News (engl.)

Joshua Kimmich is set to win his 100th cap for Germany in Wednesday’s UEFA Nations League semi-final (21:00 CEST) against Portugal at his home ground in Munich. Ahead of this week’s fixture, the Germany captain talked about the milestone and his desire to win a title.

Joshua Kimmich on…

…his 100th cap: It means a lot to me. Playing so many games for Germany is a true honour. It shows that I’ve played at a high standard for the last nine to 10 years. I’ve also not been injured much. I hope I can play a few more games for my country – it’s something that makes me very proud and is really special. Playing for Germany should be special for every player, regardless of whether it’s their 10th, 100th or 150th game.

…memorable matches: I’ve still got the Spain game on my mind because we felt like we could really go on and achieve something massive. The last time we had that feeling was against France in 2016. We had a really good tournament and played the best football of any team. Those are the two games that stick out the most for me, we unfortunately missed an opportunity in both of them. A positive memory is the Confederations Cup final that we won against Chile.

…his role as a leader: I like to communicate a lot off the pitch and have a good relationship with everyone. I can be quite emotional sometimes on the pitch and also raise my voice too. I try to channel that emotion in a positive way, though it doesn’t always work out. I ultimately look to try and help my teammates as much as I can.

…his targets: We’ve had a few tournaments in recent times that didn’t go well, in particular our World Cup campaigns. We now want to try and do better. At the last EUROs, we made sure there was a renewed connection between the team and the country. There was a sense of excitement and the national team sparked positive emotions again. We’ll have to see if that’s enough for us to win a major title now. It depends on numerous factors and will be decided by small details. We need to make sure we go into next year having prepared well for the tournament. Preparations for a World Cup don’t start two weeks beforehand – we have already started ours. We now want to put in two good performances and show we’re on the right track.

…his hunger for titles: I’ve experienced a number of highs and lows with the German national side. As Germany, you go into every tournament with the aim of winning it. We just need to focus on the things we can influence. The World Cup is still a while away yet, but we’ve got the Nations League now and we have the chance to win a smaller title. It would be important for us as a team and for our development. Beating top sides to lift the trophy would give us real confidence and belief.

…players pulling out due to injury: It’s obviously extremely frustrating and disappointing, but I’m only focusing on the players that are here with us right now. The lads at home can’t help us. We’ve got lots of quality here which can help us win these two games.

…the workload: This is the first season with the new Champions League format and the new-look Club World Cup which means more games for us players in Germany. However, when you look at Spain or England, they have more cup competitions and more teams. We also have a winter break. We’ve been able to make more substitutions since the Corona pandemic too. I therefore don’t feel like our workload has increased. I look forward to every game. The tiring thing is all the travelling we have to do, even if we’re always comfortable. I think it would be different if we didn’t get any holiday and had a really short pre-season. It’s tough to start pre-season when you’ve not been able to recharge your batteries. Although no player really enjoys pre-season, it helps prevent injuries.

…his recipe for success: Getting enough sleep is really important to me. I go to bed early because I unfortunately have to get up early. Other than that, I make sure I look after my body. I’ve got lots of trust in the staff that are responsible for our health, diet and recovery. If you play a lot of games, you have to do a lot of work to make sure you’re at your best. You have to work a lot on yourself in between matches if you want to play well every three days.