DFB team not among “top favorites”
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Joshua Kimmich doesn’t want to be deterred by his disappointing tournament experiences so far and is demanding that his colleagues focus completely on the World Cup in the summer. “In the end, what counts is what we put on the pitch. Even the best squad in the world has no guarantee of winning titles,” said the captain of the German national team before the first international matches of the year on Friday in Switzerland and three days later in Stuttgart against Ghana.
Kimmich cited the 2018 World Cup in Russia as a warning example, when Germany, like four years later in Qatar, failed in the group phase. “In 2018 we had perhaps the best squad in the world and we know where it took us. Accordingly, it is not important to have the best squad in the world, but to have the best team in the world at the end,” demanded the 31-year-old. “Everyone now has to submit to this”.
In Switzerland and against Ghana, the DFB team has to develop important automatisms, but also a good tournament feeling. It’s about “an axis being able to establish itself,” said Kimmich. “The goal is to achieve two positive results.” But it is even more important to show the same positive “approach” twice. The 106-time national player cited the 6-0 win at the end of the World Cup qualification against Slovakia as an example.
Kimmich foresees the performance of other teams in the DFB selection for the finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada. “The fact is that we are not among the top favorites,” said the Bayern professional. But they “didn’t deliver” in 2018 and 2022.
These disappointments now result in Kimmich’s assignment to his colleagues. “Of course you expect that everyone gives 100 percent to the big picture and throws everything into it, that we develop and that we are ready when it really comes down to it,” emphasized the DFB captain. With a squad value of 776.5 million euros, Germany currently has the seventh most valuable national team in the world. They are only tenth in the FIFA world rankings.
