World Cup Diary | World Cup diary: Why sweeper-keeper Manuel Neuer worries the Butcher of Seville
Former German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher, who left Patrick Battiston a crumpled mess in Spain in 1982, is not impressed with the way Bayern star rushes outside his area
Manuel Neuer's performance against Algeria was remarkable for the amount of times he came flying out of his area to halt the African attacks, playing almost as a sweeper. As these tweets show, he seemed to spend almost as much time outside his area than in it.
“It’s a split second thing,” Schumacher, now 60, replied to a question from AFP at a gathering of journalists organised by tabloid Bild in Berlin. “If one looks at yesterday’s match and how many times Neuer came out of his goal ... he can always be unlucky and arrive too late and something like what happened [in 1982] can occur.”
Germany play France in their next match, hence why Schumacher was wheeled out to meet the press. He maintains his foul on Battiston, which earned him the nickname 'The Butcher of Seville' was an accident.
“This subject comes up with me at every major finals,” he said. “Later I apologised, but only because I did not go to his aid after the incident.”
Despite his fears Neuer might hurt someone he still said: “Without Neuer [the Algeria game would have been a debacle. For me he is one of the best if not the best goalkeeper at the finals."