FC Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen was the obvious choice to step in for Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer with the German national team.
For Ter Stegen, this opportunity has been a long time in the making.
"My goal has always been to become the number one. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do that over the last ten years. I had Manu ahead of me, who had an incredible career and consistently handled the pressure. Congratulations to him once again," Ter Stegen stated, as reported by @iMiaSanMia.
He also reflected on the frustration he sometimes felt at not being able to claim the position from Neuer.
“There were definitely moments where I thought, ‘Well, that’s another setback’. Ultimately, the decision always favored Manu, but I handled it professionally. It was frustrating at times, but you have to accept it and learn from it. In the end, it was worth it. My teammates saw that I never let those decisions get me down,” said Ter Stegen.
