By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The heated dispute over Germany's best goalkeepers has entered a fatal next round.
After Bayern Munich's successful Champions League curtain-raiser against Red Star Belgrade (3-0), the ruling German Champions leaders have opened fire on German national coach Joachim Loew and the German Football Association (DFB).
Record-setting marks of Thomas Mueller and Robert Lewandowski slide into the background while the debate about the country's number one goalkeeper has intensified sharply. 30-year-old Mueller is Bayern's new "Mr. Champions League" having reached 106 games while the Polish spearhead has scored his 200th goal in a competitive match for the Bavarians.
Bayern president Uli Hoeness accused Loew and the DFB of treating the club's internationals poorly and demanded support for Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer. The 67-year-old said ongoing trouble has hit the club from the association and mentioned the dismission of Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels and Mueller from the national team last March.
In the current confrontation 33-year-old Neuer has been in a verbal clash with his rival 27-year-old Marc-Andre Ter Stegen over their ranking in the national team. The Barcelona keeper has had expressed his dissatisfaction having to play second fiddle in the latest internationals.
Apparently, the German coach hasn't kept his promise to select Ter Stegen for the game against Northern Ireland last week due to understandable reasons. Loew obviously didn't want to risk further uncertainty for his back-row after the disappointing 4-2 defeat against the Netherlands.
Former German international and Liverpool professional Dietmar Hamann accused Loew of bad leadership management. The national coach missed to make a clear statement everyone can deal with, the 2005 Champions League winner said.
The debate has already damaged the reputation of Loew and the national team on the way to the 2020 European Championships. A crisis summit is expected to be held shortly.
The case needs to be solved by Loew in advance of the games against Argentina and Estonia in October to avoid further turmoil.
The German coach might have to renew his commitment for Neuer declaring him as his number one until 2020 as he already missed the right point to do so.
Ter Stegen might have to accept having to face an established rival providing world-class saves despite him performing on the same level.
Meanwhile, media reports speak about a possible resignation of Neuer after the 2020 tournament. The Euro in a year will be Neuer's last major competition. For Ter Stegen patience seems the appropriate recipe.
It might help to remember Oliver Kahn who was 29 when getting the chance to take over from Andreas Koepke in 1998 still managed to start a successful career in the German shirt.
