Continental Partner Timo Hildebrand
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Timo Hildebrand has been known as a top class goalkeeper ever since he played his first Bundesliga match for VfB Stuttgart on 26 November 1999. He was 20-years-young when he made his debut for the Swabians – the locals from the region in south-west Germany – , who beat SC Freiburg 2-0. |
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“I’ve been VfB’s regular goalkeeper ever since,” said Timo. Born in Worms and raised in Hofheim, Hildebrand stepped into the limelight in the 2003/2004 Budesliga season. Stuttgart’s return to Germany’s illustrious circle of top class clubs was in no small way due to the number one. |
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The goalkeeper only conceded 24 goals in 34 matches, the fewest in the league by a long way. Even more remarkable however was the Budesliga record Timo set. He went 885 minutes, almost ten games, without once having to pick the ball out of his net. |
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Oliver Kahn had thus lost his old record (802 minutes). Other world class German keepers such as Sepp Maier, Harald Schumacher and Bodo Illgner were never able to put together such a great series of performances as Hildebrand. The season’s most improved player was respectfully nicknamed “Timonator” by some parts of the media. |
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In 2004 and before the European Championship in Portugal, Hildebrand was rewarded for his greatly improved goal-keeping performances. He made his debut for the German national team on 28 April. The 5-1 defeat inflicted by Romaniawas a debacle for the 2002 World Cup runners-up, but Hildebrand was nevertheless able to view the experience as being a successful one for him personally. |
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He was called up at short notice and then had to fly to Romania to replace Jens Lehmann, as an injury forced the Arsenal goalkeeper to return to London from Bucharest. 4-0 behind at half-time, Timo took over in goal for the first time in the German A-team. With the Stuttgart keeper now between the posts, the second half finally ended in a 1-1 draw. |
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Hildebrand was naturally anything but happy with the result but he was nevertheless pleased with his first appearance in the German team. At the EURO 2004, he was a member of the “Deutschen Fußball-Bundes’ (German Football Association - DFB) 23 man squad. He then played his second international during the Asia tour at the end of the year. The 5-1 win against Thailand in Bangkok saw Timo on the pitch for the whole 90 minutes. |
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In February 2005, Hildebrand extended his contract with VfB Stuttgart until 30 June 2007, a process that was the focus of much public attention. For the goalkeeper, a partner of Continental AG, is one of the Bundesliga’s most popular players. Hildebrand was presented with a “Bambi” – Germany’s most important media prize – at the award ceremony in autumn 2003. The general public had voted him Germany’s best young player. The then 24-year-old won with over 23 per cent of the votes ahead of Kevin Kuranyi (Stuttgart) and Christoph Metzelder (Dortmund). |
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Other Bambi winners that year included boxing legend Muhammad Ali, actor Klaus Maria Brandauer, top model Heidi Klum, cyclist Jan Ullrich and singer Dido. A survey was also proof of Hildebrand’s big popularity: the majority of Germans feel Timo Hildebrand should play in goal for Germany at the FIFA WM 2006™. |
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There’s another reason why Hildebrand is considered to be an exceptional keeper. The goalie is considered as being totally “normal” which is a rather unusual description, especially for goalkeepers. Airs and graces are foreign to Hildebrand and the fans love him for it. “I don’t take headlines calling me Timonator too seriously. I simply try to stay normal,” he said. He is aware that his superb performances have enabled him to make a dream come true: “I just want to be a goalkeeper,” he explained to the German weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”. |
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Timo began playing football aged six at his local club FV 1911 Hofheim/Ried near Worms, but he didn’t start as a goalkeeper. His first coach in the under 8 team was his godfather. He did though become a goalie in his first season. At the age of 16 he moved to VfB Stuttgart and lived in the club’s youth team accommodation. Hildebrand played so well in VfB’s youth teams that he was also selected for the equivalent German teams. In 1998, he was a member of the DFB’s U 18 team that were European Championship runners-up. From 1999 to 2001, he was the U 21 team's goalkeeper. |
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After the experienced VfB goalie Franz Wohlfahrt returned to his home country, Austria, in summer 2000, Timo Hildebrand was then promoted to the No 1 spot in Stuttgart. He gained a lot of recognition and not only because of his performances between the posts. His excellent skills on the ball, in particular, were praised by everybody. |
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Experts that have closely followed Hildebrand’s progress feel that if the Stuttgart No 1 were to play in another position then he would definitely have the ability to play in the German Regionalliga, which roughly corresponds to the third division. His aim to win a regular place in the national team is seen by many pundits to be in no way unrealistic. His time might come after the FIFA World Cup M 2006™. “I wouldn’t be a good goalkeeper if I was already satisfied with things as they are. I’m ambitious enough to be the national team’s No 1,” said Timo Hildebrand. The Homepage from Timo Hildebrand... |