The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen

  • Barcelona will not repeat last year’s Champions League meltdown, says Marc-Andre ter Stegen

    Marc-Andre ter Stegen has warned Barcelona they will be living dangerously if they try to defend their slender lead against Manchester United – but is confident there will be no repeat of their Champions League quarter-final meltdown against Roma last season.

    Barcelona face United at the Nou Camp on Tuesday night holding a 1-0 advantage from the first leg of their quarter-final at Old Trafford last week.

    The Spanish champions led 4-1 against Roma last season only to lose 3-0 in the return leg in Italy to exit on away goals and Paul Pogba has claimed United’s dramatic comeback against Paris St-Germain last month might also play on Barcelona minds.

    But Ter Stegen is not expecting Barcelona to wobble again, even if he is adamant they can leave nothing to chance against United, who have scored nine goals in four Champions League away ties, including a 2-1 win at Juventus.

    “There is not much to be said about what happened in the past,” the Barcelona goalkeeper said.

    “It was hard of course but it’s another year on, we got over it [Roma]. We don’t want that to happen again.

    “We need to bear it in mind and look forward and tomorrow is a good time to achieve a good success for us, with all our fans around us, and hopefully we will beat them.

    “United are very quick. You always have to be alert. I think it’s the key to win this very difficult game. They know how to play in a very calm way.

    “They made things really hard for us. We want to go out and master the game, have the ball as much as possible. We have to defend as we did there.

    “The good thing is that we play differently to PSG but they are really dangerous. The result we got in Manchester is dangerous because it’s a very small advantage, it’s not enough to defend.

    “We need to step forward and create risky situations. We have to keep the ball and create good chances and score.”

    Ernesto Valverde, the Barcelona coach, rested six senior players, including Lionel Messi, in Saturday’s surprise 0-0 draw against La Liga’s bottom club, Huesca, although Ousmane Dembele made his comeback after a month out with a hamstring injury.

     

  • I’ve something in common with Ter Stegen, Leno, says Okoye

    German-born Nigerian shot-stopper, Maduka Okoye has declared he has a lot in common with Germany and Barcelona goalkeeper Marc- Andre Ter Stegen and Arsenal’s Bernd Leno, as the trio honed their trade from the famous German goalkeeping school in Borussia M’gladbach, AOIFootball.com reports.

    The 19-year-old, who has been linked with a future invite to the national team, told AOIFootball.com in an exclusive chat, that he has learned a lot from one of the best goalkeeping schools in the world and hopes to reach the pinnacle of his career soonest.

    “German goalkeeping schools are one of the best in the world, if not the best. I schooled there for the better part of my life and career and also played in the youth ranks at Bayern Leverkusen,” Okoye said.

    He went further to tell AOIFootball.com that he trained with arguably, some of the best goalkeepers in the world and feels confident in his ability even as he continues with his development.

    “I schooled with the best of the best and among them was Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen who was ahead of me then but his abilities now are not surprising because of the background he started from.

    “At Bayern Leverkusen, I also trained with Bernd Leno and that really helped me as the coaches told me to keep improving because they saw potentials in me,” Okoye added.

    The 19-year-old further posited that working under two German goalkeepers in the person if Uwe Kamps at Borussia M’gladbach and David Thiel at Bayern, Leverkusen has helped him grow through the ranks and now wants to prove that he was ripe for the big stage.

    Born to a Nigerian father and a German Mother, Okoye has shown commitment to play for Nigeria despite strong interests from the German Football Federation.

    He may, however, fulfil his dream of playing for the Super Eagles in next month’s twin clashes against Seychelles and Egypt as strong indications from Eagles’ coach Gernot Rohr has shown he could hand him an invite.

  • Sane misses out, Neuer makes Germany World Cup squad

    Leroy Sane was a surprise omission from Joachim Loew’s final Germany squad for the World Cup finals on Monday as goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was named among the 23 players heading to Russia.

    Neuer made the squad despite playing in just one official game, a friendly against Austria on Friday, since breaking a bone in his foot in September but talented 22-year-old Sane was the biggest name to miss out.

