A rift has ensued between German goalkeepers Manuel Neuer of Bayern Munich and Marc-André ter Stegen of FC Barcelona

ter Stegen made it publicly known his disappointment at being Germany’s backup goalkeeper

Neuer responded by questioning how ter Stegen’s comments would help the national team, with the rift causing tension within the DFB

Germany are a lucky footballing nation. They have always had the riches of a deep goalkeeping pool to choose from. The recent rift between Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer is just another First World problem for Germany. Die Mannschaft’s goalkeeping talents have always been plentiful and you can draw an unbroken timeline of legendary keepers throughout their history. Further down the current pecking order is Bernd Leno and Kevin Trapp, who most other national teams would die for.

The Neuer vs. ter Stegen goalkeeping rivalry is nothing new. Before Germany’s home World Cup in 2006 and following 18 months of much publicized insults between the two, Jens Lehmann had stunningly dethroned Oliver ‘King’ Kahn for the starting spot between the sticks. It was a seismic event across the country with the ‘Goalie War’ threatening to boil over. Despite the heated and bitter rivalry, one of the most enduring scenes at the World Cup was Kahn embracing Lehmann and wishing him luck before a quarter final penalty shootout against Argentina which was ultimately won 4-2.

Manuel Neuer is still currently Germany’s first choice keeper.

Germans are the masters of schadenfreude when looking on at other nation teams and their goalkeeping problems. You’ve only got to look at England’s 2010 World Cup campaign to see how a talented team can be derailed by lack of goalkeeping options.