bundesliga keeper 2008
The word "Adler" means "eagle" in English. Never has a surname revealed so much about a German player (although the English might argue that Stefan Kuntz, who scored against them in the EC semifinal in 1996, wins that contest). Rene feels comfortable in the air. His jaw-dropping saves leave opposing strikers in despair. But he also belongs to the new generation of goalkeepers who are not simply shot-stoppers but also good on the ball.
In the upcoming months, Adler will have to fight with Robert Enke (Hannover 96) for the now void spot in Germany's national team. Adler is expected to win this competition and soon he will wear an eagle on his jersey as well.
I am rather reluctant to use words like "world class" when it come to new players. But for Adler I make an exception. He is world-class and will soon become a world star.
Manuel Neuer
Age: 22 Height: 1.92 m (6 ft 3 1/2 in) Club: Schalke 04 Personal Honours: Voted Best Bundesliga keeper 2007
12 years ago, a then ten-year-old boy spent his weekends watching his local football team FC Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen. The boy kept going inside the stadium 30 minutes ahead of kick-off, in order to watch Schalke goalkeeper Jens Lehmann doing his warm-up. It might appear strange to hear about a young boy who was so focused on seeing Lehmann stretching and bending over—but those afternoons at the Schalke stadium apparently helped the now 22-year-old Manuel Neuer to become a goalkeeper who could very well surpass his idol Jens in every aspect.
When Schalke manager Slomka dropped fan favourite and veteran keeper Frank Rost in 2006, and gave an unknown 20-year-old player from their own youth academy a chance, many observers wondered. But Neuer didn't disappoint his coach.
He was instrumental in securing a 2nd place finish behind Stuttgart in his first season and was voted Best Bundesliga Goalkeeper.
His second season (2007/08) was marked by ups and downs. He made several errors in the Bundesliga and Champions League campaign and was often made the scape-goat for everything that went wrong at Schalke. In my opinion the criticism was not justified. 21-year-old goalkeepers tend to make mistakes—particularly in their second season as a regular.
It would be unfair to focus merely on the four mistakes he made, since he also delivered the best single performance by a goalkeeper in last years Champions League campaign. Schalke had won their home-tie against Porto 1-0, and travelled to Portugal in the hope to reach the CL quarter-finals for its first time ever.
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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