LOEW BACKS NEUER
German national team manager Joachim Low failed to criticise his goalkeeper Manuel Neuer after the match against Kazakhstan. The Bayern Munich goalkeeper lost possession inside the penalty area while trying to outfox the opposition who was pressing hard. As a result of this, Kazakhstan managed to score in the match. Even though Germany were 3-0 up at that stage, the fans started whistling the goalkeeper every time he touched the ball from then on in. Joachim Loew has said that the fans need not have displayed this attitude against one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
The former Stuttgart man is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world and he almost helped his current club Bayern Munich to win the Champions League. This whistling could have been due to the experience suffered by the German fans of losing a four goal advantage in a recent match against Sweden. Germany removed any doubts about the victory with yet another goal late in the match through Borussia Dortmund striker Reus. Earlier, he had scored the first goal of the match in the 23rd minute. His club team mate Gotze extended the advantage a few minutes later before Gündogan scored the third goal after just 32 min.
“I didn’t like that Neuer was whistled at after his mistake. He is up there with the best keepers in the world and made one mistake. That he was accompanied by irony for the rest of the game, I think that is unsportsmanlike,” said the Germany manager after the match. The error from the goalkeeper allowed the opposition to score a goal early in the first half through Schmidtgal. As a result of this crucial victory, Germany have now opened an eight point advantage at the top of the World Cup qualifying table.