Handball! Neuer blows whistle on wax double
Madame Tussauds' hottest new effigy was unveiled to the public in Berlin on Tuesday, costing a euro for each of the 150,000 hairs on keeper Manuel Neuer's head. Pity about the handball goal frame though…
"That looks dangerous," the 28-year-old national goalie said as he confronted the steely gaze of his Doppelgänger at a preview Monday, before adding, "That's a hundred percent Manuel Neuer!"
Clearly impressed by the likeness of the 1.93 metre wax figure, he took the space-saving switch of smaller handball for soccer goalposts in his stride: "Also a good sport. My dad used to play handball."
Commissioned last August, 20 experts at the London-based waxwork museum took four months to complete the €200,000 likeness.
Three sculptors flew in to measure up the Germany and Bayern FC goalie and take more than 150 photos of his head and body from all angles. Neuer was also encouraged to just be himself during the sitting, since the effigies are also supposed to capture personality and character traits.
The Bavarian swept to international stardom with Germany's World Cup victory in Brazil last summer, also being nominated as the tournament's best keeper.
Neuer is in good company in the Berlin branch of the wax museum, which also exhibits figures of fellow international stars past and present, including former Germany goalie Oliver Kahn, captain Jürgen Klinsmann, and midfielder Mesut Özil.
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"That looks dangerous," the 28-year-old national goalie said as he confronted the steely gaze of his Doppelgänger at a preview Monday, before adding, "That's a hundred percent Manuel Neuer!"
Clearly impressed by the likeness of the 1.93 metre wax figure, he took the space-saving switch of smaller handball for soccer goalposts in his stride: "Also a good sport. My dad used to play handball."
Commissioned last August, 20 experts at the London-based waxwork museum took four months to complete the €200,000 likeness.
Three sculptors flew in to measure up the Germany and Bayern FC goalie and take more than 150 photos of his head and body from all angles. Neuer was also encouraged to just be himself during the sitting, since the effigies are also supposed to capture personality and character traits.
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