‘Mr Safe Hands’ Neuer still beloved at Schalke

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany: The pitheads around Gelsenkirchen bear testimony to the heavy industry linking the region to local Bundesliga club Schalke 04, nicknamed ‘The Miners’, where Manuel Neuer started his impressive career.

The west German city’s famous son was voted the world’s best goalkeeper for four years running from 2013-16 and was Germany’s “Mr Safe Hands” at the 2014 World Cup with a string of superb performances. As a result, Neuer finished third in the voting for the 2014 Ballon d’Or behind superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the title. Sidelined by a foot fracture since September, Neuer is set to play his first full match in Saturday’s friendly international against Austria in Klagenfurt. Germany fans hope their goalkeeper and captain will prove he is ready to face Mexico in Moscow on June 17 in their first World Cup match — none more so than one of his first coaches at Schalke.

“He didn’t become a world-class goalkeeper for nothing. I hope he comes back better than ever,” Norbert Elgert, 61, told AFP at Schalke’s youth academy. Neuer was born in Gelsenkirchen in March 1986. He still has strong ties to the city having opened the youth club ‘MANUS’ in 2014 for disadvantaged children, which is supported by the Manuel Neuer Kids Foundation.