He's already living the much bigger dream, said Joshua Kimmich at Tuesday's DFB press conference at the Germany training camp in Herzogenaurach. "When I consider where I come from and how as a small child I dreamed of being an international and wrote it in friendship books: I see how far away it is, how unrealistic it is," said Kimmich. No young footballer dreams of being the national team captain: "You don't think of it. It's something very, very special."
Which is why Kimmich really enjoys how his environment, his friends are happy for him after Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann officially handed him the captaincy after his predecessor İlkay Gündoğan retired from international football. "It makes me proud that the coaches trust me. I want to pay it back now," said the new skipper, who continues the impressive history of FC Bayern players wearing the captain's armband for Germany. He gets along "fantastically well" with his vice-captains Antonio Rüdiger and Kai Havertz, he asserted.
"No one-man show"
The FC Bayern defender does not see the captaincy as a "one-man show" – on the contrary. After experienced players like his predecessor Manuel Neuer or FC Bayern record appearance maker Thomas Müller retired from international football, he wants to find new persons in the national team who are ready to accept responsibility: "My goal is to carry along as many players as possible. At the end of the day it’s about success as a team, as you could see during the Euro," said Kimmich. The positive feeling in the national team and German football is sufficient motivation despite the defeat to Spain in the quarter-finals: "Everyone had fun watching international matches and keeping their fingers crossed – we felt it as a team, and this positive feeling is still there. We saw we can make a difference as a team in the country – and that's what it's about."
One question for Manuel Neuer
Kimmich said he had one last question. He does not have an idol he tries to imitate or ask, according to the 29-year-old: "I'm lucky I've played with experienced world-class players who showed me how to do such things." But he has one question for Manuel Neuer: "How to celebrate the Germany captaincy, I don't know that. I hope I don't have to sing – I'd rather pay for a dinner."
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