With world champions Thomas Müller, Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos and ex-captain Ilkay Gündogan, the defining figures of the past ten years have left the national team. They will be given a dignified farewell before the game against the Netherlands. One of the quartet is missing.
The German national team is playing in the Nations League against the Netherlands for group victory (click here for the live ticker). The emotional highlight of the evening occurred before kick-off. The DFB said goodbye to four grandees from the national team who have had a decisive influence on the team and German football over the past ten years.
The world champions Thomas Müller, Manuel Neuer and Toni Kroos, as well as the former captain Ilkay Gündogan were officially farewelled. The quartet, which together have 451 international matches, resigned after the European Championships last summer. Kroos, who is not in Munich for the international match, ended his career. “Kroos would also like to be there in person in Munich, but on Monday he will be on the football pitch with children as part of training in his youth academy,” said the DFB statement.
Gündogan, Neuer and Müller stood in the kick-off circle before kick-off and were honored. As the teams stepped onto the pitch, they were greeted with huge choreography. The fans held the words “Legends. Thanks for everything, guys” into the air. Müller, Neuer and Gündogan followed the teams onto the pitch.
“Stop crying. That’s the normal course of things.”
DFB sports director Rudi Völler and DFB president Bernd Neuendorf presented the three legends with photo collages to the applause of the fans. “It will be a nice farewell. It’s always an event to be with the national team. The 14 years in the national team went by incredibly quickly. It was a great story,” said Müller, who made his national team debut in 2010.
ZDF expert Christoph Kramer became sentimental when asked about Müller’s departure from the national team. Müller reacted in his humorous way: “Stop crying. The next generation is already around the corner. Those who follow have to push. That’s the normal course of things.”
During the warm-up of the German and Dutch players, five long-standing members of the support staff were officially bid farewell by the DFB. These included team psychologist Hans-Dieter Hermann and physiotherapist Wolfgang Bunz, who often rushed with the team doctor to injured players on the pitch for treatment during international matches.
