Manuel Neuer was back in Germany's starting lineup against Curacao in Houston, ending a 709-day wait and turning the World Cup opener into more than a routine return. The 40-year-old also reached his 125th international match, a night that made him the oldest German national player as the match began at 12 Uhr Ortszeit, 19 Uhr MESZ, at the NRG Stadium with the roof closed.
That is why Schlotterbeck is still being mentioned in the same breath as Germany's tournament start. Nico Schlotterbeck was involved in the defensive mistake that helped turn Germany's first match at the 2022 World Cup into a 1:2 loss to Japan, and that result still hangs over every opening game discussion because Germany have not won their first World Cup match since 2014. The pattern is plain: a 4:0 win over Portugal in Brazil in 2014, a 0:1 loss to Mexico in Russia in 2018, then the Japan defeat in 2022.
Amjad Hossain's own gesture underlined how much the opener meant in the moment. He unfurled a 7,5 Kilometer long black-red-gold flag and said he loved the German football team, while calling Oliver Kahn the greatest goalkeeper of all time. That kind of scene fits a liveblog built around expectation and memory: Neuer's return is the immediate story, but the reason Schlotterbeck keeps surfacing is simpler and sharper. Germany are being measured against the last three openers before anything else on the field can change that record.
What happens next is the only part that no pregame note can settle. Germany can erase the old pattern with one result, or carry it into another tournament cycle. Until then, Schlotterbeck remains the name that reminds readers why the opener was never just about a returned goalkeeper.
