Veteran goalkeeper Manuel Riemann goes on walkabout with Paderborn!
Down to ten men and chasing a deficit against Fortuna Düsseldorf on Matchday 29, goalkeeper Manuel Riemann took matters into his own hands as he sought to rescue the situation for promotion-chasers Paderborn.
It was a record-breaking afternoon for Riemann too, who covered 7.8 kilometres over the course of the match: the furthest he has ever run in a Bundesliga or Bundesliga 2 match since such data first started being recorded! He smashed his previous record of 7.3 kilometres, which came on Matchday 25 of the 2023/24 Bundesliga season in a 2-1 win for Bochum over Freiburg.
"I've never seen anything like that before," said a stunned Fortuna defender Jamil Siebert after the game, which his team won 2-1. "It would have been typical if his shot went into the top corner today, but fortunately we managed to win the game," the Düsseldorf player added. Indeed, Fortuna shot-stopper Kastenmeier just about managed to punch his counterpart's shot away.
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Riemann's unique personality was evident even earlier in his career. In his second-division debut for Burghausen in 2007, he missed a penalty. And in 2021, in Bochum's first Bundesliga season after promotion, he also missed a penalty against Hoffenheim.
During Saturday's memorable performance, the Mühldorf native nearly broke his goalscoring duck, and could have even ended up as an assist provider. Fortuna's André Hoffmann summed things up when saying, "If we're honest, it wasn't a numerical disadvantage – the opposing goalkeeper replaced the missing outfield player. It was completely bizarre!"
Riemann is also a leader off the pitch, as was proved when he delivered a long team-talk in the centre circle after the final whistle. Paderborn forward Sven Michel later revealed what his goalkeeper said to the team: "'We're playing great games, we just have to reward ourselves,'" the team's No.11 explained.
What is certainly clear is that Riemann is more than just a goalkeeper – he's a driving force, a character, and - even occasionally - a winger!
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