Neuer nomination is a blow for Baumann but also understandable
Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was yet to comment on his return into Germany's national team for the upcoming World Cup while former player Stefan Effenberg spoke of a big gamble coach Julian Nagelsmann was making on the issue. Hoffenheim, the club of Oliver Baumann who will now only play second fiddle after Neuer's comeback from a two-year absence and is also yet to speak, meanwhile criticised the way Nagelsmann had handled the issue. Bayern Munich's Neuer, who turned 40 last month, originally retired from the national team after Euro 2024, having earned 124 caps spanning 15 years, playing at every major tournament in the period and winning the World Cup in 2014.
Neuer, who has won every club title on offer with Bayern, is credited to have reshaped the goalkeeper position as he was considered a sweeper-keeper but seemed set to end his career in Munich. He dismissed all comeback suggestions when his successor as first choice, Marc-André ter Stegen missed the second half of 2025 after back surgery. But the issue gained momentum when ter Stegen got injured again early this year which ruled him out of the World Cup.
Baumann, 36, profited from ter Stegen's injury, played well in all World Cup qualifiers and two March friendlies, and seemed designated to be the chosen one at the World Cup. But Nagelsmann eventually managed to convince Neuer, who himself became number one just ahead of the 2010 World Cup only because René Adler injured himself, to return. Nagelsmann admitted on Thursday the decision was "a blow" for Baumann who he named a "world class 1b solution" and fully committed to the squad despite the heartbreak.
Explaining the choice of Neuer as number one, he said: "Everyone knows about Manu's aura, the quality he has, what he gives the team. "He is a world-class player who has a real impact on his own team – and on the opposition too. He is a player who can create special moments.
And in a tournament like this, you need special moments. ’ But Neuer has also been plagued by calf problems lately, including ahead of Bayern's German Cup final on Saturday against VfB Stuttgart. Nagelsmann con ceded that "it can happen that he doesn't play" at the World Cup but that Baumann was a more than adequate deputy in such a scenario.