How do you know there’s something special about a footballer? Whenever he’s not on the pitch, his absence can be felt. That’s why it’s always sad to see such a player faced with an extended period on the sidelines that not only regresses his career but also endangers it. That’s what happened when Manuel Neuer suffered an injury to his foot at the beginning of the 2017/18 season that has taken months to heal (albeit not fully). Manuel Neuer’s start during a June 2 friendly against Austria was his first appearance in nine months. Germany lost that game, but won off the pitch, because it got its captain back.
Winning back-to-back World Cups is no simple task. Only two teams have done it before: Italy in 1934 and 1938 and Brazil in 1958 and 1962. This summer, Germany will attempt to become the third nation to achieve the feat. If the qualifiers were any indicator, then Joachim Low’s men can do it. They became only the second European team to win all 10 of its group fixtures, joining the Spanish team that went on to win the 2010 World Cup. This German squad is a bit different than the one that lifted the 2014 trophy. It has the same core, but it’s younger and less experienced. Players like Timo Werner, Julian Brandt and Leon Goretzka are tremendously talented, yet don’t have the competitive matches at the international level necessary to a team when it reaches the later stages of a tournament such as this one.
As the stakes get bigger, the matches tend to become cagier. Teams are afraid of the prospect of losing what they’ve worked so diligently to accomplish. That’s why we see so many games decided in extra time or penalty shootouts. This is where teams live and die by their defence, and very often the goalkeeper is the difference. Germany is fortunate to have arguably the best one of the decade. As long as Neuer is healthy and his injury doesn’t resurface, his teammates can be calm knowing that when push comes to shove, their goalkeeper has the leadership skills to bail them out. That is something of an invaluable importance for a World Cup and why Germany is one of the main favourites once again.
