00:04Manuel Neuer is a different breed of goalkeeper.
00:09And while his unique and aggressive playing style could be interpreted as dangerous or risky,
00:14it has led him to big things on football's greatest stage.
00:19While he didn't invent the role of sweeper-keeper,
00:22Neuer certainly took it to a new level.
00:26Lightning quick for such an imposing physical figure,
00:30almost daring opposition strikers to take him on as he takes risks to launch attack from defence,
00:36the German international has made goalkeeping fashionable.
00:41And in 2014, he made it the key to Germany's World Cup success.
00:48For 20 years, Neuer was entrenched at his home club Schalke,
00:53where he started at age 5.
00:56He debuted in the Bundesliga in 2006, but was snatched by Bayern Munich in 2011,
01:02the team for which he really blossomed.
01:07His Schalke fanbase were not pleased when he announced he would be leaving.
01:12And surprisingly, nor were the fans of Bayern when word reached them that a rival player was entering their midst.
01:19But they were silenced quickly by the match-winning theatrics of their new stopper.
01:25He won a string of Bundesliga titles, two of them as part of a treble,
01:29along with the DFB-Pakal and Champions League in 2013 and 2020.
01:35Neuer named the world's best goalkeeper five times in that span.
01:41But as good as Neuer has been for Bayern Munich over the journey,
01:45it all seemed to lead to football's greatest stage in 2014.
01:51Germany qualified with ease for the World Cup in Brazil
01:54and earned two wins from the group stage to progress to what would be a hard-fought knockout phase.
02:02But that's when Neuer's aggressive mid-air acrobatics came to the fore,
02:06holding off Algeria in a tense 2-1, extra-time victory in the round of 16.
02:12The Germans got through against France 1-0 in the quarter-finals,
02:16before an unprecedented 7-1 rout of host nation Brazil.
02:22Neuer's heroics continued in the decider against Argentina,
02:27making breakaway forays, forcing countless errors from the opposition,
02:33leaving the Argentinians remarkably without a shot on target,
02:36before Mario Goetze scored the winner in extra time.
02:42While Goetze got the glory for the match winner, Neuer was hailed a colossus.
02:47He won the Golden Glove for the tournament's best goalkeeper,
02:51but finished only third in the ensuing Ballon d'Or,
02:54behind strikers Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
02:58The 2014 Ballon d'Or sparked widespread condemnation of the voting system.
03:05German legend Franz Beckenbauer,
03:07just one of many to label Neuer's lack of recognition unjust.
03:12But while Manuel Neuer didn't win football's greatest individual prize,
03:17his feats on football's greatest stage in 2014 will be cherished forever.
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