2024-08-23 03:28:08
In 2009, Manuel Neuer played his first international match, the same year the goalkeeper fell in love with Kathrin Gilch. The footballer and the hairdresser were a couple for five years.
“Today marks the end of my career with the German national football team,” Manuel Neuer announced on Instagram on Wednesday afternoon. With these words, the 38-year-old announced his retirement from the DFB team.
Manuel Neuer played his first international match in June 2009. In the same year, the footballer fell in love with Kathrin Gilch. It is said that sparks flew between the then 23-year-old and the hairdresser, who was four years older than him, on a flight to Mykonos.
She was not seen in public until a year later. In the summer of 2010, Kathrin Gilch supported her boyfriend at the football World Cup in South Africa. There, the hairdresser appeared in full Germany outfit, complete with scarf and jacket.
His girlfriend was often seen in the stands at his games. Sometimes with Sarah Brandner, Bastian Schweinsteiger’s girlfriend at the time, and sometimes with Silvia Michel, Mario Gomez’s childhood sweetheart.
Manuel Neuer and Kathrin Gilch appeared as a couple at the Oktoberfest. In 2011, they took part in the official Wiesn visit of the FC Bayern Munich players in the Käfer tent. He was wearing a white shirt and leather trousers, she was wearing a red and white dirndl with a green bow.
This was followed by appearances at the Audi Generation Awards in Munich and at the Ballon d’Or in Zurich. In 2014, Kathrin Gilch was seen at Manuel Neuer’s side for the last time. Ten years ago, she supported the footballer at the World Cup in Brazil. Germany became world champions. The high point of his career.
Just a few months after the victory against Argentina, the end of the relationship between Manuel Neuer and Kathrin Gilch became known – after five years of being together. “Manuel and Kathrin separated a few weeks ago,” his manager confirmed to the “Bild” newspaper at the time. He did not give any reasons for the separation. “Everything else is a matter of privacy for both of them and will not be commented on.”
In the same year, Manuel Neuer fell in love with Nina Weiss. The two met at Madame Taussauds in Berlin. She worked there as a working student. They became a couple and married three years later. His ex-girlfriend found out about the wedding from the press. “I had no idea that Manuel was getting married,” said Kathrin Gilch in an interview with “Bunte” in 2017.
At the same time, she stressed: “Don’t worry. It doesn’t hurt me anymore.” She had no contact with her ex at that point. She didn’t say a bad word about Manuel Neuer. Quite the opposite. “Manuel was the man of my life back then,” she said in 2017. She herself fell in love again after splitting up with Manuel Neuer.
In 2015, she met Moritz Wappner. “He is my great love, he is down-to-earth, appreciates values and makes me laugh,” she enthused in an interview with “Gala” in 2017. They got married a year and a half later. “I am overjoyed to have such a great man by my side,” she told “Bunte” in 2019. She also built up her hairdressing salon in Munich with him. He is said to have supported her a lot in designing the shop.