Bastian Schweinsteiger played the game of his life in the biggest match of his career. He was the man of the match in the World Cup final last summer.
He was the athlete, the artist and the warrior. He ran 15 kilometres, completed 90 per cent of his passes and was knocked to the turf six times. He got back up each time.
As Germany’s encounter with Argentina entered extra time, his performance bridged the gap from influential to inspired.
The message on his boots — “the Chosen One” — might have been a hideously misjudged boast. It turned out to be the perfect description.
A year after his masterpiece, Schweinsteiger is the chosen one again: chosen by Manchester United.
A 17-year association with Bayern Munich was ended by his £14.5 million (Dh83m) move to Old Trafford. He will become just the ninth World Cup winner to represent United.
The others — Bobby Charlton, Nobby Stiles, John Connelly, Fabian Barthez, Laurent Blanc, Kleberson, Juan Mata and Victor Valdes — represent a mixed bag, including United’s record scorer and, arguably, greatest player, in Charlton, to a trophy-winning cult hero, in Stiles, to the former record signing, Mata.
But Barthez’s errors hastened the end of his time at United, Blanc was in decline when he arrived, Kleberson ranked as a major mistake and Valdes is set to be sold after a solitary start.
The prognosis for Schweinsteiger varies with each precedent. The German, like Blanc, is an ambassadorial figure, whose achievements and personality have brought him deserved respect across the footballing world.
He also has to refute the suggestions, indirectly supported by Bayern’s decision to sell him, that his best days are behind him. The last three summers have brought the twin peaks of Schweinsteiger’s career and the biggest upheaval.
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Bayern’s 2013 Uefa Champions League victory, 12 months after Schweinsteiger missed the decisive penalty in the previous final’s shootout, represented the culmination of one crusade.
Germany’s World Cup success, after Schweinsteiger had helped them reach the semi-finals of the four previous major international tournaments, was a similar reward for years of effort.
They were triumphs that transformed a “nearly” man into one of the most decorated players of his generation.
The danger is that everything that follows becomes an anti-climax. Perhaps a change of scenery will ensure otherwise. Perhaps it has stopped Schweinsteiger from slipping to the margins in Munich.
The suspicion was that Bayern’s “Fussballgott”, or football god, the Bavarian who became the local hero, may have been displaced from Pep Guardiola’s favoured team.
The Catalan converted Philipp Lahm into a midfielder, signed Xabi Alonso to sit in front of the defence and, when Schweinsteiger left, brought in the more dynamic Arturo Vidal as a replacement.
It may have suited Bayern to bank the money for a 31-year-old midfielder with one year left on his contract. The situation at the Allianz Arena certainly benefited United.
Despite their wealth, targets at Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern have tended to elude them.
The only one they recruited, Angel Di Maria, cost too much, underperformed, lost his place in the team and has left for Paris Saint-Germain.
Schweinsteiger provided a contrast to the enigmatic Argentine. He arrived speaking excellent English, proving a smiling diplomat who enthused about the Premier League, about appearing at Old Trafford and about United’s history.
He and Wayne Rooney seemed to share a mutual love-in, an Anglo-German alliance. He served as an immediate boost to United’s strangely fragile self-esteem.
Schweinsteiger’s debut, against Club America last month in the United States, was notable for the way the United fans cheered his every touch. Louis van Gaal, his manager at United, described his second performance, against San Jose Earthquakes, as “bad”.
He missed United’s meeting with Barcelona because of a calf injury, serving an unwanted reminder that he began only 15 Bundesliga games last season. His first United start, against PSG, culminated in defeat.
He seems embroiled in a three-way scrap for two places against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday in the opening Premier League game of the season.
Michael Carrick brings composure and class in possession, plus a winning habit: United triumphed in 75 per cent of league games their vice-captain started last season.
Morgan Schneiderlin offers energy and physicality. Schweinsteiger may be a blend of the two: not quite the physical force of his younger days but a deep-lying playmaker who, like Carrick, can offer penetrative passing from the base of the midfield. He brings character and a CV that renders him a bona fide superstar.
Schweinsteiger was Bayern’s constant and their chameleon, his reinvention from a winger to a central-midfield controller gathering pace during Van Gaal’s spell in Bavaria from 2009 to 2011.
Teenage tearaway has become an elder statesman, and one who has known him longest offered a glowing recommendation.
“Basti is an absolute leader and a world-class player who can put his stamp on any team, including, of course, Manchester United,” said Germany manager Joachim Loew.
A stamp of enduring class, allied with the character to dominate a World Cup final. If Schweinsteiger is still at his best, it promises to be quite a combination.
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