We want to help Scotland by winning in Dublin
Generous Neuer vows to pile pressure on Irish
SCOTLAND were unable to take full advantage of the extremely rare helping hand offered by Manuel Neuer last week. The spillage from the world’s best goalkeeper, leading to Mats Hummels’ own goal, caused no lasting harm to the German charge to the Group D summit.
Neuer’s generosity to Scotland will be extended, however, thanks to the desire of the Bayern Munich colossus and his colleagues to defeat Republic of Ireland on October 8.
The normally entirely reliable Germans’ sloppy start to Euro 2016 qualifying last year featured the curious concession of an injury-time goal to gift the Irish a point in Gelsenkirchen.
That, says Neuer, is an aberration worth correcting in Dublin — an act which would be most welcome if Gordon Strachan’s unit remains in the play-off hunt with a positive result against Poland at Hampden.
A draw for the Scots will be enough to keep those hopes alive as l ong as Germany do the business against the Irish, thereby handing Martin O’Neill’s team a tough must-win task in Warsaw while Scotland should be disposing of Gibraltar.
‘We want to help Scotland by winning in Dublin, of course we do,’ said Neuer. ‘In the first game with Ireland, we only got a draw so it’s important for us that we win.
‘We want revenge against Ireland and we also want to help Scotland qualify because the fans were great to us. At the end of the game, they applauded the German fans and team.
‘That was a kind act. Our target is to be top of the group at the end we want to finish above Poland. So we are going to want to win our final two games.’
Germany’s other autumn blip while still in the glow of World Cup glory was a defeat to archrivals Poland, revenge for which was gained by a 3-1 victory in Frankfurt nine days ago.
To complete the job of putting their neighbours and Neuer’s club colleague Robert Lewandowski in their place, the Germans — currently two points clear — must cement top spot in the section.
‘Maybe Scotland can help us by beating Poland while we are playing in Ireland,’ said Neuer. ‘The game is at Hampden and that’s never an easy place to play.
‘We did really well to score three goals in Glasgow. I hope that Scotland will take a draw, minimum. Poland are a good team and are difficult to play against. They have so many hunters in attack and they break quickly. Scotland have to pay attention. Robert Lewandowski is a great striker.
‘He makes it hard for defenders and goalkeepers, so Scotland will have to pay attention to him all the time. He doesn’t need much space to score goals.
‘It’s going to be hard for Scotland and I think the big problem was the defeat in Georgia. It was always going to be difficult to play against us or to beat us.
‘But Scotland have to look forward with hope and keep fighting to get to the Finals.’
Neuer might be keen to see Scotland show up in France next summer but he was no fan of the style of play deployed to try and keep an increasingly menacing German machine at bay.
‘Scotland and Ireland have different styles,’ he said. ‘In my opinion, Ireland play better football and use the ball more. Scotland sat very deep in the first half and didn’t want to play at all.
‘In the second half against us, the Scottish team played kick and rush. The Irish team use the ball and play more — but it’s not easy to do that against Germany. We are in better form now.
‘It wasn’t easy for us after the World Cup when we had to start the qualification campaign straight away. But now, after one year, we are in a good mood.
‘Last year it wasn’t easy to play against teams like Ireland but now we are creating more chances. We can play against teams who play with two lines of four in defence.
‘It will be very difficult for us to win the Euros. Some people believe it will be tougher than winning the World Cup. We want to be in the Paris final and win it — but that’s a long way away.’