Club Career
Born in Locarno, Switzerland to a German father with Belgian roots from Aachen and an Italian mother from the Calabria region, Neuville started his professional career with Servette FC. In only his second season in the top division, he scored a career-best 16 goals as the club won the national championship after a nine-year wait.
In 1996–97, Neuville played in Spain with CD Tenerife, where he was part of a well-balanced offensive line that also featured Juanele (eight goals), Meho Kodro (six), Antonio Pinilla (seven) and Aurelio Vidmar (one), scoring five goals in 1,885 minutes as the Canary Islands side easily retained its La Liga status, and also playing a relatively important part in the club's UEFA Cup semifinal run. Subsequently, he moved to Germany and signed for F.C. Hansa Rostock, netting eight goals in only 17 contests in his first season in the Bundesliga as the side from the former East Germany finished sixth.
Neuville signed for Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the 1999 summer, quickly becoming an essential offensive figure for his new club. He scored 28 goals combined from 2000–02 (including a hat-trick against Hamburger SV on 24 November 2001), while also adding five in 15 UEFA Champions League appearances in 2001–02, as Bayer finished second to Real Madrid (he scored one apiece in both legs of the semifinal clash against Manchester United); the club also finished second in the league during this timeframe.
Aged 31, Neuville joined Borussia Mönchengladbach for 2004–05, on a free transfer. On 17 October 2004, he scored an infamous goal with his hand against 1. FC Kaiserslautern in a 2–0 home win, which was widely reviled and landed him a two-match ban. He netted 22 goals in his first two seasons combined, but appeared scarcely as the Foals dropped down a level in 2007, mainly due to injury.
Neuville returned to form in 2007–08, scoring 15 goals to help Borussia return to the top flight the immediate campaign after, the competition's sixth-best. He made his last Bundesliga appearance on the final matchday of the 2009–10 season, against former team Bayer Leverkusen.
It was planned that Neuville would start to work as a youth coach for Borussia Mönchengladbach. Instead, he decided to play one more year and signed for Arminia Bielefeld in the 2. Bundesliga. However, after only a couple of months, he left by mutual consent, retiring at the age of 37.
Read more about this topic: Oliver Neuville
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