“I might have deserved the opportunity a little more” – Ter Stegen opens up on rivalry with Neuer

Marc-André ter Stegen has opened up honestly about his long-standing rivalry with Manuel Neuer in the German national team.

Heading into Germany’s upcoming games against Serbia and the Netherlands, Marc-André ter Stegen has been named as Jürgen Klopp undisputed first choice in goal.

For the 34-year-old, this marks a welcome change after years of playing second fiddle to Manuel Neuer and struggling with injuries.

In an interview with Sport Bild, ter Stegen looks back on his long-standing rivalry with the now 40-year-old Bayern Munich shot-stopper, who announced his international retirement for good after last summer’s World Cup.

While ter Stegen clearly has huge respect for Neuer’s qualities, he makes no secret of the fact that he would have liked to play more than the 45 games he has featured in for Germany at senior level.

“Manuel Neuer is not simply a great goalkeeper. We don’t need to fool ourselves about that: he is probably one of the best goalkeepers of all time. He also had an enormous standing within the national team, and rightly so. However, he was also held back by injuries,” ter Stegen said.

“And who knows more about that than I do, unfortunately? Nevertheless, I believe a certain level of competition pushes the goalkeeper who gets to play to improve. That’s how it was with us.

“Even so, the question naturally remains: would I rather have been playing? Of course! But the coaches we had with the national team chose Manu. You have to respect that, and I have to accept it. That’s simply part of sport.”

The 34-year-old did admit that there were times when he felt he deserved to play ahead of Neuer, despite not being given the opportunity.

“Did I sometimes have to bite my tongue? Did I sometimes swear under my breath when nobody was listening? Certainly! There were also moments when I felt I might have deserved the opportunity a little more,” he said.

One particularly bitter moment for ter Stegen came at the 2018 World Cup, when Neuer managed to return from a long-term injury and reclaim his place in the starting line-up ahead of him despite lacking match practice.

“That was the most bitter moment, but I don’t want to revisit it. The fact remains that the coach (Jogi Löw at the time, ed.) makes the decision. You can get as angry as you like,” said ter Stegen, who is currently Ajax’s first-choice goalkeeper while on loan from FC Barcelona.