Football Player's Biography 7: Michael Rensing

Full name	Michael Rensing
Date of birth	14 May 1984 (1984-05-14) (age 26)
Place of birth	Lingen, West Germany
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper

Michael Rensing (born 14 May 1984 in Lingen, Lower Saxony) is a German footballer who currently plays for 1. FC Köln.

Club career

Early career

Born of a German father and a Serbian mother,^[1] Rensing joined Bayern in 2000 from TuS Lingen, and went on to develop his talent in the club's youth sides.
He spent the 2002–03 season in the German Regionalliga with Bayern's reserve side, and won a place in the UEFA Champions League squad at the start of the following campaign as he moved up the Bayern pecking order to become Oliver Kahn's deputy.

Bayern Munich

Rensing made his Bundesliga debut on 21 February 2004, playing the entire 90 minutes of the 1–0 home win against Hamburg. He also kept a clean sheet in his second match against Schalke 04.
Rensing saw action in six Bundesliga games in the 2005–06 season, and saw his first Champions League nod for an injured Oliver Kahn against Milan on 21 February 2006 (Milan keeper Dida was injured during the match, so both sides finished with reserve goalkeepers in goal), which ended in a 1–1 draw. As Kahn moved towards the end of his career, Rensing gradually received more playing time, covering for Kahn in his final 2007–08 season on 17 occasions.
Following Kahn's retirement in 2008, Rensing was given a chance as Bayern's first-choice goalkeeper, but was unable to cement his spot. Following a poor start to the 2009-10 season, his experienced teammate Hans-Jörg Butt replaced him as the Bavarian club's first-choice goalkeeper. Although Rensing made a half-time substitute appearance for the unwell Butt in a 3–2 win at Werder Bremen on 23 January 2010 and made three appearances in the DFB-Pokal, Bayern opted to terminate his contract at the end of the season.
In November 2010 Rensing joined Leicester City on trial^[2] but rejected the subsequent contract offer.^[3]

FC Köln

On 21 December 2010 Rensing moved with immediate effect to 1. FC Köln.^[4]

International career

Having been Germany's number one goalkeeper at the U-19 level, Rensing joined the hosts' squad at the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals, although he did not get off the bench. However, he had since become the first choice at U-21, helping his team qualify for the 2006 Euro Under-21 Championship.