Neuer stripped off German captaincy, may not play again for the Mannschaft

Manuel Neuer probably curses the day he went on skiing in December 2022. Under his captaincy, Germany embarrass themselves and got eliminated from the World Cup after a group stage just days before that, and Neuer decided to take a short holiday before returning to Munich. Ten months later, he is still on holiday, but not the one which he hoped for. We are deep into October and his last competitive game in any competition was a 4-2 win over Costa Rica in Qatar. After breaking his leg, he went on a long recovery period, which is finally (almost) over, he lost his beloved goalkeepers coach while in hospital bed and he now learned he is stripped of his captaincy in the Mannschaft.

Look who's back after 10 months of absence

Julian Nagelsmann was the man who sacked Tony Tapalović and he is the man who chose another captain in the German international team. After taking over from Hansi Flick, the former Bayern Munich coach just continued the same routine his precessedor had, and left Ilkay Gundogan to be the captain in Neuer‘s absence. But, after last night‘s draw with Mexico in a friendly match (2-2), he decided to leave the armand with the Barcelona midfield even when Neuer comes back.

„lkay will remain captain. It's important that we have continuity there” said Nagelsmann to Bild.

Cursed trip, struggles and Bayern's pettiness: This is how legendary goalkeeper recovered from hell

Neuer is finally close to coming back to the pitch in Bayern Munich, as his return was prolonged (again) after he was he was left out of Bayern Munich's squad for a German DFB Cup tie against SC Preussen Munster. And while he is assured of his status and the captaincy in Bavaria, there is no such certainty with Nagelsmann. Barcelona‘s Andre ter Stegen is currently Germany‘s number 1 and no one can predict when Neuer will be in his full strength and will he ever play for the Mannschaft again, considering that he is already 37 years old, while Ter Stegen is only 31. Also, it was Nagelsmann who apparently clashed with Neuer when he was in charge of Bayern. The keeper was furios when found out that his longtime Tony Tapalovic got fired after almost 12 years at the club. The goalkeeper said that his 'heart was ripped open' after hearing the news about Tapalovic, who was his former team-mate at Schalke and also the best man at his wedding. So far, Neuer made 117 appearances for Germany, and was the country‘s captain since 2017.