Strike force shortfall

German Oliver Neuville (L) jumps over South Korean goalkeeper Lee-Won Jae as he fights for the ball with Korean Kim Tae-young (R) 25 June 2002 at the Seoul World Cup stadium during their semi-final match of the 2002 FIFA World Cup between Germany and South Korea. German Michael Ballack scored the only goal of the match and Germany defeated South Korea 1-0, qualifying for the final. AFP PHOTO - GREG WOOD

Germany coach Rudi Voeller seemed to have forgotten Oliver Neuville, but with the Mannschaft making hard work of qualification for Euro 2004 he recalled the 2002 World Cup finalist to boost his faltering forward line.

Bayer Leverkusen's Oliver Neuville (R) and Bernd Schneider celebrate Neuville's second goal against Hannover 96 during their Bundesliga soccer match in Leverkusen 16 August 2003. Leverkusen thrashed Hannover 4 to 0.

The weight of his experience, which includes six matches at the 2002 World Cup, helped steady Germany's ship and younger strikers such as Kevin Kuranyi benefited from having an old hand on board.

He was born in Locarno, Switzerland in May 1973 to a German father and Italian mother and in his early career played at Gambarogno and then his hometown club at Locarno.

Despite his modest height (1.71m) Servette Geneva brought the striker to the lakeside city where he picked up his first championship title in 1994, his only trophy in a four year stay.

Then came a brief stint in the sun at Tenerife in the Spanish Canary Islands before being lured back to the north with an offer to join Bundesliga side Hansa Rostock in 1997.

Regardless of Rostock's middle of the table status he had ample opportunity to express his talents with them, earning recognition when Erich Ribbeck called him up to the national side after their failure at the 1998 World Cup in France.

Communication problem

German forward Oliver Neuville fights for the ball with French midfielder Franck Leboeuf (R) during the friendly football game between France and Germany 27 February 2001 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris. France won 1-0. AFP PHOTO PATRICK KOVARIK

The story goes that Neuville's German language skills were far from sufficient and that once in the national side he needed an interpreter and language classes.

Bayer Leverkusen's Oliver Neuville scores with a volley-shot the 1-0 lead for his team against Lazio Rome, during their Champions League match at the BayArena in Leverkusen, 14 September, 1999. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE)

Bayer Leverkusen decided they needed a winger in 1999 and liked Neuvilles's mazy runs and dribbling enough to fork out 4.5 million euros for him.

As such he was in the heartbreaking outfit that missed out, and by a whisker, on three titles in 2002, losing to Real Madrid in the Champions League final, missing out to Bayern Munich for the German title after leading the charge all season, and then losing in the Cup final too.

After his successful debut 29 May in a match against Slovakia, Ghanaian-born German team's Gerald Asamoah (C) is seen here during a training session, 30 May 2001, with team mates Alexander Zickler (L) and Oliver Neuville (R) in Bremer Weser-Stadium for the WC-Qualifier on Sunday against Finland in Finland. Asamoah is the first player of black African origin ever to wear the German international shirt. AFP PHOTO EPA/DPA/INGO WAGNER

At the 2002 World Cup his contribution was meagre yet crucial. His goal in the 88th minute of the second round tie against Paraguay separated the two sides, sending Germany on a run to the final itself, which they lost 2-0 to Brazil.

Yet another wooden spoon for poor Neuville.

The 2002-03 season presented Leverkusen and Neuville with a different challenge altogether as they battled relegation after the sale of three of the teams stars, a year in which Neuville himself fell from favour in the national side.

Now back in the fold Voller will be hoping for more goals than the one per four matches the little man has so far averaged, Euro 2004 would be the perfect place to improve upon that.