2024-10-08 20:52:24
National team captain Joshua Kimmich speaks out after Bernd Leno’s cancellation for the international matches. It becomes clear.
National team captain Joshua Kimmich took Bernd Leno’s international match cancellation as an opportunity to make a fundamental plea. The Bayern star demands maximum identification and passion. “It has to be something very, very special for everyone to want to be here,” said Kimmich on Tuesday during a press conference in Herzogenaurach: “Whether you have one hundred international matches or three. Whether you are 34 or 19.”
Leno (FC Fulham), still “an absolute world-class goalkeeper” for Kimmich, was rejected by national coach Julian Nagelsmann due to the lack of prospects of playing minutes. “They told me that I would be there but wouldn’t get a game. That’s why I decided to train in London,” the Fulham FC goalkeeper told “Bild”. Kimmich said: “Not just for Bernd: If someone doesn’t want to be there, then they don’t have to come.” And further: “We have enough other players who really enjoy being here. We want to have players who want to be here.”
There are three goalkeepers in the squad for the Nations League games in Bosnia on Friday (8.45 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online) and against the Netherlands on Monday. All of them are without international play: Oliver Baumann (TSG Hoffenheim), Alexander Nübel (VfB Stuttgart) and Janis Blaswich (RB Salzburg). Baumann will probably make his debut against Bosnia.
After the failure of several top players in the two games, Kimmich sees the national team facing a major test. “It’s difficult to cope with that. Because it’s not like we’ve had the core of the team for five years,” said the 29-year-old Bayern professional in the DFB headquarters in Herzogenaurach.
National coach Julian Nagelsmann has to replace several regulars and top performers such as Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz and goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen in Zenica against the still winless Bosnians and the Dutch, who are tied on points with four points. “It’s really crazy. It feels like half the team is gone and there are ten new ones,” said Kimmich.
Nevertheless, the goal remains to “play two successful games,” said the captain. Ideally, the DFB selection could then make it into the quarter-finals of the Nations League after just four out of six match days.