Julian Nagelsmann was certainly concerned that goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen might give up his place as a national football player before the home European Championships after being demoted to rival Manuel Neuer. After being promoted to the current number one by Nagelsmann last week, the 32-year-old ter Stegen admitted to having considered retiring during the long wait for his chance to play in the tournament.
“The statements he made are absolutely understandable, legitimate and also understandable,” said Nagelsmann before the Nations League match on Tuesday (8.45 p.m./RTL) in Amsterdam. In March, he and goalkeeping coach Andreas Kronenberg informed ter Stegen that they were planning to use Bayern goalkeeper Neuer as their European Championship goalkeeper.
“That would have been a great pity”
“The conversation wasn’t particularly pleasant,” Nagelsmann said. “Marc behaved very well and accepted the decision. But I was briefly concerned that he would say I wasn’t going along with it. That would have been a real shame.”
Nagelsmann now hopes that ter Stegen stays healthy, “that he really gets into it in the two years leading up to the World Cup and then plays well at the World Cup.” The national coach is happy to continue to have a world-class player in goal. “Marc played a very good game against Hungary and was very present. He is a very important player for us because he has been with Barcelona for years and has a responsible position there as captain.”
Last week, Ter Stegen reported how difficult it was to always stand behind Neuer before World Cup and European Championship tournaments. “To be honest, there are always moments when you say: Wow, that was another blow.”