• DE DE DE de
  • EN EN EN en
uhlsquad – The official uhlsport blog
  • home
  • uhlsquad
  • uhleague
  • TecCube
  • Your Choice
    • HYPERACT
    • PERSONALISATION
  • Shop
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

Oliver Baumann – Perfectionist Spoilsport

You are here: Home1 / Oliver Baumann – Perfectionist Spoilsport2 / uhlsquad3 / Oliver Baumann – Perfectionist Spoilsport

Oliver Baumann

Perfectionist Spoilsport

He’s been known as “the stable one” and “the quiet giant” – Oliver Baumann is no loudmouth, not the kind of player whose game is all fireworks, as he says himself: “I think that with me you know what you’re getting and what I’m capable of.”

TSG Hoffenheim knew this when they brought him to the Kraichgau region for the 2014/2015 season. Just two years later, Oli led his team to the Europa League as the Bundesliga keeper who stopped the most shots, and the following season all the way to the Champions League, his greatest success to date.

At that time, trainer Julian Nagelsmann believed that Oli ought to be considered for the national team on account of the consistently high level he was playing at while making hardly any errors. This was primarily a result of the innovative methods used by Oli to keep improving: “I can find fresh motivation every day because I’m always striving for perfection.”

Young Hero

At just 10 years of age he moved to SC Freiburg, passed through all the youth teams at the club and was moulded by the football academy. Oli wore the national colours for the first time in the U18 team and won the German A youth title in 2006/2007 with SC Freiburg’s A juniors. The following season he was the German Cup hero, stopping the decisive penalty against Borussia Dortmund in the final. This was Oli’s second victory as a youth player. He only missed out on the double when southern champions Freiburg were stopped by Dortmund in the semi-final of the German Championship.

A year in the regional league with the second team brought him up to senior level, and he had his début in the Bundesliga at the age of 19 on the last day of the 2009/2010 season. He established himself as the starting keeper, played in the U21 European Championship, and qualified for the Europa League when SC Freiburg were promoted, making his Europa League début in 2013/2014. This time was also formative “because I knew that, in Freiburg in particular, the team’s success depended very much on the keeper’s performance.”

Unloved Misfit?

Oli’s positional play is especially noteworthy because he is able to anticipate and defuse situations before they become dangerous. He’s a strong footballer who is hard to beat on the line, and he gives his defence the support and security that it needs.

He sees goalkeeping as a curious sport. The keeper is a misfit with different training routines from the main group, who “tries to prevent the very thing that people come to the stadium for: goals. So you’re always the spoilsport.” But a lot of the time it’s only the opponents who see him like this, as his own fans are pleased to have him on their side.

He was the people’s favourite at SC Freiburg, and at Hoffenheim he commands great respect as a leading player. Because Oli, who also gets involved with social projects, consistently performs at a high level and prefers to be a good keeper than a big talker.

Oli’s Profile More Stories
  • Newsletter

    Subscribe to uhlsport goalkeeper.

  • Read the privacy policy
Follow us icon Instagram icon Facebook icon Twitter icon Youtube
Goalkeepers only icon Instagram icon Facebook
  • uhlsport Website
  • Imprint
  • Privacy policy
© uhlsport GmbH




Radar Control Player's Choice - Radar Control uhlsquad - Women's World Cup 2019 Women’s World Cup 2019 – The female uhlsquad
Scroll to top

We use cookies to personalize content, provide social media features and analyze our traffic. We also share information about the use of our website with our social media, advertising and analytics partners in accordance with our privacy policy. These cookies are only set with your consent.

MoreAccept allSettings

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, you cannot refuse them without impacting how our site functions. You can block or delete them by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visist to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Datenschutzerklärung
save settingsAccept allDecline and hide notification