August 21, 2024, 10:18 AM
August 21, 2024, 10:18 AM
He goalkeeper and former captain of the German national team, Manuel Neuer, world champion in 2014, announced this Wednesday the end of his international career, at 38 years old and after 124 games defending the Mannschaft’s goal.
“After long and intense conversations with my family and friends, I have decided to end my career with the Nationalmannschaft. “Everyone who knows me knows that it was not an easy decision to make,” Neuer said in a video on his Instagram account and in a statement.
With Neuer’s international retirement, the German national team turns a page on its most recent past, after in the space of a few weeks other legends of German football such as Toni Kroos, Thomas Müller and Ilkay Gündogan put an end to their time with the national team.
The goalkeeper played his last match for the Mannschaft in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, In Stuttgart, a defeat against eventual champions Spain (2-1 after extra time).
New He is still under contract with Bayern Munich, until the end of the 2024/25 season, with the aim of reaching the Champions League final one last time at the Allianz Arena in the Bavarian capital.
Trained at Schalke 04 Manuel Neuer earned his first call-up to the German national team on 2 June 2009 in Dubai, in a 7-2 friendly win over the United Arab Emirates.
In 2010, just a few weeks before the World Cup in South Africa, he became a starter between the sticks.
After the time of Oliver Kahn (from 1998 to 2005), and Jens Lehmann (2005-2008), Neuer took over the baton becoming a world reference in the last 15 years.