WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina, June 18 (Reuters) - Germany's veteran keeper Manuel Neuer will go back into international retirement after the end of the World Cup, having returned to the team just for the tournament, he said on Thursday.
Neuer, a 2014 World Cup winner who is 40 years old and playing his fifth consecutive World Cup as Germany's starting keeper, had retired after their Euro 2024 quarter-final exit on home soil.
He was a surprise selection in coach Julian Nagelsmann's squad after a strong
second half to the season with club Bayern Munich.
"I stepped back in 2024 with a good reason after a good home Euro. For me it was the right decision. It felt right," Neuer told a press conference. "It would have been too much of a sporting burden for me (to have kept playing for the national team) for the last two years.
"For me it is clear that this is my last tournament. I do not plan to be there in two years time for the next Euro. In the last days I have dealt with the fact that these are the last games for Germany. But I want to look forward to all the games and not to any goodbye shirts."
Neuer got the nod ahead of Oliver Baumann, who had been named as first choice for the tournament before his Germany teammate's return, and he played his first match for his country in two years in their 7-1 opening World Cup Group E victory over Curacao.
"We work together with Oliver. We support each other and train for the team. After coming together we discussed things and talked about how it came about (with my return)," Neuer said.
FIRST-ROUND EXITS
Neuer will be in goal on Saturday for the group match against Ivory Coast and a win would see Germany through to the knockout stage with a game to spare. The Germans suffered first-round exits in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
"This is our goal. We have everything in our own hands. We don't want to look back at past World Cups," Neuer said. "The team does not deal with that. We look at the next step and the next step is Ivory Coast."
"To qualify after the second game would be special and would allow us to look a bit further ahead."
A World Cup win would make Neuer the only Germany player to win the trophy twice but the keeper said he was just happy to experience another tournament at his age.
"It is an absolute present to be here again. It would be very special to do it a second time but if I did not see the chance that we could do it, I would not be sitting here," he said.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Ed Osmond)
