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| Career | |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Clubs: | Aufbau Iena, Carl-Zeiss Jena (until 1998), Eintracht Frankfurt (1998-99), Bayer Leverkusen (since 1999) |
| International appearances: | 36 |
| International goals: | 1 |
| International debut: | 28/07/1999, Germany-New Zealand (2-0) |
| Last international appearance: | 02/06/2004, Switzerland-Germany (0-2) |
Appearances : 1 (2002), 7 matches, 1 goal
Finalist (2002)
Finalist (2002)
Runners-up (2002)
Finalist (2002)
Biography
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| Brazil's midfielder Ronaldinho, midfielder Gilberto Silva and Germany's midfielder Bernd Schneider fight for the ball during the final match of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea Japan at International Stadium Yokohama 30 June, 2002, in Yokohama, Japan. Brazil won the final 2-0. AFP PHOTO/GABRIEL BOUYS |
Germany had a superb 2002 World Cup when a squad that struggled to qualify raised their game to reach the final out in Asia after several men played out of their socks.
Christoph Metzelder was one and Miroslav Klose another while Bernd Schneider, already 28-years-old had just had a blistering season at Bayer Leverkusen too.
He was born in former East Germany in the town of Iena, where at only six he joined local club Aufbau and in a republic where sport was a virtual religion he received an excellent grounding in football training.
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| South African Bradley Carnell (front) of VfB Stuttgart collides with Bernd Schneider of Bayer Leverkusen 28 August 1999 during their Bundesliga match in Stuttgart's Daimler stadium. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) |
He was already 16 when the Berlin Wall fell, an event that changed the life of a priveliged foootballer very little, he claimed. An event that effected him far more deeply, he professes was the death of a friend on the training ground.
He stayed with Iena until 1998 where there was a switch to Eintracht Frankfurt, but he stayed just a year before moving on again to Bayer Leverkusen.
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| South Korean national soccer team defender Kim Tae-young (R) fights for the ball with German midfielder Bernd Schneider 25 June 2002 at the Seoul World Cup stadium during their semi-final match of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. AFP PHOTO - EMMANUEL DUNAND |
Erich Ribbeck gave him his international debut in July 1999 during the Confederations Cup out in the USA where he played alongside his childhood hero Lothar Matthaus.
Schneider was pulled back into a defensive midfield role at Leverkusen having been more of a striker at his previous clubs and had a pivotal role in Bayer's celebrated 'nearly' season of 2002 when the club fell at the last hurdle in three major competitions.
That season they came second in the Bundesliga, runners up in the German Cup and lost 2-1 to Real Madrid in the final of the Champions League.
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| Bayer 04 Leverkusen's Bernd Schneider (R) und Gaizka Mendieta of FC Barcelona collide in mid-air during their UEFA Champions League match, 27 November 2002. AFP PHOTO EPA/DPA/TOBIAS HEYER/rw h mda |
So he was possibly expecting to come runner-up at the 2002 World Cup too, which is exactly what happened.
The unfancied Germans won their opener against Saudia Arabia 8-0, a humiliation in which Schneider got his first international goal.
Then came a draw with Ireland and a win over Cameroon to enter the last 16 where wins over Paraguay, the USA and South Korea put them up against Brazil in the final.
However it wasn't to be as Ronaldo ended their unlikely run after Schneider had played in all seven games.
He has played in both defense and midfield in the 2003-04 season at club level, where he has recaptured the top form he displayed at the World Cup.
He and Germany will face far stiffer competition in their first round ties at Euro 2004, where they have been drawn in the Group of Death alongside Holland, the Czech Republic and Latvia.