Kimmich reacts to Germany captaincy
| Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka. | Photo: Steffen Flor, Creative Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
On Monday, Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann confirmed Joshua Kimmich as his new captain following Ilkay Gündogan's decision to retire from international duty.
Kimmich was present at a press conference on Tuesday to answer questions and discuss his new role.
"It makes me proud. Especially when I see where I come from, it's nice," Kimmich said.
"As a little kid, you naturally write somewhere in your friendship book that you want to be a national player. But it's still unrealistic. Nobody dreams of being captain. It's something very special. I'm also happy that the people around me are happy and that they trust me. I want to repay that," the Bayern star added.
Kimmich also highlighted the importance of his two vice-captains, Antonio Rüdiger and Kai Havertz.
"It's not as if I'm a one-man show as captain. We have a strong trio in Antonio Rüdiger and Kai Havertz, and we need a lot of guys to take responsibility now. A lot of pillars have fallen away," he said.
"I have known Antonio since the time when he was at VfB Stuttgart. He was a professional then and I was still a youth player. People looked up to him back then. He was a great role model for everyone. We never played together at the club. Our relationship is very good. We get along really well.
“I've also known Kai for a long time. On the outside he seems introverted. But inside the team you can see that he's a very funny guy, which has to do with the environment. I'm very happy that he has this role. He flies under the radar sometimes. He also wore himself out at the European Championship. It's not just about scoring two goals himself, he wants to win. Kai is a role model for every young player. He didn't always take the easy way out and was rewarded with a Champions League triumph at Chelsea.”