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He joined Bayer 04 in 1980 and also played for Germany at youth level. In 1982 he played in the final of the U16 European Championships where Germany lost 1-0 against Italy. He made a total of 25 youth international appearances and was a very big talent. The hard working and technically skilled midfielder signed his first professional contract at Bayer 04 in 1983 but mainly played for the Werkself reserve team. In the Rückrunde of the 1983/84 season he made his Bundesliga debut on matchday 23 coming on at Westfalenstadion in Dortmund on 83 minutes.
Manni played seven games in Germany's top flight and once in the DFB Pokal for the Werkself but was never in the starting line-up. In the summer he moved to Union Solingen in Bundesliga two where he made seven appearances before ending his career at the age of 22 due to a serious knee injury. He did play at amateur level for SSB 09 Bergisch Gladbach and Borussia Freialdenhoven. During this phase he started his second career, training youth teams at TuS Höhenhaus and Bergisch Gladbach and he successfully completed a football coach course at the German Sports University in Cologne in 1990.
After two brief periods as coach of the men's teams at SSG 09 Bergisch Gladbach (1990-1992) and Düren 99 (1993-1995) he moved on to the youth teams.
Today he works in our scouting section focusing on top talents.
Dear Manni, Happy 60th birthday! I wish you above all health and all the best. Have a good one.

Thomas Hörster was born in Essen on 27 November 1956. As a child, he took part in high diving and judo, but was also passionate about football. After starting out at Blau-Weiß Holsterhausen-Essen, he moved on to ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen. As a U19 player, he trained with the senior side for the first time. And at just under 18 years of age, Thommy – as he is known – made his debut in Bundesliga 2. Over two-and-a-half seasons, he made 71 appearances for Schwarz-Weiß Essen.
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Bernd Dreher was born in Leverkusen on 2 November 1966 and he began playing football at SV Schlebusch at the age of five. At the age of nine, he joined the youth academy at Bayer 04. There, the goalkeeper progressed through all the youth teams and, with the U19s in 1985, he reached the final of the German Championship, that Bayer 04 lost 4-2 to Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Robson Ponte was born on 6 November 1976 in São Paulo. He began his football career in Brazil with CA Juventus. He then played for América FC and Guarani FC. In 1999, he joined Bayer 04. Robson initially played for the Werkself until 2001. He then moved to VfL Wolfsburg on a two-year loan. There, he continued to develop and gained valuable experience in the Bundesliga. In 2003, he returned to Leverkusen, where he particularly showcased his dribbling skills and his ability in attacking midfield. In total, he made 79 appearances for Bayer 04 and scored six goals.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of November. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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On Sunday, 4 November 1951, the first league derby between Bayer 04 and FC Köln took place. The FC Köln stadium in Müngersdorf was absolutely bursting at the seams for this clash. A veritable invasion of Bayer 04 fans from Leverkusen set off for Cologne by tram and bus. From midday onwards, in addition to the scheduled services, six extra tram services ran at the standard fare from Leverkusen Town Hall to the stadium in Cologne. At the same time, buses operated by Grein ran regularly from Wiesdorf market square to Cologne. In the end, over 5,000 Bayer 04 fans waved their black and red flags in the stands at the FC Köln stadium and got behind their team for ninety minutes.
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