Gregor Kobel is the undisputed new number 1 in goal for the Swiss national team. "We're really privileged in Switzerland," says Jörg Stiel, who also takes a critical look at Germany.
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- Since the retirement of Yann Sommer after the European Championship, Gregor Kobel has been the new number one goalkeeper for the Swiss national team.
- The Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper was trained in Germany. "The Germans would be happy if Kobel had a German passport," says Jörg Stiel in the football talk show Heimspiel on blue Sport.
- Although Germany sees itself as a goalkeeping country, there are currently discussions about the number 1 position.
The Swiss national team has been outstanding in the goalkeeping position for years. Yann Sommer, a world-class goalkeeper, has been in charge of our national team for the last decade. At the age of 35, the regular Inter Milan keeper retired from the national team in the summer.
But there is no great void after him, on the contrary. In Gregor Kobel, a successor is ready and waiting who has also long been regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. And behind Kobel, Switzerland is also excellently staffed with Yvon Mvogo, Philipp Köhn and Jonas Omlin. Thanks to Pascal Loretz (21, Lucerne) and Marvin Keller (22, YB), there is no shortage of young talent either.
Things look a little less rosy in the goalkeeping position in Germany. Manuel Neuer, like Yann Sommer, retired after the European Championship. Like Switzerland with Kobel, Germany also had a predestined successor in Marc-André ter Stegen. But the Barça goalie ruptured his patellar tendon and will miss the entire season.
"We are really privileged in Switzerland"
Germany's goalkeeper position is also a topic in the football talk show Heimspiel. Not only the current number 1 Gregor Kobel is in the studio, but also the former regular goalkeeper of the national team: Jörg Stiel. The latter states: "The Germans would be happy if Gregi (Kobel, editor's note) had not only been trained in Germany, but also had a German passport." Kobel moved from the Grasshoppers youth academy to the youth section of TSG Hoffenheim back in 2014 at the age of 16. From there, Kobel moved on to Borussia Dortmund via Augsburg and Stuttgart in 2021.
Stiel lists the goalkeepers who are now fighting for a regular place in the DFB goal: "Oliver Baumann, Alexander Nübel, Jannis Blaswich." The whole thing is a discussion in Germany, a problem that we don't have in Switzerland: "And Germany also sees itself a bit as a goalkeeper country." How outstanding and consistent Kobel actually plays in the German Bundesliga is shown by a fact that blue sports director Andreas Böni interjects: "Kicker has voted him the best keeper in the Bundesliga four times in a row." Jörg Spiel adds: "We are really privileged in Switzerland."
