'Have to be a wall behind your mates

Former Germany star Weidenfeller feels the role of goalkeepers is changing but some eternal truths remain

- Shahid Judge

With a smile, Roman Weidenfeller recalled his early days in football, long before he was a part of the German team that won the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He was the goalkeeper for the youth team in his village in Rhineland-Palatinate in the west of the country. But for all his skill and talent, he rarely got a chance to show off.

"Our team had some good players so I didn't get to make too many saves," he said. "At the end of the match, the strikers or the midfielders who scored would be given gifts like ice cream or candy. It sometimes made me want to play as a striker as well."

Over the years, he would become one of the most decorated and capped players for Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund, with whom he would win the league title twice and DFB-Pokal just as many times. But as he remembered the tale from his past, it reflected in the way goalkeepers, and perhaps even defenders, are treated today compared to attacking players.

"The way football works is always that the strikers and midfielders get more importance from the public and officials, than the goalkeepers," said Weidenfeller, in an interview organized by the Sony Sports Network.