Next international matches at the end of March
©IMAGO
National coach Julian Nagelsmann apparently assumes that the injured national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen will be out for a longer period of time. “Marc was just back and on a really good path, we were really looking forward to his return to the national team. Now we have to continue to do without him – but for Marc personally this setback is of course much harder,” said Nagelsmann.
Ter Stegen’s current loan club FC Girona only announced on Monday that the 33-year-old had injured his thigh. In order to make a prediction about downtime, further investigations are necessary. Nagelsmann, his words can be interpreted, apparently assumes that Ter Stegen will miss the two international matches at the end of March in Switzerland (March 27) and against Ghana (March 30). These are the last games before the provisional World Cup squad is nominated. There were reports of a muscle injury to the keeper, in the worst case involving a tendon.
“At the moment the only thing that matters is getting healthy, in peace and without pressure. We are all behind him,” emphasized Nagelsmann. Oliver Baumann from TSG Hoffenheim should still be in goal and has a good chance of being the regular goalkeeper at the World Cup in the summer in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Nagelsmann had actually appointed ter Stegen as number one. However, he was out for a long time due to a knee and back injury. In order to still be in goal at the upcoming World Cup, the ex-Gladbach player moved from FC Barcelona to Girona in January to get the necessary match practice he hoped would be necessary. However, he was only used twice before the latest injury occurred.
If Ter Stegen is out for a longer period of time, calls for Manuel Neuer to return will probably become louder again. The Bayern goalkeeper had resigned from the national team after 124 international matches and the home European Championship in 2024 and had so far categorically ruled out a comeback. On Sunday (5:30 p.m./DAZN) the Munich team will welcome the surprise team from Hoffenheim. In terms of market value, Freiburg’s Noah Atubolu would currently be the most valuable German goalkeeper.
