In a team sport like football, there's something of a lone warrior about goalkeepers, so Manuel Neuer knows what it's like being in the centre of attention, but with an added difficulty – everything's just fine as long as you make a few saves and your side doesn't concede any goals. But the minute you make a mistake allowing the opponents to score, accusing fingers will point in one direction only.
Fortunately for Germany, Neuer hardly ever sets a foot (or hand, for that matter) wrong, which is why his mistakes live long in the memories of rivals and critics alike. Neuer has committed two errors of that category this season and, as ill luck would have it, both of them against the same team – Borussia Mönchengladbach.
"Plain bad luck"
In his very first Bundesliga match for the German record champions he miscalculated a cross, leaving the ball to drop at the feet of Mönchengladbach's Igor de Camargo, who had no problem scoring what would turn out to be the one and only goal of the match. At the return game ringing in the start of the second half of the season, Neuer was far out of his goal-mouth when he mis-hit a clearance straight to Marco Reus who didn't think twice before lobbing a beautiful ball into the open net, the final score being M'Gladbach 3, Bayern 1.
Last night, Borussia fans did their level best trying to unnerve the Bayern keeper every time he received a back pass, but Neuer turned out his old cool, calm, and collected self. "I'd say it was plain bad luck that I made my mistakes against Gladbach of all teams. It's nothing to do with this particular opponent," he says.
Penalty shoot-outs? No thank you
In fact, Neuer had a great game, with three spectacular saves against Reus alone. After a goal-less 120 minutes, the match went to penalties. "Believe me, we'd rather have won it in normal time. Nobody really needs these penalty shoot-outs anyway," says the 25-year-old Gelsenkirchen-born goalie.
However, from a match script point of view there could not have been any more exciting finish, plus Neuer was able to prove that Mönchengladbach are not a bogus team, after all – neither for him personally, nor for the rest of his team-mates. Once again, he found himself in the centre of attention, but for all the right reasons, first keeping his team in the game for 120 minutes, then shining in the final show-down.
You put you left leg in, you left leg out…
The first player to step forward for Gladbach was Belgian Filip Daems. Neuer got his hands to the ball, but Daems hit it too hard. Patrick Herrmann cleverly sent him the wrong way. Dante's attempt went over the crossbar, and when Havard Nordveidt whacked it straight down the middle, Neuer managed a mid-air side kick to prevent the ball from going in.
The rest was celebrations… and a good dose of relief. "With my left leg, and against Gladbach at that – aren't I just world-class?" Neuer joked, adding, "obviously, this was a special match for us. We had sworn to give everything to reach that Cup Final. Now we're just happy to have made it."
"We're going there to win"
Proving yet again that reports of their demise tend to be greatly exaggerated, Bayern are still in the running for three titles – the German Cup, the German Championship, and the UEFA Champions League, the final of which is scheduled to be played in FC Bayern's very own stadium. But that's in the future. "The good thing is that we have booked our tickets to the Cup Final. And we're going there to win."
'There' in this case means Germany's capital Berlin, where fierce Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund will be waiting for Neuer & Co. on Saturday, 12 May 2012 (kick-off 20:00, broadcast live on free-TV channel ZDF and pay-TV provider Sky). For the Germany keeper, this will be his second consecutive final – last year, Neuer stood between the posts of Schalke 04 who gave Bundesliga 2 side MSV Duisburg a 5-0 drubbing. Well aware of his impending transfer to Munich, the Royal Blues had made him team captain on the night, so he was the first Schalke player to lift the trophy. Which made him the centre of attention yet again. Looks like he's getting used to it.
[dfb]
[bild1]
In a team sport like football, there's something of a lone warrior about goalkeepers, so Manuel Neuer knows what it's like being in the centre of attention, but with an added difficulty – everything's just fine as long as you make a few saves and your side doesn't concede any goals. But the minute you make a mistake allowing the opponents to score, accusing fingers will point in one direction only.
Fortunately for Germany, Neuer hardly ever sets a foot (or hand, for that matter) wrong, which is why his mistakes live long in the memories of rivals and critics alike. Neuer has committed two errors of that category this season and, as ill luck would have it, both of them against the same team – Borussia Mönchengladbach.
"Plain bad luck"
In his very first Bundesliga match for the German record champions he miscalculated a cross, leaving the ball to drop at the feet of Mönchengladbach's Igor de Camargo, who had no problem scoring what would turn out to be the one and only goal of the match. At the return game ringing in the start of the second half of the season, Neuer was far out of his goal-mouth when he mis-hit a clearance straight to Marco Reus who didn't think twice before lobbing a beautiful ball into the open net, the final score being M'Gladbach 3, Bayern 1.
Last night, Borussia fans did their level best trying to unnerve the Bayern keeper every time he received a back pass, but Neuer turned out his old cool, calm, and collected self. "I'd say it was plain bad luck that I made my mistakes against Gladbach of all teams. It's nothing to do with this particular opponent," he says.
Penalty shoot-outs? No thank you
In fact, Neuer had a great game, with three spectacular saves against Reus alone. After a goal-less 120 minutes, the match went to penalties. "Believe me, we'd rather have won it in normal time. Nobody really needs these penalty shoot-outs anyway," says the 25-year-old Gelsenkirchen-born goalie.
However, from a match script point of view there could not have been any more exciting finish, plus Neuer was able to prove that Mönchengladbach are not a bogus team, after all – neither for him personally, nor for the rest of his team-mates. Once again, he found himself in the centre of attention, but for all the right reasons, first keeping his team in the game for 120 minutes, then shining in the final show-down.
You put you left leg in, you left leg out…
The first player to step forward for Gladbach was Belgian Filip Daems. Neuer got his hands to the ball, but Daems hit it too hard. Patrick Herrmann cleverly sent him the wrong way. Dante's attempt went over the crossbar, and when Havard Nordveidt whacked it straight down the middle, Neuer managed a mid-air side kick to prevent the ball from going in.
[bild2]
The rest was celebrations… and a good dose of relief. "With my left leg, and against Gladbach at that – aren't I just world-class?" Neuer joked, adding, "obviously, this was a special match for us. We had sworn to give everything to reach that Cup Final. Now we're just happy to have made it."
"We're going there to win"
Proving yet again that reports of their demise tend to be greatly exaggerated, Bayern are still in the running for three titles – the German Cup, the German Championship, and the UEFA Champions League, the final of which is scheduled to be played in FC Bayern's very own stadium. But that's in the future. "The good thing is that we have booked our tickets to the Cup Final. And we're going there to win."
'There' in this case means Germany's capital Berlin, where fierce Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund will be waiting for Neuer & Co. on Saturday, 12 May 2012 (kick-off 20:00, broadcast live on free-TV channel ZDF and pay-TV provider Sky). For the Germany keeper, this will be his second consecutive final – last year, Neuer stood between the posts of Schalke 04 who gave Bundesliga 2 side MSV Duisburg a 5-0 drubbing. Well aware of his impending transfer to Munich, the Royal Blues had made him team captain on the night, so he was the first Schalke player to lift the trophy. Which made him the centre of attention yet again. Looks like he's getting used to it.
