Never change, Manuel Neuer.
Following the international retirement of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Manuel Neuer has taken the reins as Germany’s official designated captain. Although the sweeper-keeper has worn the captain’s armband before when Schweinsteiger was unavailable, his debut as first-choice captain came against Norway on Sunday.
Neuer is known for his tendency to wander out into No Man’s Land and have a go playing the ball with his feet. While this can be massively entertaining to watch for a neutral, if you have anything at all riding on the game, his antics can prove to be absolutely terrifying.
Causing country-wide panic isn’t really what you want from your team’s leader, so one might assume that Neuer may have calmed down on this aspect of his game after taking up his new role. However, he made it clear during yesterday’s 3-0 World Cup qualifying win that this was not the case.
Fortunately for the health of the German faithful, Neuer’s inevitable moment of madness came in the 70th minute with the match was essentially over as a contest with the Germans 3-0 up. In possession at the edge of the box with Josh King closing him down at speed, the keeper opted against hoofing the ball clear and instead went for the obvious move – the Cruyff turn.
https://twitter.com/neuerisch/status/772530473448902657
It’s good to see the pressure of captaincy hasn’t forced him to abandon his instinct for flair, even in high-pressure situations.
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