Neuer injury gives Urbig chance to shape Bayern and Germany future

It's no secret that getting playing time is important to the development of any professional footballer – especially if your aspiration is to become the first-choice goalkeeper for your country . For most national team coaches, only a keeper who is playing regularly for his club merits consideration.

Unsurprisingly, Germany coach Jürgen Klopp is no exception. While he did give Urbig – the backup keeper at Bayern – two starts in his first international break as national team boss, for the upcoming UEFA Nations League matches against Serbia and the Netherlands, Marc-André ter Stegen remains the undisputed No. 1.

But when Klopp gave ter Stegen the nod, Urbig was still spending most of his time on the bench in Munich. But this is set to change after Bayern's recent Bundesliga win over Mainz. The 40-year-old Manuel Neuer asked to be subbed off just before halftime, complaining of severe pain in his right foot.

An examination revealed that Neuer has sustained a partial tendon tear in the foot.

"An injury never comes at the right time, but it's part of the game," Neuer wrote on Instagram.

"I've been through this before, and I'll get through this one too. From now on: full focus on recovery. Until then, I will support the boys on the pitch wherever I can."

A partial tendon tear usually results in a layoff of six to 12 weeks, depending on the severity of the injury. Given that Neuer's foot already has some pre-existing damage from previous injuries, his recovery could take even longer.

Although Urbig is now the de-facto first-choice keeper for Bayern, he will still have to bide his time in the national team as understudy to ter Stegen. However, there is a general consensus that someday, Urbig will also become Germany's No. 1. With Neuer's contract running out in the summer, the chance to truly make the Bayern goal his own appears likely in the not-too-distant future.

The match on Saturday was Neuer's 550th in the Bundesliga and he also became the oldest player in a league match in Bayern's history when he took the pitch aged 40 years and 225 days. In other words, he can't go on forever.

One of his most famous predecessors in the Bayern goal has already called on him to draw a line under his highly successful career.

"I would tell him: 'Call it a day, Manu!' You have given an incredible amount to football, you have won everything, and you don't have to prove anything to anyone anymore," Sepp Maier, a member of West Germany's 1974 World Cup winning team told Sport1.

At some point, the now 82-year-old Maier noted, there comes a moment "when your body no longer behaves the way you want it to. And even a Manuel Neuer cannot stave off that moment."

For now, with ter Stegen playing regularly and performing well for Ajax, Germany coach Klopp is under no pressure to make a change. However, the 34-year-old former Barcelona keeper has, like Neuer, become quite injury-prone in recent years. Whenever he's needed, Urbig will be more than happy to seize his opportunity.