Bernd Schneider

Bernd Schneider
Personal information
Full name	Bernd Schneider
Date of birth	17 November 1973 (1973-11-17) (age 36)
Place of birth	Jena, East Germany
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1991–1998 1998–1999 1999–2009	Carl Zeiss Jena Eintracht Frankfurt Bayer Leverkusen	124 (14) 033 0(4) 263 (35)
National team
1999–2008	Germany	081 0(4)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Bernd Schneider (born 17 November 1973) is a retired German footballer. A player of great versatility, he was mainly a midfielder 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.

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 Bayer Leverkusen. He earned the nickname "The White Brazilian"^[1] for his dribbling and passing skills as well as his accurate free kicks and corners. Although mostly a provider of goals rather than a finisher, he is capable of scoring, especially from long distance.

Club career

Schneider started his professional career at local FC Carl Zeiss Jena, going on to help the East German outfit to remain five consecutive seasons in the second division; his debut came on 13 August 1991, playing ten minutes in a 1-3 loss at SV Darmstadt 98.

Schneider then played one season at Eintracht Frankfurt, subsequently moving to Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and establishing himself as an essential player for both club and country. In 1999–00 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 Champions League final in 2002.

More a creator than a finisher, Schneider scored a career-best ten league goals in the 2003–04 season, making him the highest-scoring midfielder in that year's competition, alongside SV Werder Bremen's Johan Micoud; Leverkusen finished third and, during the following season, the 31-year old renewed his link for a further four years.^[2]

After two more solid seasons (ten goals and 18 assists in 60 matches), Schneider began suffering consecutive injuries: first the calf,^[3] then the back, being sidelined almost the entire 2008–09 due to the latter.^[4]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. The following month, he announced his retirement after failing to fully recover from the injury.^[5][6]

On 29 May 2009, Schneider's first club Carl Zeiss Jena named him as mentor to club president Peter Schreiber,^[7]and he began to work as scout for Bayer Leverkusen on June, immediately after retiring from play.^[8]

International career

Schneider made his debut for Germany during the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, playing in the 2-0 win against New Zealand and the loss to the United States (same result).

Since then, Schneider has established himself as a vital squad member due to his work rate and versatility. He was ever-present at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where he scored his first goal in their 8-0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia in the group stages, and at the Euro 2004. At the World Cup on home soil, along with Ballack, Torsten Frings and Bastian Schweinsteiger, 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.^[9] 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 squad, due to surgery to fix a slipped disc.^[10] He retired with 81 caps for his country.

International goals

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

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	1 June 2002	Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan	Saudi Arabia	8-0	8-0	FIFA World Cup 2002
2.	16 August 2006	Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany	Sweden	1-0	3-0	Friendly
3.	6 September 2006	Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino	San Marino	13-0	13-0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
4.	12 September 2007	Rhein Energie Stadion, Cologne, Germany	Romania	1-1	3-1	Friendly

Honours

Club

• UEFA Champions League: Runner-up 2001–02
• German League: Runner-up 1999–2000, 2001–02
• German Cup: Runner-up 2001–02, 2008–09

Country

• FIFA Confederations Cup: Third-place 2005
• FIFA World Cup: Runner-up 2002; Third-place 2006

Personal

Schneider and his wife Carina have a 7-year-old daughter, Emely, and a son called Giovanni.^[11]

References

External links

• Leverkusen who's who
• Career statistics at Fussballdaten (German)
• Official website (German)

v • d • e Germany squad – 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Lehmann • 2 Wörns • 3 Heinrich • 4 Linke • 5 Doğan • 6 Maul • 7 Scholl • 8 Wosz • 9 Marschall • 10 Matthäus • 11 Preetz • 12 Enke • 13 Neuville • 14 Baumann • 15 Ballack • 16 Schneider • 17 Gerber • 18 Ricken • 19 Heldt • 20 Rink • Coach: Ribbeck

v • d • e Germany squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Kahn • 2 Linke • 3 Rehmer • 4 Baumann • 5 Ramelow • 6 Ziege • 7 Neuville • 8 Hamann • 9 Jancker • 10 Ricken • 11 Klose • 12 Lehmann • 13 Ballack • 14 Asamoah • 15 Kehl • 16 Jeremies • 17 Bode • 18 Böhme • 19 Schneider • 20 Bierhoff • 21 Metzelder • 22 Frings • 23 Butt • Coach: Völler

v • d • e Germany squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 Kahn • 2 Hinkel • 3 Friedrich • 4 Wörns • 5 Nowotny • 6 Baumann • 7 Schweinsteiger • 8 Hamann • 9 Bobic • 10 Kurányi • 11 Klose • 12 Lehmann • 13 Ballack • 14 Brdarić • 15 Kehl • 16 Jeremies • 17 Ziege • 18 Ernst • 19 Schneider • 20 Podolski • 21 Lahm • 22 Frings • 23 Hildebrand • Coach: Völler

v • d • e Germany squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Third Place 1 Kahn • 2 Hinkel • 3 Friedrich • 4 Huth • 5 Owomoyela • 6 Engelhardt • 7 Schweinsteiger • 8 Frings • 9 Hanke • 10 Deisler • 11 Brdarić • 12 Lehmann • 13 Ballack • 14 Asamoah • 15 Ernst • 16 Hitzlsperger • 17 Mertesacker • 18 Borowski • 19 Schneider • 20 Podolski • 21 Schulz • 22 Kurányi • 23 Hildebrand • Coach: Klinsmann

v • d • e Germany squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Third Place 1 Lehmann • 2 Jansen • 3 Friedrich • 4 Huth • 5 Kehl • 6 Nowotny • 7 Schweinsteiger • 8 Frings • 9 Hanke • 10 Neuville • 11 Klose • 12 Kahn • 13 Ballack • 14 Asamoah • 15 Hitzlsperger • 16 Lahm • 17 Mertesacker • 18 Borowski • 19 Schneider • 20 Podolski • 21 Metzelder • 22 Odonkor • 23 Hildebrand • Coach: Klinsmann