Bernd Schneider (born 17 November 1973) is a German former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He was mainly a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

but could play anywhere on the left and right flanks. After retiring in June 2009, he took up an advisory role at his first club, Carl Zeiss Jena, and a scouting position at

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, th ...

. Nicknamed Schnix by fans and teammates, Schneider started out at his hometown club Carl Zeiss Jena and made a name for himself during his decade-long stint at

. He earned the nickname "The White Brazilian" for his

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

and passing skills as well as his accurate free kicks and corners. Although mostly a provider of goals rather than a finisher, he was capable of scoring, especially from long distance. Schneider is notable for having multiple second and third place medals from national, continental and international tournaments (including the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

and

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

) without having ever having won a major tournament.

Club career

Schneider started his professional career at local Carl Zeiss Jena, going on to help the

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

n outfit to stay five seasons in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

; his debut came on 13 August 1991, playing close to ten minutes in a 1–3 loss at

Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was briefly known as ''Rasen-Sp ...

. Schneider then played one season at

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

, subsequently moving to

, and establishing himself as an essential player for both club and country. In 1999–2000 and 2001–02, he was instrumental in Bayer's runner-up league finishes, serving 11 decisive passes in the latter season, as well as netting five goals himself; he also appeared 19 times as the side reached the 2002 Champions League Final. More a creator than a finisher, Schneider scored a career-best ten

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

goals in the 2003–04 season, making him the highest-scoring midfielder in that year's competition, alongside

Johan Micoud Johan Cédric Micoud (born 24 July 1973) is a French former professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder. He was considered a skilled midfielder and a dead-ball expert. During a 16-year career he played professionally, o ...

; Leverkusen finished third and, during the following season, Schneider renewed his link for a further four years. After two more seasons in which he scored ten goals and achieved 18 assists in 60 matches, Schneider began suffering consecutive injuries: first the

calf Calf most often refers to: * Calf (animal), the young of domestic cattle. * Calf (leg), in humans (and other primates), the back portion of the lower leg Calf or calves may also refer to: Biology and animal byproducts * Veal, meat from calves * ...

, then the

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column run ...

, being sidelined almost the entire 2008–09 due to the latter. He only managed to return to action on 16 May 2009, playing the last 20 minutes of a 5–0 home win against

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

. The following month, he announced his retirement after failing to fully recover from the injury. On 29 May 2009, Carl Zeiss Jena named him as mentor to club president Peter Schreiber, and he began to work as scout for Bayer Leverkusen in June, immediately after retiring from play.

International career

Schneider made his debut for

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

during the

1999 Confederations Cup The 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fourth FIFA Confederations Cup, and the second organised by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Mexico between 24 July and 4 August 1999. It was won by Mexico, who beat Brazil 4–3 in the final. Mexico bec ...

, playing in the 2–0 win against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and the loss to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

(same result). Since then, Schneider established himself as a vital squad member due to his work rate and versatility. He was ever-present at the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, where he scored his first goal in their 8–0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia in the group stages, and at the

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

. At the World Cup on home soil, along with Ballack,

Torsten Frings Torsten Klaus Frings (born 22 November 1976) is a German former footballer and manager, who last managed SV Meppen. A former midfielder, throughout his career he played for several German clubs, namely Alemannia Aachen, Werder Bremen, Borussia D ...

and

Bastian Schweinsteiger Bastian Schweinsteiger (; born 1 August 1984) is a German former professional footballer who usually played as a central midfielder. Earlier in his career, he primarily played as a wide midfielder. Schweinsteiger is regarded as one of the great ...

, they formed a formidable midfield and all played their part in the national team's unexpected success. He captained the team in their opening game against Costa Rica as Ballack was out injured. In the final group stage match, he was instrumental in Germany's 3–0 win over Ecuador which guaranteed them maximum points as group winners. Schneider was ruled out of Germany's

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

squad, due to surgery to fix a

slipped disc Spinal disc herniation is an injury to the cushioning and connective tissue between vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, and physic ...

. He retired with 81 caps for Germany.

Personal life

Schneider and his wife Carina have one daughter, Emily and a son, Giovani.

Career statistics

Club

*1.Includes Champions League and

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

. *2.Includes 2. Bundesliga playoff and German League Cup.

International

Source:

International goals

:''Scores and results table. Germany's goal tally first:''

Honours

Bayer Leverkusen *

runner-up: 1999–2000, 2001–02 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

runner-up: 2001–02, 2008–09 *

runner-up: 2001–02 Germany *

runner-up:

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, 3rd Place

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

third place:

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Individual * ''

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

Team of the Season: 2001–02, 2005–06 *

top assist provider: 2001–02

References

External links

* * * *
Leverkusen who's who
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Bernd 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Jena People from Bezirk Gera German footballers Footballers from Thuringia Association football midfielders Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players FC Carl Zeiss Jena players Eintracht Frankfurt players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Bayer 04 Leverkusen II players Germany international footballers Germany B international footballers Germany youth international footballers 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players