Germany coach Jürgen Klopp has confirmed that Marc-Andre ter Stegen will go into the upcoming international break as Germany’s number one. The final international break of the year will decide whether Germany reach the Nations League quarter-finals, with Klopp saying: “Ter Stegen goes into these games as number one.”
Germany’s international schedule
Germany face Serbia on 13 November and the Netherlands on 16 November. Klopp also named Jonas Urbig and Alexander Nübel alongside ter Stegen for the international break, while Loris Karius was not selected.
Ter Stegen’s route back
Ter Stegen tore his patellar tendon in September 2024 and missed almost the entire 2024/25 season at FC Barcelona. He made just 10 competitive appearances across the two seasons between 2024 and 2026: nine for FC Barcelona and one for FC Girona.
Ter Stegen moved on loan to Ajax Amsterdam in August. He returned to the Germany side against the Netherlands in September after 15 months away.
Ajax form and praise
Ter Stegen inspired Ajax’s 2-1 league win against Sparta Rotterdam. He has kept four clean sheets in 12 league matches, while Ajax sit third in the Eredivisie, one point behind leaders PSV.
Former professional Hans Kraay wrote in his Voetbal International column: “Ajax had their backs to the wall for 45 minutes. Ter Stegen saved his team the three points with fantastic saves. The man is certainly no amateur! Goodness, he was brilliant!”
Kraay added: “The one-on-one save against Mitchell van Bergen, where he reacts almost like an ice hockey goalkeeper, is his speciality. No other goalkeeper in the Eredivisie would have saved Milan Zonneveld’s header from just two metres away.” Van Bergen said: “Normally, when you shoot, you can tell whether you’ve struck the ball well and whether it’s going in. I knew straight away that my finish was good, but then that reaction came out of nowhere. It was pretty crazy.”
On the Dit Was Het Weekend programme, former Ajax player Kenneth Perez described ter Stegen as a goalkeeper “who wins points for his team”, “a completely different type of goalkeeper from almost all the other keepers in the Eredivisie” and “in a class of his own”.
Speaking to the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, the striker Tolu Arokodare said: “Ter Stegen drives me mad in training. Sometimes it’s incredibly frustrating to see him save one shot after another. It makes you want to hit him.”
Klopp’s view and the criticism
Klopp said: “Marc is having a great season in Amsterdam. It’s not just about who is making better saves right now. With goalkeepers, it’s about the great stability they have to project. How can I shape our play in possession? And when we defend with a high line, how do I recognise those situations early?”
Sky pundit Dietmar Hamann disagreed: “I don’t understand why ter Stegen deserves it. He was seriously injured. That was one of the reasons Neuer came back. It also has to be said that he hasn’t performed well in goal for the national team.”
Hamann added: “I don’t see it as something he has earned. He’s certainly doing well in goal in Amsterdam, but Nübel is doing the same in Turkey. And there are arguments that Karius is the best goalkeeper in Germany.”
