HOUSTON, June 14 — Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is feeling his age after the 40-year-old admitted he had a Walkman back in the day and his younger team-mates talk differently.
The 2014 World Cup winner has come out of international retirement for this year’s edition and is one of the oldest players in North America.
The 1980s craze of putting a cassette in a portable player has long been surpassed by digital means, but Neuer told a German Football Federation video that he used to own the former, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
“I have to be honest and say that at the beginning I had the Walkman. The Discman was high-end,” Neuer told fellow goalkeeper Oliver Baumann, who said he had the portable CD-player.
Baumann, 36, will be replaced by Neuer as Germany’s goalkeeper at the World Cup, despite having played a key role in their qualifying campaign.
But the pair get along and discussed how younger players such as Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz talk a sort of German which the elder statesmen do not always understand.
“I think if we all pull in the same direction, then it’s also fine for us if the language is maybe a bit different,” Neuer mused.
One modern development in the Bayern Munich captain’s life is his diet.
“I eat gluten-free and also lactose-free. I don’t have an allergy or intolerance or anything. I simply know that I get fit again faster and then can start the next training session in a positive way. I’ve had very good experiences with it since 2017,” he said. — Bernama-dpa
