Joshua Kimmich with the national team: “New opportunity”, now as captain

Joshua Kimmich could now use all his experience, so he looked over his shoulder like a prudent footballer should. This is important on the pitch, but it can also be worthwhile in the press conference. So he briefly looked towards the wall behind him, which was well filled with logos of sponsors, and said: “If I turn around here: the DFB is doing better again.” And he had already moderated the not entirely uncomplicated question about the negotiations with the association about the World Cup bonuses for the German national players.

Kimmich, 31, is playing his sixth major tournament for the German national team and his third World Cup this summer. In the ranking of German record players, he is in ninth place together with Jürgen Klinsmann with 108 appearances. However, Kimmich has an officially highlighted role for the first time; it is his debut tournament as team captain, hence the question about the bonus negotiations.

As befits a captain, Kimmich made a serious impression when he had to answer journalists’ questions for the first time during World Cup preparations in Herzogenaurach on Friday. He seemed to have decided not to say anything headline-grabbing. “Talk about it less, do more, then we can win a few games,” he said at one point. He also didn’t want to formulate a goal. “We shouldn’t think about the final and the title now,” he said: “We should think about the way we want to play football.” Similar to the home European Championships in 2024, it is this manner that determines how a tournament will be remembered. The “benchmark” is the 6-0 win against Slovakia, which was decisive for the World Cup qualification. And yes, compared to favorites like France, Spain or Portugal, “we are behind”. But on a good day, Germany can beat anyone.

So that’s it for the team for now. As for Kimmich personally, there are basically two big questions before the tournament. The first: As the face of his generation of national players, will he manage to correct the weak impressions of the last two World Cups, which both ended in the preliminary round for Germany? He was asked something similar right at the beginning of the press conference. Kimmich said: That’s not the point at all. Rather, the tournament is a “new opportunity,” the team is new, and so are the conditions.

How big will Felix Nmecha’s influence be on the DFB game?

The second question is so old that he only encountered it in a detour on Friday. Kimmich, who together with Aleksandar Pavlovic forms one of the most successful midfield duos in Europe at FC Bayern, plays as a right-back in the national team due to staff shortages. There he is also responsible for building up the game, but it remains a different, not quite as central position. In his place, someone else plays alongside Pavlovic at the DFB, such as Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha, who was highly praised by national coach Julian Nagelsmann. Kimmich was also asked about this and he called him “one of the most talented guys we have”. Nmecha, 25, is “an exceptional player who will have a big impact on our game.”

Nmecha has yet to show exactly what this influence can look like; so far he has only had six international matches in his statistics. In the 6-0 win against Slovakia, the “benchmark” game, he came on as a substitute at halftime. He then missed the game due to a knee injury. As a result, he has never played an entire 90-minute game with Kimmich. But how did the captain say it? The team is new, as are the conditions.