Dirk Heinen watches the sleet fall from his living room window as he reflects on Germany’s World Cup fortunes in sunny Qatar.
The Bundesliga winner has called Kilmacthomas in County Waterford his home since 2007, when he moved there with his Irish wife Sandra.
As a goalkeeper, he made more than 100 appearances for Bayer Leverkusen in the 1990s, and went on to play for Eintracht Frankfurt, Denizlispor in Turkey and VfB Stuttgart.