Tim Wiese

Tim Wiese (born December 17, 1981) is a Germany goalkeeper playing for Bundesliga (football) side, Werder Bremen. He joined them in 2005 from 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

Career

He started his playing career at Bayer 04 Leverkusen's youth system before moving to SC Fortuna Köln, where he made his first-team debut in the German third division in 2000. He moved to Bundesliga side Kaiserslautern in the winter break of the 2001-02 season and initially played for their reserve squad in the third division and served as backup for Georg Koch and Roman Weidenfeller in the first team. Following Weidenfeller's transfer to Borussia Dortmund, he fought with Koch for the place of the first goalkeeper and made his Bundesliga debut at the beginning of the 2002-03 season, being replaced by Koch after conceding four goals in two matches. After the winter break, however, he managed to secure himself the position of the first-choice goalkeeper and established himself as one of the most talented new keepers in the Bundesliga. He was considered first-choice throughout the 2003-04 season, despite being sent off during the 2nd match of the season (the only red card he has received during his league career). He remained the first goalkeeper for Kaiserslautern until late November 2004, when he lost his place to veteran Thomas Ernst.

Wiese moved to Bremen in 2005 and was favoured to replace the aging Andreas Reinke, but tore his cruciate ligaments twice and missed the entire first part of the season. In a twist of fate, due to a bad injury to Reinke in away match at VfB Stuttgart in February 2006, Wiese made his Bundesliga debut for Werder Bremen and remained their first goalkeeper for the rest of the 2005-06 season.

However, Wiese (who is often compared to German superstar Oliver Kahn for his emotional outbursts) had a shaky start, his low point was a stunning gaffe against Juventus in the 2nd round of the UEFA Champions League on 7 March 2006. With only 2 minutes of the game left to play, and Werder Bremen on course to reach the quarter finals, he made a routine catch but then somehow let go of the ball as he rolled on the ground, allowing Emerson Ferreira da Rosa to score and Juventus to progress. However, he has stabilized since then, and was vital for Bremen's late surge that moved them past rivals Hamburger SV to claim 2nd place during the 2005-06 Bundesliga campaign. Despite this resurgence, he has still struggled to shake off the shackles of his humiliation against Juventus, his most high profile contribution to world football.

In the 2006-07 season, he eventually established himself as the first goalkeeper at Werder Bremen and only missed three Bundesliga matches throughout the season.