Nadine Angerer decided that her future would be in coaching long before she announced her retirement from professional soccer in May 2015.

During a storied 20-year playing career, Angerer won two World Cups and five UEFA Women's Championships and became the first goalkeeper to ever claim the FIFA Ballon d'Or. The former German captain is still considered one of the best women's goalkeepers of all-time.

But while she was making a name for herself on the field, Angerer was also preparing for her second career as a goalkeeper coach. Under the tutelage of former Germany goalkeeper coach Michael Fuchs, Angerer spent the final decade of her career cultivating her own style and philosophy around goalkeeping.

She is now passing along that knowledge to the next generation as the goalkeeper coach for the Portland Thorns.

"I always had the passion to become a goalkeeper coach," said Angerer, 39. "Even when I was a more experienced goalkeeper and a younger goalkeeper came in, I always had this feeling that I needed to do whatever I could to help them."

Angerer considered moving into a role with the German Federation following her retirement in 2015, but decided that she wanted to stay in Portland after spending the final two seasons of her club career competing for the Thorns.

Ahead of the 2016 season, Mark Parsons, who was entering his first year as Thorns coach, had an hour-long conversation with Angerer. Her professionalism and readiness to move into a coaching role impressed him. He knew he needed her on his staff.

"She already had her own philosophy on coaching, which for any field coach or goalie coach sometimes can take years," Parsons said. "It was clear that she had been preparing for this for a while, studying and really getting to know the staff that worked with her, learning why they did this and that and developing her own philosophy."

In this June 18, 2014, Germany's goalkeeper Nadine Angerer calls out instructions to her teammates during the first half of an international friendly soccer game against Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The German Women's National Team did not have its own dedicated goalkeeper coach when Angerer earned her first cap in 1996. Instead, she was forced to develop her own style early in her career.

But when Fuchs joined the staff in 2007, Angerer realized just how influential a goalkeeper coach could be. Under Fuchs, she modified her technique to become even quicker and more explosive in the net -- elements that have become staples of her goalkeeping philosophy.

"I was always open to different styles, but, for me, this is the style that I think you need the most in the game," Angerer said. "When there's a shot in the 18-yard box, you have no time. You have to have the right technique and be fast and explosive to save the ball."

Angerer tried to impress those ideals on the Thorns goalkeepers at a recent training session as she had the keepers take turns jumping over hurdles before throwing themselves in the air to make diving saves.

After each dive, Angerer shouted words of encouragement or paused to give corrections when she noticed even the smallest mistake in technique.

"Any time you have a coach with that much experience, you want to be a sponge and just take as much in as you possibly can," Thorns goalkeeper Adrianna Franch said. "Whatever I already had in my locker, there's always room for more. I just want to continue to grow."

Angerer has played an especially key role in Franch's development over the last two years.

Franch joined the Thorns as a backup in 2016 before earning the starting spot last season. While she showed promise early in 2017, Franch made massive strides during the year and began to earn recognition for her incredible shot stopping ability late in the season. She went on to win the 2017 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year award and help lead the Thorns to the 2017 NWSL Championship title.

But while Franch remains Portland's clear starter, Angerer is just as focused on helping to develop the club's backup keepers -- Britt Eckerstrom and Bella Geist -- as she is in teaching Franch. She will often design training sessions with one of her keepers in mind to play to their strengths or give them a chance to work on a specific weakness.

"She has high expectations and that's what you want out of a coach," Franch said. "You want somebody that's going to demand the best out of you and when it's not there, she'll let you know. But she also tells you when you do something good and when she's proud of you. She creates an environment where we're competing every single day, but we still get to love what we do."

Nadine Angerer (center) poses with Adrianna Franch (right) and Britt Eckerstrom following the Thorns' victory in the 2017 NWSL Championship Game.

Former Thorns midfielder Amandine Henry had played against Angerer before arriving in Portland in 2016 and had always thought of the German goalkeeper as one of the most intimidating players on the field.

But within the Thorns organization, Angerer is known as both one of the most competitive members of the staff and, at the same time, one of the funniest.

Last season, Angerer would pump the team up before games by comparing them to a different animal each week during the pregame huddle. One week, she mistakenly referred to them as "ice bears," instead of polar bears, and the name stuck. The group continued to refer to themselves as the ice bears throughout the season and an ice bear flag even appeared in the stands during playoffs.

"She's competitive, but she's also one of the goofiest people I've ever met," Eckerstrom said. "For a serious position that has a lot of pressure and is super demanding, she brings so much fun and joy to it every single day."

With her extensive experience, Angerer is often asked whether she would be interested in one day moving on to a job as a head coach. So far, the answer has always been no.

She is most in her element around her goalkeepers.

"I love soccer, but my passion is to work with goalkeepers," Angerer said. "I love my goalkeepers with all my heart."

Nadine Angerer has a pretty interesting drill for the Thorns goalkeepers last week #BAONPDX #NWSL pic.twitter.com/JNxhQCAjuC — Jamie Goldberg (@Jamiebgoldberg) March 7, 2018

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg