Munich (AFP)
Veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer revealed that he will decide his future with the German national team after the European Football Cup finals that his country is hosting until July 14, which represents the eighth major participation of the 2014 World Cup champion in his country’s colors.
The 38-year-old said, “I cannot now reveal” whether this was his last participation in German colors, adding, “I will turn my thoughts to it (the issue of retirement) after the tournament.”
Neuer returned to his team, Bayern Munich, in October, after an absence of nearly a year, due to a broken leg, which led to him losing the captaincy of the German national team in favor of Barcelona’s Spanish midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.
Neuer returned to being the No. 1 goalkeeper in the German national team under coach Julian Nagelsmann, despite a series of mistakes at the level of his team and the national team in the period leading up to the hosts’ first match in the European Cup against Scotland (5-1).
The veteran goalkeeper committed mistakes in the two warm-up matches for the continental finals against Ukraine and Greece, and he also committed a fatal mistake with Bayern in their loss to Spanish Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals last month.
While no one can doubt Neuer’s place among Germany’s goalkeeping greats such as Oliver Kahn and Sepp Maier, the mistakes have led to increasing calls for him to be released from the national team, especially with Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen on the bench.
A few days before the opening match against Scotland, an opinion poll conducted by the Bild newspaper, which included 80,000 readers, showed that 72 percent wanted Ter Stegen to be between the three sticks instead of Neuer.
When asked about this survey, Neuer replied, “I did not read anything about the matter,” adding that “the focus for me was on the first match against Scotland and the upcoming matches.”
Neuer was not tested in the big win over Scotland, as the only goal scored by the latter came by mistake from the head of defender Antonio Rudiger.
Neuer ranks sixth on the list of most players with the German national team, with 120 appearances, 30 behind the record holder, Lothar Matthäus.
In contrast to his many titles with Bayern, with whom he won the local league 11 times in a row between 2013 and 2023, the local cup five times, the Champions League, the Club World Cup, and the European Super Cup twice, the 2014 World Cup title in Brazil remains Neuer’s only coronation in the colors of the national team, with whom he also finished third in the tournament. World Cup 2010.
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