After İlkay Gündoğan ended his DFB career, the DFB team also needs a new captain. National coach Julian Nagelsmann has now appointed one.
Joshua Kimmich has been appointed the new captain of the German national football team by Julian Nagelsmann. The 29-year-old from Munich succeeds İlkay Gündoğan as expected and is set to lead the DFB team to the 2026 World Cup in North America. Gündoğan ended his international career after the European Championships at home. Nagelsmann appointed Antonio Rüdiger and Kai Havertz as Kimmich’s deputies.
“For me, the captain is the team’s representative, who represents the team’s opinion. We tried to find players who have a good connection,” said Nagelsmann at the national team meeting at the team headquarters in Herzogenaurach.
“Josh was one of the three captains at the European Championships, so it’s logical that he’s the candidate when the others aren’t there,” said the national coach. Kimmich is someone “who always gives it his all, sometimes too much, someone who always wants to win.”
New DFB captain
Kimmich will make his debut as official captain at the start of the Nations League next Saturday (8.45 p.m./ZDF) in Düsseldorf against Hungary. Unlike at FC Bayern Munich, however, the 29-year-old will continue to play right-back in the national team and will not return to central midfield: “He set a benchmark as a right-back at the European Championships,” said Nagelsmann.
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For Kimmich, being named captain is a special honor in his already long DFB career. The ambitious professional made his debut in the national jersey in the European Championship test match in May 2016 against Slovakia (1:3). He also played in the following finals in France.
Many disappointments for Joshua Kimmich
After the Confederations Cup victory with a perspective team in Russia in 2017, the way seemed to be paved for further great successes, but the tournament history was more than unfortunate for Kimmich. Early World Cup exits in 2018 and 2022, disappointment at the European Championship in 2021 – the misery of the DFB team was also closely linked to his name. The home European Championship with good performances, a good atmosphere and the ultimately unfortunate exit in the quarter-finals against Spain this summer should be a turning point. Kimmich had always made his claim to leadership clear. He has already worn the DFB armband several times, for example as Manuel Neuer’s deputy.
The promotion is logical. With 91 international matches, Kimmich has played by far the most in Nagelsmann’s current squad. Next summer he could join the 100 club. He is followed by Rüdiger (74), Havertz (51) and Marc-André ter Stegen (40), who will succeed Manuel Neuer as number one in goal. The goalkeeper is part of the new team council, along with Jonathan Tah, Pascal Groß and Niclas Füllkrug.
Editor’s note: An initial version of the article stated that Kimmich would succeed Manuel Neuer as DFB captain. We have corrected the error and apologize.
Source: Stern
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