Sometimes there are evenings like this. You know it from the DFB Cup, first round: fifth division team against Champions League participants, craftsmen against professional footballers, the game of life for those who stand on scaffolding again on Mondays or screw around on a car. Every now and then these duels turn into so-called goalkeeper games, when the outsider defends himself as best he can – and the tiler, who stands between the posts, surpasses himself.
Goalkeepers like Daniel Peretz love games like this. The goalkeeper of the Israel U21s is a footballer in his main job – but the 90 minutes that he experienced in the heavy rain in Kutaisi on Thursday evening had something of a first-round game in the DFB Cup. In the opening game of the European Championship, Peretz saved two penalties and became the hero of the Israelis in the 1-1 (1-1). This tournament is supposed to be the stage for the man who was right on the other side of the field: Noah Atubolu, goalkeeper of SC Freiburg and the U21 of the DFB – and so much more than that.
Atubolu, 21, is such a big promise that he should soon make a name for himself in soccer Germany. In Freiburg he will rise from reserve goalkeeper to number one this summer after Mark Flekken moved to FC Brentford in the Premier League – and at DFB Atubolu is already the first man in that generation of goalkeepers who will one day take on Manuel Neuer and Marc-André ter Stegen follows. Atubolu could be their hereditary prince. When Day X arrives when the place in the senior international’s goal becomes vacant, Atubolu could be the one to step up.
That’s the idea, that’s where it should go, but Atubolu knows that the road is a long one. It leads via Freiburg – and possibly even via Georgia. If he proves himself there at the U21 European Championship, his plan can work. Then he actually comes into question as heir to the throne.
So, Thursday evening, Kutaisi in the interior of Georgia. Here the German U21s have to deal with Israel at the start of the tournament. While Batumi – the Black Sea city where the German team is based – exudes novelty, upheaval and dynamism, it doesn’t take much to realize how much Kutaisi has aged. Even in the best locations on the Rioni, the third longest river in the country, there are dozens of empty buildings, house facades are peeling off, and cars lined up along the roadside that are in even worse condition than the German senior national team.
The big names in the DFB goal can be a heavy burden. But Atubolu gives the impression of being able to carry this burden
So that was the setting in which Atubolu played for Germany for the first time in a highly publicized tournament. From here he could – if he keeps what Freiburg and the DFB promise of him – move out into the big football world. There are high expectations, and such expectations create a drop that has already caused umpteen other talents to fail long before they even played for Germany in a distant country. Neuer and ter Stegen – these names can be a heavy burden. They can crush you, but Atubolu, one may have that impression, has what it takes to carry that burden.
For one thing, he would easily pass for a boxer because he is what used to be called a powerhouse: six feet, broad shoulders, an appearance. On the other hand, he has found an inner peace and balance that he lacked a few years ago. Anyone standing face to face with him on this late evening in Kutaisi will experience a serene young man who makes a fairly mature impression. Atubolu is no longer a goalkeeper who strives for perfection, self-criticizes when he makes mistakes and fears he won’t be able to live up to the standards. That’s how it used to be, but that’s not how it is anymore. Meanwhile, Atubolu makes no secret of the big plans he has.
One day, he says publicly, he wants to be in the German goal. Not here in Kutaisi, not with the U21s – but up there, with the big players, where Neuer has set new standards in the past decade. It’s been 14 years since Neuer became European champion with the U21s, to then revolutionize goalkeeping and make a world career – now Atubolu wants to at least take the first step and cause a stir at the Junior European Championships.
“It wasn’t a happy start, but we’re positive despite everything,” said Atubolu after the 1-1 draw against Israel in the first group game that left the German side and coach Antonio Di Salvo quite frustrated. It was anything but a good evening for the defending champion, who missed a penalty by Youssoufa Moukoko after less than three minutes – and finally gave up the win when substitute Jessic Ngankam also failed to take the second penalty from Daniel Peretz (78th). .
That’s how Israel’s goalkeeper became the man of the evening, and that already puts Germany under pressure, which they now have to master against the Czech Republic on Sunday evening (6 p.m.) before they play favorites England in the last group game (Wednesday). “First get through the group phase and then step by step,” says goalkeeper Atubolu when asked about goals at the European Championship. He knows how far the path that Neuer has traveled in 2009 with the team at that time is. And for him it should only be the beginning.
