Mumbai: In Germany’s footballing folklore, a new word entered the tales over a decade ago. Reklamier-Arm: Arm of Objection. A term created for Manuel Neuer.
Through the course of his 22-year professional career, the goalkeeper has a habit of raising his arm in protest as soon as the ball crosses into his own net. The Arm of Objection is raised in the hope the referee will spot the opponent being a hair’s length-offside, notice the unnoticeable hint of a handball, blow the whistle for an imaginary foul… anything that would disallow the goal.
Reklamier-Arm is unappealing to the German public. But what endears Neuer is his goalkeeping prowess that has made him one of the most iconic players in that position. And in June, the 40-year-old will don the Germany No.1 jersey in a fifth consecutive World Cup. This, just two years after he had announced his international retirement and four years after he recovered from skin cancer.
Four-time champions Germany travel to North America looking to exorcise the ghosts of the failed 2018 and 2022 campaigns in which Die Nationalmannschaft failed to go past the group stage. Neuer though remains that one link to the team that won the title in 2014.
That was a glorious era for German football in this century. And it came at a time when Neuer had already redefined the role of a modern goalkeeper. In 2010-11, Neuer was captain of Schalke FC. In the first minute of their Champions League quarter-final, Inter Milan’s Esteban Cambiasso played a beautifully weighted lob towards striker
Diego Milito. Neuer spotted the danger and sprinted off his line. Before Milito could find any room to control, Neuer dove forward and headed from just outside the penalty box to the halfway line.
Rushing out to quell a potential one-on-one chance was not novel. What Neuer did though was become a sweeper-keeper,’ that extra layer of defence beyond the backline of a team. The goalkeeper’s role was always to be good with the hands. Neuer brought in the added element of being good with the ball at your feet. And not just in a defensive role.
Suddenly, even when he was not going direct, a goalkeeper was launching attacks. Neuer became that goalkeeper who spent more time outside the penalty box than some attackers were afforded to be inside it. When Germany, or his club Bayern Munich, were on the offensive, he would often move up to the halfway line to provide an extra pair of feet.
Against Algeria in the 2014 World Cup, Neuer made several crucial tackles and had 19 touches outside his penalty area. He also made 59 passes in that round-of-16 match.
“With him at the back, you could just play higher up the field,” Bastian Schweinsteiger, Neuer’s former Bayern
and Germany teammate, was quoted as saying by the Bundesliga website. “You knew there was a man behind you who could play as a sweeper or the last man. He’s a good goalkeeper, first and foremost, but he’s also a great footballer.”
The story goes that Neuer, as a four-year-old in Schalke’s youth academy, was thrust into goal because he was
the smallest in the group. Now at 6-foot-4, he’s a physically strong goalkeeper who once, almost casually, slapped away a close-range, full-blooded strike from Cristiano Ronaldo.
Neuer has won 13 Bundesliga titles with Bayern, along with two Champions League and Club World Cup crowns.
Internationally though, his greatest achievement across his 124 appearances for Germany was the triumphant 2014 World Cup.
Neuer won the Golden Glove Award in the tournament as Germany lifted a fourth world title. The sweeper-keeper saw significant mileage throughout that World Cup, covering 38.5 kilometres in the seven matches he played, according to FIFA. He even clocked a sprint of 30.9 kmph. That was more than compatriot Thomas Mueller (30.5 kmph) and even Lionel Messi (30.3 kmph) recorded in Brazil.
That performance made him only the fifth goalkeeper since legendary Russian custodian Lev Yashin in 1963 to place in the top three in the Ballon d’Or: finishing behind Messi and winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
Germany will hope for another inspirational performance from Neuer as he looks to turn back the clock at another World Cup. No doubt, he will travel to North America with the Arm of Objection. But there have been some moments where even he couldn’t deny a goal.
After making that headed clearance against Inter, Neuer was out of position. The ball floated towards Dejan Stankovic at the half line, and the midfielder volleyed the ball, first time, and scored an outrageous goal into an open net.
There are ways to keep Reklamier-Arm silent. It just takes a stunning goal from 50 metres out to do so.