Oliver Neuville

Club

Borussia Mönchengladbach II

Position

Assistant Coach

Nationality

Germany

Date of birth

1973-05-01

Birthplace

Locarno, Switzerland

Height

171 cm

Weight

64 kg

Oliver Patric Neuville (German pronunciation: ; born 1 May 1973) is a German former footballer who played as a striker.

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 the Germany national team during one full decade, representing Germany in two World Cups and at Euro 2008.

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,