“Touch your nose”
The legendary goalkeeper criticized Neuer for missing a goal
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June 27, 2026 | 0:46 am
Opinions differ about Manuel Neuer’s involvement in Ecuador’s second goal against Germany. Sepp Maier believes the 40-year-old’s defensive behavior can be improved. However, he is defended by another former DFB goalkeeper.
Opinions differ about Manuel Neuer’s role in Germany’s 2-1 defeat to Ecuador. Legendary Bayern goalkeeper Sepp Maier blames the German Football Association goalkeeper partly for this: “The whole team was shockingly weak. However, Manu should have approached the ball earlier rather than waiting for it. A goalkeeper of his class should be more active in such situations. He must take care of his nose,” the 82-year-old footballer said on Sport1 and added: “Manu, before you would have held it with confidence.” But even for Mayer’s critic, the goalkeeper “is not a scapegoat for this defeat. It’s just not fair,” said the 1974 world champion.
Timo Hildebrand saw it completely differently. In an Instagram video, the former national team goalkeeper criticized the media and fans who made Neuer a scapegoat. However, he criticized the fact that mistakes were ignored in creating the goal that made the score 1-2. “Everyone is looking for someone to blame,” Hildebrand said. He couldn’t understand the headlines about Neuer’s “goalkeeping error” or “goalkeeping error”. “I’m telling you, you have no idea,” the former Bundesliga goalkeeper explained. Debates irritate him “very much.”
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According to Hildebrand, the missed goal was preceded by several mistakes by his teammates. David Raum lost the fight with a head, Jamal Musiala allowed himself to be “pushed like a schoolboy”, and Jonathan Ta made a mistake. “The only one in this scene who behaves correctly is Toni Ruediger,” Hildebrand said. In this situation, Neuer decided to catch the ball, but did not see the opposing player. The 47-year-old said it would be wrong to place all the responsibility on the German number one.
“Leave Neuer alone,” Hildebrand demanded. Instead, we should talk about the errors of the field players. “Now Neuer must be an idiot. It really pisses me off.”
The German number one will be “drawn” if a goal is conceded, national team record holder Lothar Matthäus said on Sky. “There are goals that you can’t stop, and there are goals that you, as a goalkeeper, can’t do anything about.” But Neuer is at least partly to blame.
Sources used: ntv.de, lme/dpa.