Neuer: "I want to follow in Schweinsteiger's footsteps"

After the emotional farewell to Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 2-0 victory over Finland, the national team now begins its qualifying campaign for the World Cup in Russia against Norway on Sunday (20:45 CEST). Head coach Joachim Löw has named Manuel Neuer the new captain. In his first press conference as the official leader of Die Mannschaft, Neuer speaks about his new responsibilities. And team coordinator Oliver Bierhoff discusses the outlook for the side. DFB.de was in attendance.

MANUEL NEUER ON…

… HIS NEW LEADERSHIP ROLE: We have a very good team council and I already had an important role in the team and in the council. I don’t think that being captain will lead to any big changes for me. After all, I’ve already stood in for Bastian Schweinsteiger a few times. I’m very proud to now be captain of the national team. Lahm and Schweinsteiger have done a lot of good work, and I just hope that I can grow into the role and follow in their footsteps.

… HIS ROLE FOR NEW PLAYERS: We’ve successfully introduced lots of young players to the national team over the last few years. I will try to make sure they are integrated into the group and feel at home. That’s always worked well up to now, which you can see in the performances of the young players. I try to pass on our values to them, as professional players have to be role models for children and young people. You have to behave responsibly both on and off the pitch as well.

… THE OPPONENTS FROM NORWAY: Obviously it won’t be easy, as we haven’t played against Norway in the last few years and therefore don’t know the team quite as well. But we’ll make sure we’re prepared. The Norwegian players are all well disciplined, very athletic and fit. We’re really motivated and want to win all four of the games we have until December.

… HIS OWN CAREER PLANS: I’m 30 years old now and goalkeepers can play for a bit longer. You just have to listen to your body. As long as I’m feeling good and can still perform, I want to keep playing football, because I love football. There are a few options after that, but I don’t really have any particular plans at the moment.

OLIVER BIERHOFF ON…

… THE OUTLOOK FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM: Another new cycle begins. We have analysed the European Championship and what we can take from it. Bastian Schweinsteiger has ended his career, and Lukas Podolski has also announced his international retirement. Since we won the 2014 World Cup, we have lost a number of other big players in Lahm, Klose and Mertesacker, who also represented us with a lot of quality. You can see that the team is having to build a new image.

… THE OPPONENTS FROM NORWAY: It’s hard to predict what will happen against Norway. We have a lot of quality in our ranks. We want to get through qualifying without too many problems, so we’ll be going out to win the game in Oslo. To do that, we’ll need to show respect and keep our focus. We know that we will win the game if we show the right attitude and the quality that we have.

… THE TARGETS FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM: Schweinsteiger got a very warm and sincere send-off from the fans in Mönchengladbach. But the attendance still shows us that we haven’t really produced what we can in our friendly games. That tells me that we need to keep improving the team and play attractive football in friendly games as well. But that also means integrating new players who might make mistakes. The most important thing is to have a strong group in place in two years’ time. We want to get through qualification for that more clearly and comfortably than we did for the recent European Championship. We now have the first test in front of us against Norway, and every point counts.

… THE OPPORTUNITY FOR MAX MEYER: Everyone who’s here has a chance – anything is possible in football. We’re looking to see how the players improve and we’re happy to have him here with us. One of the national team’s aims is to contribute to the development of younger players in general, and that includes with the U21s as well.