    The Manchester City midfielder, goalkeeper Bernd Leno, forward Nils Petersen and defender Jonathan Tah were the four players that failed to make the cut.

    Germany captain Neuer, who won the World Cup four years ago, will also be their first choice keeper for the tournament, ahead of designated number two Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Kevin Trapp.

    Loew announced his squad at the end of a training camp at the Italian Alps.

    The Germans play their last warm-up game against Saudi Arabia in Leverkusen on Friday before the start of the tournament on June 14.

    Germany is in Group F along with Sweden, Mexico and South Korea.

    Squad: Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Paris St Germain).

    Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Marvin Plattenhardt (Hertha Berlin), Antonio Ruediger (Chelsea), Niklas Suele (Bayern Munich).

    Midfielders: Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Paris St Germain), Leon Goretzka (Schalke 04), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City), Sami Khedira (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Sebastian Rudy (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal).

  • Sanchez breaks Chile scoring record in Germany draw

    Sanchez breaks Chile scoring record in Germany draw

    Alexis Sanchez became Chile’s all-time leading scorer when he grabbed an early goal in their 1-1 draw with Germany at the FIFA Confederations Cup on Thursday in Russia.

    Lars Stindl equalised for the world champions just before halftime although the game petered out in the second half as the high-octane Chileans appeared to run out of gas.

    The result left both teams level at the top of Group B with four points each from their opening two games, although Chile have the better goal difference.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Australia and Cameroon have a point apiece after their 1-1 draw earlier on Thursday.

    The top two teams go through to the semi-finals and there is one round of matches in the group on Sunday, with Germany facing Cameroon and Chile playing Australia.

    Sanchez’s goal was his 38th for Chile in 113 appearances as he overtook the previous scoring record held by Marcelo Salas.

    Germany, now unbeaten in 12 games since their Euro 2016 semi-final exit, gifted Chile a sixth-minute lead when Shkodran Mustafi attempted to play the ball out of defence.

    He sent his pass straight to Sanchez who played a one-two with Vidal and toe-poked the ball in off the post.

    The referee poured cold water on Chile’s goal celebrations by appearing to call for a video reply, possibly to look at a scything tackle by Mustafi on Vidal, although the goal was quickly confirmed.

    Defender Matthias Ginter made a similar mistake soon after but was let off the hook as Germany struggled to cope with the South American side’s high pressing and quick passing.

    Chile came close to a second when Eduardo Vargas rattled the underside of the bar with a long-range drive and Sanchez continued to pester them with his marauding runs down the left.

    But Germany equalised against the run of play four minutes before halftime when Stindl turned the ball home from close range after Emre Can’s diagonal pass had sent Jonas Hector free on the left to fire a low cross into the middle.

    Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen then had to make a one-handed save at his near post to block a low drive from 28-year-old Arsenal forward Sanchez just before the break.

    The second half was much quieter with Stindl producing Germany’s best effort, a low shot saved by Johnny Herrera.

     

  • Ter Stegen agrees Barca renewal until 2022

    Ter Stegen agrees Barca renewal until 2022

     

    Barcelona have reached an agreement with Marc-Andre Ter Stegen over a new contract until June 2022.

    The 25-year-old’s previous deal was due to expire in 2019, but he is now set to sign a three-year extension on Tuesday.

    The Germany international’s new contract includes a €180million buyout clause.

    Ter Stegen joined Barcelona from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2014 and initially had to settle for a role as deputy to Claudio Bravo, although he was the Catalans’ number one in the Champions League and Copa del Rey.

    He became Luis Enrique’s first-choice goalkeeper this season following the departure of Bravo to Manchester City and has now earned himself a new deal.

    He has made 93 appearances for Barcelona since his arrival at the club, winning two LaLiga titles, lifting the Copa del Rey on three occasions, while also enjoying Champions League, Club World Cup, Supercopa de Espana and UEFA  Super Cup glory with the Catalans.

    The former Gladbach star is part of Germany’s squad for the upcoming Confederations Cup in Germany.