“We cannot exist”
According to bankruptcy: relentless criticism from Kimmich
05.06.2025 – 00:02 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
The captain of the German national team talks about Portugal about the performance in the game after the 1-2. And it becomes clear.
His 100th capacity became a roller coaster ride for Joshua Kimmich: Before the game in the Nation’s League semi-final against Portugal, the 30-year-old was honored for the special brand, even ran into the Munich Allianz Arena with one of his sons (you can read more about this here), was celebrated by the audience.
A good 90 minutes plus stoppage time later there was mainly frustration and helplessness at the DFB captain. And Kimmich spoke plain text about the performance of the German team in the ultimate 1-2 after 1-0 lead. An “absolutely deserved defeat” is the result, said Kimmich on ZDF. “In the second half, it was nothing after our 1-0. You can’t say that we defended it well.” Even more: “We have to pull certain teachings out of it.”
And further: “We have to understand: If we are not at a hundred percent, it will be difficult against every opponent. We cannot survive against a top European team. We have to be honest today,” Kimmich continued. “We weren’t active enough with the ball against the ball, did not manage to put energy onto the pitch and, accordingly, deservedly lost.”
When asked by ZDF reporter Boris Büchler, whether that means that the team of national coach Julian Nagelsmann was only average without top cast, Kimmich then replied in a variety of ways: “It is clear that if we are at the limit, we can keep up with everyone. We really have to have every player at the limit. Otherwise we need a lot of luck to survive.”