Boredom – or just unbelievable coolness? “Schnickser” Manuel Neuer has inspired his fellow players with his casual dribbling against Belarus and amazed the bosses. One year after the World Cup disaster he is again the undisputed number one.
After his show interlude of Borissow, Manuel Neuer also belongs to the stage in Mainz. Self-confident, casual and cool – this captain is also the substitute national coach Marcus Sorg in the European Championship qualifier against outsiders Estonia on Tuesday (20.45 / Liveticker / Highlights on DAZN) can not pass. “As far as the stability of our young team is concerned, Manu is an important factor, which is why he will certainly play,” said Sorg – one year after the World Cup disaster, the Munich player is once again the undisputed number one on the way to the European Championship 2020.
The trips out of the goal reminded many observers of the “Libero” Manuel Neuer of the 2014 World Cup. His dribbling on the outline at the 2-0 on Saturday in Belarus even replaced in the locker room the change debate about Leroy Sane as the first topic. “The other players in the booth told me that the tabloid is already headlining that I’m replacing ‘Robbery’. We have to ask my coach at Bayern what he intends to do with me,” said the national goalkeeper in a good mood.
The recently retired Munich-based attacking stars Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben could hardly have solved the problem better than Neuer, who hurried out of his penalty area in Borissow in the 32nd minute and danced out the opposing striker Yuri Kovalev twice at the goal line.
DFB director Oliver Bierhoff found a daredevil trickery at the stand of only 1:0: “I thought: Probably he had had a bit of boredom. That was pretty brave at the score.” For Neuer the action was necessary. “I didn’t want to dribble, but I didn’t have a direct play,” he said, “so I reraised. The second time there was still nobody there, it just happened, it was nothing planned.”
The fans, including the Belarusian fans, reacted with applause as did their colleagues. “He could also play with us on the Six or a little further ahead, as creatively as he was knitting around back there,” said Joshua Kimmich: “You can see that he has self-confidence and the desire to play. It’s very good for us as a team.”
So good that Neuer can be sure of his position again. Nobody is currently talking about challenger Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who many experts would have liked to see in the German goal during the 2018 World Cup. FC Barcelona’s goalkeeper was to be given practical play in this international match week, but is missing injured – and Neuer is showing his trump card, as he did in the cup final when he prevented Leipzig’s lead with a brilliant parade. The 33-year-old reacted similarly strongly on Saturday with a header from Nikita Naumow (30th).
“As a sportsman, I always want to be on the pitch, of course,” the 87-time national player made it clear that he wouldn’t be willing to give up his DFB team appearances. Therefore, he also renounced a planned break, as he had already been out long enough because of a calf injury at FC Bayern in his opinion.
The fact that Neuer would also have become a good field player is not a new insight anyway. “I’ve learned a lot from my fellow players in the past, you can learn from that,” he said.
Neuer, stressed Bierhoff, could “assess situations like Saturday well – and of course it was a great action for him”. Bierhoff’s conclusion: “One has seen: He’s ready.”
