Germany: Manuel Neuer, the end of a legend in the Mannschaft goals

At 38, Manuel Neuer decided on Wednesday to stop with the German selection, the end of fifteen years in the Mannschaft jersey for a legend who revolutionized the goalkeeper position in the 2010s.

It was in a video of just under two minutes published on his Instagram account at around 3:00 p.m. that the goalkeeper bowed out with the German selection, putting the end to a story that began fifteen years earlier.

“Dear fans. This day had to come at some point and today, my career with the Nationalmannschaft comes to an end. Anyone who knows me knows that it was not an easy decision to make,” explained Manuel Neuer, wearing a black t-shirt, on a black background and with the German flag.

Under contract with Bayern until June 30, 2025, Manuel Neuer stated in a press release that he wanted to focus on his club, with a final challenge in his sights on May 31, 2025, the Champions League final at the Allianz Arena in Munich, his backyard since the summer of 2011, when he arrived from Schalke 04.

The weeks and months preceding his arrival in Munich had been hectic, with the Südkurve of Munich ultras chanting “Koan Neuer” (“No Neuer” in Bavarian). The Gelsenkirchen native was trained (from 5 to 25 years old) under the blue colors of Schalke 04, then Bayern's main competitor.

But very quickly, Manuel Neuer won everyone over with his spectacular reflex saves, helped by his height (1.93 m) and his wingspan, his speed of intervention against the best attackers in the world and especially his exits far from his penalty area, becoming “Manu the libero” and winning two Champions Leagues (2013, 2020).

“+Manu+ marked the game of goalkeepers like no other in the history of football. Through his saves, his saves, his opening plays and his influence, he was more than a simple support for the selection for almost of a decade and a half”, estimated German coach Julian Nagelsmann.

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer holds up the World Cup trophy on July 13, 2014 in Rio © AFP – Fabrice COFFRINI

– Change of era –

“His cross arm technique only works because he is quick on the guy. You have there the eleventh player of your team who will bring you numerical superiority by being able to manage space”, had underlined, laudatory, the French Fabien Barthez, goalkeeper world champion (1998) and Europe (2000 ), in L'Equipe in November 2020.

If he makes his debut with the selection in June 2009, he becomes No.1 from spring 2010, just a few weeks before the World Cup where Germany reached the semi-finals (defeat against Spain).

Present in the last four of a major tournament four times (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016), he reached his peak in 2014 during the World Cup in Brazil, which he won alongside Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Müller or even Toni Kroos.

– Confidence –

For the Mannschaft, it is a change of times, since Neuer, who succeeded “Schweini” as captain in the fall of 2016, ends his international career in the wake of Kroos, Müller and Ilkay Gündogan (absent in 2014).

His 124th and final match with the Mannschaft took place in Stuttgart on July 5, a quarter-final of Euro-2024 lost after extra time against the Spain, future winner of the competition.

In recent years, the goalkeeper had suffered two serious injuries which kept him away from the pitch for many months.

In April 2017, in the quarter-final second leg of the Champions League, he fractured his left foot and remained more than 12 months without almost playing. At the beginning of December 2022, upon returning from a World Cup in Qatar which ended in the first round, he suffered a fracture of his right leg (the German media mentioned a double open tibia-fibula fracture).

Despite these injuries, the coaches Joachim Löw and Julian Nagelsmann continued to have confidence in him by keeping him No.1, for the 2018 World Cup even though he had a blank season without playing, or for Euro-2024, despite the world-class performances of Marc-André ter Stegen with FC Barcelona.

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