According to Varzesh3, in a memorable match during the 29th week of Bundesliga 2 at the Benteler Arena, Manuel Riemann, Paderborn’s goalkeeper, took matters into his own hands when his team was reduced to 10 men and trailing against Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Although the final result didn’t favor the hosts, fans were thrilled by their goalkeeper’s efforts to compensate for one of Paderborn’s conceded goals.

In the 62nd minute, after Santiago Castaneda was sent off and the hosts were two goals behind, Ilias Ansa managed to pull one back in the dying minutes.

The highlight, however, was Paderborn’s goalkeeper venturing into the opposition half in the final 20 minutes, attempting to offset his team’s numerical disadvantage in midfield.

This 36-year-old goalkeeper completely took charge of his team’s playmaking, even acting as a number 10 at times and appearing as a right winger.

Riemann delivered crosses into the opposition box and even challenged Fortuna Düsseldorf’s goalkeeper Florian Kastenmeier with a dangerous long-range shot from 30 meters, which was brilliantly saved.

The match also set an extraordinary record for Riemann, who covered over 7.8 kilometers in 90 minutes—the most distance ever covered by a goalkeeper in German football, surpassing his previous record of 7.3 kilometers.

After the match, Düsseldorf defender Jamil Siebert said about Riemann: “I’ve never seen anything like it. His shot almost went into our top corner, but we were lucky to eventually win.”

Riemann’s unique character was evident early in his career. In his first professional match for Wacker Burghausen in 2007, he missed a penalty. In 2021, during Bochum’s first season back in the Bundesliga, he missed another penalty against Hoffenheim.

During his remarkable performance on Saturday night, Riemann almost broke his scoring drought and could have even appeared as a playmaker.

Düsseldorf’s André Hoffmann summarized his thoughts on Riemann: “To be honest, it wasn’t a numerical disadvantage. Their goalkeeper replaced the missing midfielder. It was completely bizarre!”

Riemann is also a leader off the pitch, as seen when he gave a lengthy team talk at center pitch after the final whistle. Paderborn forward Sven Michel later revealed what his goalkeeper told the team: “We’re playing great games, we just need to reward ourselves.”

What’s certain is that Riemann is more than just a goalkeeper. He’s a driving force, a character, and sometimes even a winger.