Sergio Romero had seen very little action at club level coming into the World Cup. Manuel Neuer had also not seen much action. The reasons though are very different. Romero spent much of the past season sitting on the bench.
Neuer stood in goal for almost all of Bayern's matches; yet due to the Bavarians' dominance in most matches, he had very little to do. Neuer had to endure boredom; his concentration level was put to the test in every game. However, whenever Bayern was threatened, Neuer stood tall. Very few managed to put the ball past him.
He is an excellent keeper who has won everything at club level. Yet, he is perhaps slightly fortunate to be the German Number One. In early 2010, Rene Adler failed to recovery from injury, handing the starting berth to Neuer. The Bayern man has not looked back since. He has long been heralded as the best keeper in the World.
His success rate of saving shots is 85.2 percent. However, Romero has a surpisingly higher success rate at 88.9 percent, having kept four clean sheets, one more than Neuer's three. Romero is the kind of keeper who stands his ground, rarely ever leaving his area. He communicates very well with his back line. He has made 2.67 saves per game. Neuer, though, has made 3.83 saves per game.
Neuer is by definition an unorthodox keeper. Due to Germany's high line, he has to act as a sweeper, almost a fifth mobile defender. He relishes that role. Against Algeria in the Round of 16, he touched the ball 20 times outside the box. Many strikers do not touch the ball as many times in a match. Neuer walks a fine line when he does so. When he rushes out of the box, he knows the next moment will either see him being heralded as a hero or being branded a villain, a man responsible for recklessly allowing a goal.
Ahead of the final though, Neuer has made no such errors. He has always been the first to the ball whenever he has ventured out of the box. He made spectacular saves against Brazil, France and Algeria. Romero has made some very good saves as well. He has not ventured out of his box many times though because Argentina do not employ an offside line similar to that of Germany.
If one is more likely to be caught out in the final, it is Neuer. This is because the probability of him taking risks is much higher than Romero's, especially due to the pace of Lionel Messi, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Gonzalo Higuain. This is the burden of playing in the system Germany is currently employing. He is perhaps more talented than his counterpart and much more experienced. He was in goal when Germany beat Argentina, 4-0, in the previous World Cup while Romero stood between the posts for Argentina.
Neuer will have to be very careful; his confidence could be shattered by a game-defining error. As for Romero, all he has to do is to do his job safely. He has no reasons to take any risks for Argentina.
A great keeper is almost always needed to win the World Cup. Will Neuer be the difference maker in the final or will Romero show he is much more than just a bench warmer to the World?
