Louis van Gaal does not have to call Lars Unnerstall with a view to the upcoming World Cup. The FC Twente goalkeeper has been living in Germany again since last year and is therefore not eligible for Dutch nationality. The German does not have to count on an invitation in his native country, as the national team of Germany with Manuel Neuer, Marc-André ter Stegen and Kevin Trapp is well in the good keepers.
“I can name six, seven goalkeepers who can play in the German national team,” Unnerstall said in an interview with TC Tubantia. “You don’t have someone like Manuel Neuer, of whom everyone knows: that is the number one, we don’t have to discuss that. You just have to remember that the Netherlands is a smaller country with less supply. Pasveer, Flek, Cillessen and Noppert are good goalkeepers. Bijlow too. He may still have a mistake now and then, but he is young and still lacks the rhythm of playing seasons in a row.”
Unnerstall believes that he is still somewhere on a list with the German federation because of some youth international matches. “But it must be somewhere at the bottom of a drawer,” says the goalkeeper cynically. “In Germany there is hardly any attention for me and that is fine. Could Louis van Gaal have called me? I think you first have to live and work in the Netherlands for five years in a row. And since last year I have been living in Uffeln again where I come from, a village of seven hundred inhabitants near Ibbenbüren. I’m not leaving there.”
Unnerstall is once again making a strong impression this season. The goalie is praised for his feline reflexes, although he is also criticized for playing soccer. “With some trainers you have to be able to do more than just stop balls,” says the German. “They want you to play nice balls at the backs or the number 6. They want to make the keeper almost a number 10. But which is better? That I keep 15 zeros, or that I make ten great passes on the striker where an opportunity comes in? I think the most important thing a keeper does on the line.”
According to Unnerstall, it is important for a goalkeeper to give his teammates the assurance that if they try something on the field and it goes wrong, there is someone behind them who will solve that problem. “As a goalkeeper, you have to give the field player the feeling that he is good. Supporting each other, trusting each other, that’s what it’s about. If you also have someone who puts the balls away with their feet, then you are a top keeper. are you at Bayern. And I am at FC Twente. Later on I can say to my grandchildren: “I have played two hundred to three hundred games in the Eredivisie.” That’s nice too.”