The former goalkeeper who won the championship with Juventus in 2012 passed away after a tragic railway accident. He was 48 years old. The shock of the teams he played for.
The world of football is mourning the passing of Aleksandr Manninger, a former goalkeeper with an important past also in Italy with the shirts of Fiorentina, Bologna, Turin, Brescia, Siena and Juventus. Manninger, who was 48 years old, died in a serious train accident in the early hours of Thursday 16 April 2026 while he was driving his car. According to Austrian media reports, the Volkswagen minivan of the former number one of the Austrian national team was hit by a train at a level crossing without barriers. It happened around 8.20am.
Rescue was immediate, but there was nothing that could be done for Manninger while the train driver and the passengers who were on the cars at the time remained unharmed. An investigation was immediately ordered to shed light on the real dynamics and causes of the accident: “Thanks to the characteristics of the vehicle it is possible to precisely analyze the electronic data and, consequently, the driving behavior of the driver”, said the expert Gerhard Kronreif who works for the Prosecutor’s Office.
Manninger’s career was long and he often intertwined his fortunes with those of Italian football. He landed in Serie A in 2001 and remained there for a long time with Fiorentina, Bologna, Brescia, Siena, Turin and Juventus. In his palmares the championship won with the Vecchia Signora in 2012 under the guidance of Antonio Conte in a team whose starting goalkeeper was Buffon.
“Today is a very sad day. We have lost not only a great athlete, but a man of rare values: humility, dedication and an exceptional sense of professionalism. Alex Manninger will be remembered for the example he set, on and off the pitch. Juventus expresses its deepest condolences for the passing of Alex Manninger and is close to his family in this moment of pain” is the message that the Juventus club published on its social profiles. Condolences were also expressed by the other teams with which the former number one played.
He was done with playing football in June 2017 after a season without appearances at Liverpool. His last appearance with the Austrian national team was in February 2009. In addition to the scudetto with Juventus he also won a Premier League with Arsenal in 1998.
