Cruel ! This is the word to describe the evening spent by Manuel Neuer. The Bavarian goalkeeper repelled all the opponents’ attempts, starting with that of Rodrygo, at close range (14th). For 88 minutes, the German captain kept his team, then qualified for the final, alive at this precise moment. But on a strike from Vinicius, the 2014 World champion did the irreparable by repelling the Brazilian’s attempt on Joselu, who was quick to push the ball into the back of the net (1-1).
“No matter how the goal is scored, I feel bad,” he commented before explaining the goal. The ball didn’t come as expected. In fact, I was more expecting it to come to the chest and it came to the lower part of the neck and I had difficulty catching it. At a press conference, Thomas Tuchel rushed to his player’s aid: “it’s so annoying. If there is anyone who did not deserve this, it is Manu, and asks to respect the immense career of his goalkeeper by not overwhelming him. It’s unthinkable that Manu would make this mistake, and he’s doing it tonight, after his world-class match… We know where he comes from, everything he’s done.”
“Until the 88th minute he was probably man of the match. Author of numerous saves throughout the game, he saved his partners on numerous occasions and allowed them to stay in the match. Unfortunately football is cruel, and the German international goalkeeper learned it the hard way this Wednesday, May 8. On a harmless strike from Vinicius, he released the ball into the feet of Joselu who just had to finish. This save, surely one of the “simplest” of the game for a goalkeeper of his level, is the one that everyone will remember. The guard post can definitely be very cruel,” wrote our journalist.